Observations on the Story of the Widow's Mites

[edwardpf123]

Amen. I commented on the other video as well. Again,thank you for posting this,it has helped me see the verse in context. You are correct, it was being seen as a rebuke of the corrupt system, not a praise for the act.

[grfield1]

Way cool. Makes more sense that way. This application is more in line with biblical teaching.

[trimille]

I came to this conclusion during a meeting that promoted the "Prosperity Gospel." (which I had become very familiar with)

If the scripture were to support this "gospel" wouldn't the Lord of used the widow's mite to show if you give of all your living and name that seed in whatever you need or want you will recieve a hundred fold return if you have the faith of the widow....etc.? NO, he didn't.

[ocpud2999]

this is what calvin said about it. "a highly useful doctrine, that whatever men offer to God ought to be estimated not by its apparent value, but only by the feeling of the heart, and that the holy affection of him who, according to his small means, offers to God the little that he has, is more worthy of esteem than that of him who offers a hundred times more out of his abundance." 1

[frankpetersohn]

Have you ever imagined, why most christians are so indescribable blind for such a truth revealed in the Video here? It is because of our...let me say it this way:

UPDATED GOSPEL!

UPDATED EVANGELISM!

UPDATED PREACHING!

UPDATED TEACHING and PREACHING!

UPDATED BIBLES!

This blindness today is the fruit of the going away from the old paths that are recplaced by modern ones, which better fit to us!!! That is why many people will be astonished by this truth here in this Video. Great Video...

[YouThoughtYouKnew]

Well said! And I agree...the truth contained in this video is like a pearl of great price! EXCELLENT Expose!

God Bless!

[AmadeusWalton]

Sorry, ignore my second post, I was posting as a reply to DawnTransformed, but it seemed to have failed to be a reply. :(

[AmadeusWalton]

Dude, John146only, are you done posting yet?

thrufaithalone, you did make one error,

v44 "For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living." namely 'she of her want did cast in all that she had', which voids point 1,2 and 3. The problem with the other people were they were giving under obligation while she had a desire to give more than she actually had.

[thrufaithalone]

AmadeusWalton "The problem with the other people were they were giving under obligation while she had a desire to give more than she actually had"

No, the problem is that she was being plundered of all she had while they had plenty left over.

[AmadeusWalton]

I see, Luke 21:4 made it a bit clearer saying "of her penury" as opposed to 'want', I thought it was a desire to give as opposed to 'she was left wanting' or with a lack. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[thrufaithalone]

AmadeusWalton-It's ok; God bless you for a desire to study and research the truth!

[john146only]

I have actually never heard in my 32 years of life of anyone who to date has ever seriously given their last 2 pennies away to God in total reliance on God. I feel like this woman's good deed which is so unheard of and special, and faith filled, is being robbed in this conversation. I honor her choice and her follow through. Never have I heard it duplicated in all the years we have had christians. Can't we celebrate with her what Jesus shared with us for all times, a memorial scripture says.

[john146only]

I think we see several principles like the Story of Joseph and the evil he endured, but trusted God and worked with him and saw God work all things for good apply. We see it in the story of Jesus, who enters the fallen world, comes as the Messiah of the Jews, and the leadership gets him killed. In obediance, God worked that for all good and we have our way back into the kingdom of God per that abuse. The greater context of the stories and is that no matter what is happening around us, we may ...

[john146only]

I would not compare that woman and the WOF people who I think are under a strong delusion. I don't think GOd is saying to everyone give all you have, but I think he is expounding on the inner workings of this woman's heart who is using the only means available to bless the Lord, which was the temple. It was a "let's look into the heart and inner workings of this person" and cross compare with the wicked thieves of religon. I think there is a heart lesson there, not a direct command.

[thrufaithalone]

john146only-"I would not compare that woman and the WOF people who I think are under a strong delusion"

So were the religious leaders back then: Matthew 15:3-9 "..he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother,

[thrufaithalone]

Matthew16:3-9 cont'd-"It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

[john146only]

Cont' that this is about cross compare between the wicked whitewashed tombs who have dead men's bones inside but looked like the servants of God, and the comparison of a poor, old haggard women who was honest, faithful and more true and gave her whole little wallet or money that was worth like a penny or less in today's times. If I am wrong, may God forgive me. But I don't think I am. I have consulted a lot of commentaries and we have been given teachers the bible says, plus the text is clear.

[thrufaithalone]

john146only-"a poor, old haggard women who was honest, faithful and more true" or of a poor woman who was deceived by religious leaders who were in the habit of devouring widow's houses; let's not forget the context.

[john146only]

I know a lot about the temple. I think that is a fascinating study to see how different elements foretell of Jesus of some clearer New Testament truth. I love that.

I try to approach things from a persepective of : "I could be wrong, but this is what I think" and I think that we have to take the whole of the scripture and when you look at the whole thing, we see clearly God;s pov on evil doers, thieves ( I love the temple clearing by JC) the treatment of the poor etc, but I think in this story

[john146only]

Cont'd comment to tfa:

I know there were a variety of offerings done, through out the year. I know God had a system set up to care for people like the wonderful story of Ruth and how Boaz had extra grain dropped purposley for her ( how sweet),. I think it would be intersting to know if over the years if anything changed or morphed as the Temple Caregivers really took over and what happened when Rome took over. So what was the result or change if any to that point in time? That would be a good..

[john146only]

Did the Jews have to fully agree with the Romans in order to keep paying them taxes and was God okay with that? He instructed them to do so. Why, it is about so much more than merely adhering to humans, but there is a greater priniple of obediance to the Lord, even back then.

[thrufaithalone]

john146only-"there is a greater priniple of obediance to the Lord, even back then"

Exactly-which why Jesus told the people to do what the religious leaders told them to do, but not to do as the religious leaders did. The people still had no obligation to obey the religious leaders if they went outside of God's Word.

[john146only]

Even in the book of Philemon, you would expect that Paul would out and out tell the slave owner that they are Christians and to let Philly go, but he doesn't say that does he? He tells them to be obediant to each other in brotherly love; for the master to be kind to his slave, and I beleive for the slave to do a good job. So, does God tell us to obey out of obediance even though those in authority may not be perfectly in the will of God or what we think would be best in a fallen world? 2 examp's

[thrufaithalone]

John146only-points well taken regarding the Roman government and the Jewish leaders. But we still need to consider the immediate context. In your research, I pray you will consider the commands regarding the poor, and what the OT considered to be "giving to God."

[john146only]

Well, I always consider myself to be a lifetime student of the bible, I have not "arrived", but am always learning. I honestly do not know anyone who is as time involved in ingesting the word as I am, with constant bible study, listening to sermons and talk radio of Christians. Having said that, I think I have a pretty good base with which to go off, but I could always know more.I think the bible deals with multiple topics. I am aware of the poor and what God wants us and the Jews to do for them

[thrufaithalone]

john146only-I posted a couple of replies to this comment but they didn't post (at least not in the last half hour) I'm going to post the references in the sidebar, so you can access them there (it may be a while before I get to it) For a quick study on this issue you may want to invest in Nave's Topical Bible; it really helps get a quick and thorough overview of most topics.

[john146only]

honored her behavor.

because all the others contributed to the offering out of their surplus, but she, in her poverty, dropped in everything she had to live on." That sounds like accomadation to me! Blessings

[john146only]

Luke 22:4 also tells of it and the key verse I am seeing and the concensus I see with in the college educated learned Holy Spirit filled men is that yes the bad guys deserves and got their rebuke at some point, but the little old lady got her notice of giving all she had. No one is going to do that unless they are putting their faith into the Lord. Please let's keep in mind, there was not another option to go worship at another temple if some of these people were evil. They were it, but God

[thrufaithalone]

john146only-"No one is going to do that unless they are putting their faith into the Lord" -

Or unless they've been taught to do so by corrupt religious leaders. It's still going on today; just take a look at the WOF movement.

Also consider that if this were a lesson in giving, All Christians should be giving everything they have to live on, but as John MacArthur says, if it's a lesson, Jesus doesn't say what it is. He doesn't tell the disciples they should do likewise; there is no command.

[john146only]

I don't know of any wof people that seriously put in their last few dollars and rely on the faith of the OBJECT OF their devotion who is the Lord. I would not think that was a fair comparison. IN fact, I think in its essence, WOF people no longer realy love and trust in Jesus as they entreach themselves in wicked teaching with is a heart decision to do so, but they begin to practice witchcraft & take the place of God calling this and that into being like Genesis act of God saying, :Let there...

[john146only]

First, we need to see how many times this scripture appears in scripure so we get the full jist. Biblegateway- here I come.

[john146only]

Further more, Jesus expected and commanded the people of Israel to render what is Caesars to him and what is to God, what should go to God. The Jews hated the evil foregin GENTILE goverment that did not often do what God would have perfetly have them to do within his will, but he still commanded it to be done. Why? Out of obediance to him. This world is not al there is, but if we are obediant, we will reap a harvest at the due time.

[JimQualls]

It certainly was NOT a "seed faith" sermon.

1 Tim 6:5

Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

KJV

God bless,

Jim

[DawnTransformed]

I have never heard this interpreted this way. Very interesting, thank you for posting this.

[AmadeusWalton]

She seemed to ignore v44, "For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living."

'of her want did cast in all that she had', it was the widows desire to give more than she had as opposed to the scribes who gave out of obligation and the fact they had so much they did not mind.

[thrufaithalone]

AmadeusWalton-Where does it say she desired "to give more than she had"?

The wealthy still had plenty to live on after they gave. She had nothing left to live on, making Jesus' point that the scribes were "devouring widows' houses"

[john146only]

I think there are a lot of dynamic moving parts happening in this story and the bible expunds on them in more full detail as you read through. Nice job, though...

[john146only]

I felt it was a story of her intense faith and reliance up on God that she was willing to give everything out of love to him, even if it went into the wicked crooked coffers of the ungodly. I see all points represented though. Jesus did compare her giving as generous and with out abandon, ( the inference is that she did it because of love and faith in God, a common theme though out scripture) and the dastardly evil men who gave out of routine, void of love, were thieves & did not get God period.

[thrufaithalone]

john146only-"even if it went into the wicked crooked coffers of the ungodly"

Please think about that for a moment - would the Lord truly approve of our giving to corrupt, blasphemous, or heretical religious systems? Benny Hinn? Islam? Buddhism?

My friend, if we have the view that Jesus was commending the widow, it is not because the words are present in Scripture, but because we come with the preconceived notion we've been taught.

[john146only]

I think a good healthy debate is wonderful. I can only look to the text. I see a lot of moving parts. I know from memory having read it so many times that Jesus said she would be commended or remembered as a memorial to her for all times and we see the Holy Spirit had it divinly placed in scripture. We live in a backdrop of an evil world which to a verying degree is tained with wrong and evil doing, but we work with God to obey him and honor him and serve him.

[EyeGates]

well done.

[feba2]

very interesting... people use that story as an example of generously giving and say: look, how she gave everything and Jesus saw her act and approved it...

[thrufaithalone]

Ever since I heard this interpretation, I can't help but wonder why it was ever used as an example to give - I also know I wouldn't be able to take someone's last two cents.

[john146only]

I would say that is a part of the story- but I think it was a cross comparison on motives and the heart condition of one who outwordly may not Look Holy, but does the right thing and extrodinary as a Nobody, verse those who look the part, do things out of routine and are void of real love and faith and it shows in amillion ways, but in the wallet in the story. Just an observation.

[thrufaithalone]

Please forgive me - I was clicking the "reply" button to answer your post on my video "Some Observations on the Story of the Widow's Mites" and accidentally hit the "remove" button. I am so sorry - Could you repost so I can reply? Again, my deepest apologies -

[mumpty]

How did Jesus know she was a widow..?? Hmm...?

[josh6499]

Well, He is God. He knows everything, being omnicient and such.