“But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1 Timothy 5:3-4, 8 LSB https://bible.com/bible/3345/1ti.5.3-8.LSB
Household Sphere
Brothers, meditating on Ruth and 1 Tim. 5:3-16, according to God, the ministry of healthcare, welfare, and education, is the responsibility of the family! We can see God’s heart of mercy in the kinsman redeemer and care for widows by their families first and foremost (Ruth 2:1,20; 3:1,2,12; 4:9-13; Deut. 25:5-10; 1 Tim. 5:3-16).
I am woefully unprepared! Forgive me Lord. I pray we lead our families as THE primary ministry of healthcare, welfare, and education. Furthermore, a theology can be developed that “Governments that incentivize single parenting and then takes on the role of absentee father, providing income and shelter, are wicked.”
Sphere Sovereignty
Sphere Sovereignty “is the concept that God has created various spheres or institutions by which those spheres rule themselves… The most essential spheres, also referred to as divine institutions, are three: (1) the family, (2) the church, and (3) the state or civil magistrate… What ties all three of these spheres is the image of God impressed upon each individual human… as each human is created according to God’s image, this very point is what endows them with ‘certain unalienable rights’ which are ‘self-evident,’ according to the United States Declaration of Independence. That is, we do not need to prove this to be the case (the concept of individual rights) because we intuitively know it through creation and our own consciences (see Rom. 1:19-20; 2:14-15)… the church is not to encroach upon the family or state sphere beyond what God permits in Scripture, and the family and state are under similar restrictions… God’s law makes it clear that parents are to rule and raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Any man who does not take care of his family is worse than a pagan (1 Tim. 5:8)… Governments that incentivize single parenting and then take on the role of absentee father, providing income and shelter, are wicked. The moment civil government inserts itself in such ways, it has moved beyond the overlap of influence and entered into overreach.” A Revolutionary Reading of Romans 13: A Biblical Case for Lawful Subjection to the Civil Magistrate and Dutiful Resistance to Tyrants https://press.founders.org/shop/a-revolutionary-reading-of-romans-13/
Scripture to Meditate on
“Then she arose with her daughters-in-law and returned from the fields of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that Yahweh had visited His people to give them food… But Ruth said, “Do not press me to forsake you in turning back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may Yahweh do to me, and more, if anything but death separates you and me.”” Ruth 1:6, 16-17 LSB https://bible.com/bible/3345/rut.1.6-17.LSB
“Now Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a mighty man of excellence, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz… Boaz replied to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you forsook your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know. May Yahweh fully repay your work, and may your wages be full from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.”… Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed of Yahweh who has not forsaken his lovingkindness to the living and to the dead.” Then Naomi said to her, “The man is our relative; he is one of our kinsman redeemers.”” Ruth 2:1, 11-12, 20 LSB https://bible.com/bible/3345/rut.2.1-20.LSB
Kinsman Redeemer – God’s heart of mercy
““If brothers live together and one of them dies and has no son, then the wife of the one who died shall not be married outside the family to a strange man. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her to himself as wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. And it will be that the firstborn whom she bears shall assume the name of his dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel. But if the man does not desire to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to raise up a name for his brother in Israel; he is not willing to perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ Then the elders of his city shall summon him and speak to him. And if he stands and says, ‘I do not desire to take her,’ then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the sight of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, ‘Thus it is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.’ And in Israel his name shall be called, ‘The house of him whose sandal is removed.’” Deuteronomy 25:5-10 LSB https://bible.com/bible/3345/deu.25.5-10.LSB
“Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek a state of rest for you, that it may be well with you? And now, is not Boaz our kinsman, with whose young women you were? Behold, he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor tonight… But now it is true I am a kinsman redeemer; however, there is a kinsman redeemer closer than I.” Ruth 3:1-2, 12 LSB https://bible.com/bible/3345/rut.3.1-12.LSB
“So the kinsman redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.” … Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have acquired all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon from the hand of Naomi. And also, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the one who had died, on behalf of his inheritance, so that the name of the one who had died will not be cut off from his brothers or from the gate of his birth place; you are witnesses today.” And all the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May Yahweh grant the woman who is coming into your home to be like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel, and so you shall achieve excellence in Ephrathah and shall proclaim your name in Bethlehem. Moreover, may your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the seed which Yahweh will grant you by this young woman.” So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And Yahweh granted her conception, and she gave birth to a son… The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.” Ruth 4:6, 9-13, 17 LSB https://bible.com/bible/3345/rut.4.6-17.LSB
“Honor widows who are widows indeed, but if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family and to make some return to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God… But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1 Timothy 5:3-4, 8 LSB https://bible.com/bible/3345/1ti.5.3-8.LSB
THE GOOD NEWS
There is a God that created the heavens and the earth. We humans are created in His image.
We are sinners, we have rebelled against Him, our Creator. Our rebellion has brought “all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice… envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness” to the world. Romans 1:29-31 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.1.29-31.ESV
Therefore we justly deserve our due punishment of death and damnation, “as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’” Romans 3:10-12 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.3.10-12.ESV
But good news! God is merciful and loving. Jesus is God the only begotten Son and He took our punishment upon Himself in our place. Jesus rose from the dead, defeating death and securing the hope of our salvation.
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/1co.15.3-8.ESV
““Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”” Acts 2:36-38 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/act.2.36-38.ESV
We need only repent and believe it. Repent: turn away from our sins, proclaim Jesus is lord and savior, and we will be forgiven our sins and have life ever after! “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”” Romans 10:9-11 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.10.9-11.ESV
There is hope. Believe in Jesus! ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.3.16.ESV
It doesn’t matter who you’ve been or what you’ve done, God stands with arms wide open, ready to forgive you. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/1jn.1.9.ESV
Dobra Family Ministry 