Suffering 3
One of the unvarnished laws of
teaching is the law of language: the language of the teacher and the student
have to be the same. This is true of English, in the case of this blog, but it
is even more true of the various shades of meaning of words. “Laser” implies
something different to a nine-year old Star Wars fan than to a fifty-five year
old physicist.
Words mean things; they have context. In
reference to spiritual things, the better I understand that context, the larger
sense of meaning behind the word and how it is being used, the more I will
understand the things God intended to tell me in His Word. Ergo, in any
thematic study of Scripture I attempt to come to a sound understanding of the
term/concept under examination.
The word “suffer” is found 161 times in
the King James Version. Most of the time it means allow, let, or permit, as in
the first use, Genesis 20.6. And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know
that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee
from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. Though
this represents the majority, there are also numerous uses in both the Old and
New Testament that relate specifically to what you and I understand as
suffering. In the OT, most often this carries the connotation carry, wait, and
starve. In the NT, most often this carries the connotation endure or bear. In
the original language, the underlying words translated “suffer” are also
translated as thirst, took away, cast off, hunger, famished, destitute, bear,
bare, carry, endure, forbear, vexed, felt, passion, leave, left, forsook,
affliction, persecution, wronged, injured, and reviled. The underlying original
language sense of these words is described variously as suffer ruin, suffer
pain, suffer punishment, suffer together, misery, suffer evil, labor pains,
suffer loss, suffer violence, and to hurt.
Confining our attention only to the
underlying original language words translated as some form of the word “suffer”
in the King James Version we will discover there are fourteen of them. In
today’s post, I am going to briefly show you all fourteen, and then summarize
them into a single, understandable, biblical definition of suffering. For
simplicity’s sake, I am going to transliterate these original language words
into English.
In the Old Testament, there are two. The
first is raeb, to hunger, be famished. Slothfulness casteth into a deep
sleep; And an idle soul shall suffer hunger. (Proverbs 19.15) This
is the idea of suffering because you are missing something or lacking
something. It can include food, certainly, but it can be many things i.e. a
widow suffering the lack of a companion, etc.
The second Old Testament term is nasa, to
lift, carry, bear. O Lord, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and
revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that
for thy sake I have suffered rebuke. (Jeremiah 15.15) The idea here
is of carrying a burden over the long term. Jeremiah, known as the Weeping
Prophet, had a ministry that consisted of decades of consecutive suffering.
Moses endured Israel’s murmuring in the Wilderness for forty years. This is the
kind of suffering those with chronic health conditions or a long term bad
marriage endure. It is also worth mentioning, that by implication, this is
something God has given me to carry. It is not something I have chosen for
myself by my direct choice or indirect choice (consequences).
The other twelve terms are in the New
Testament. There we find, third, pascho, to experience pain, to be vexed. From
that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how he must go unto
Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and
scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. (Matthew 16.21) Pain
here can be both physical or psychological pain.
It is worth noting before we move on that
suffering and pain are not synonymous necessarily. One of the books I read in
preparation for this series told the story of a young Jewish soldier whose leg
was blown off via a mine. The soldier, a woman, was interviewed shortly
afterward in the hospital. Weeping, she described her deep sorrow at the
realization she would almost certainly now never get married. Her physical pain
was real, but her underlying suffering, though connected to it, was much
deeper.
Fourth is mello, a strengthened form of expect, this is my duty or purpose. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. (Matthew 17.12) This is similar to the Old Testament nasa. This is suffering under a long term load it is your duty to carry. If I were to describe pastoring, for example, I would probably use this word.
Fifth is anechomai, to endure. Then
Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I
be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
(Matthew 17.17) Sometimes, all you can do is grit your teeth. Sometimes,
all you can do is put one foot in front of the other. Something has gone so
badly and irretrievably wrong, and you are so deeply hurt that your response
has been reduced to merely hanging on. You do not feel as if you are learning
anything or gaining anything. You do not feel like it will ever get any better.
You feel trapped in a horror movie and all you know how to do is keep-moving-forward.
This is anechomai.
Sixth is sumpascho, to experience pain
together. You can see the relation to our third term above. I used this passage last week. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs
with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also
glorified together. (Romans 8.17) This is a mutual suffering we are
experiencing together. Carrying grief and sorrow and suffering alone is
debilitating; having someone come alongside and carry it with you, even if it
does not lessen the suffering, helps. In our context, this is the premise of
support groups or their more biblical equivalent, churches.
Here let us pause for a beautiful thought.
Other than suffering related to my rebellion and sin, as a child of God all my
suffering is sumpascho. He is with me in it.
Seventh is pathema, to undergo hardship or
affliction. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Romans
8.18) Yesterday morning, after reading my Bible on the bench outside my
window, I texted a preacher friend to tell him I was praying for him. He
responded, “Thank you. Its been a long week and I appreciate it.” Some things
are just hard, some seasons in life are just hard. They are temporary, but
hard.
Eighth is zemioo, to receive damage, to
suffer loss. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss:
but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (I Corinthians 3.15) This
is similar to our first term, the Hebrew raeb, which is to suffer because you
lack something. You had what you needed but it was taken from you. This is the
suffering of victims, and there are all kinds of victims i.e. crime, abuse,
disaster, etc. Sometimes, it is just life that takes things away from you. Old
age robs us of family, of friends, of health, of our independence, for example.
In this particular passage, it is God that is doing the taking away.
He does that a lot.
Ninth is stego, to cover with silence, in
other words, to endure quietly. If others be partakers of this power over
you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer
all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ. (I Corinthians 9.12) Mature
Christians do not generally broadcast their suffering; they endure quietly.
This is not stoicism; it is resignation. This is “God sent it to me and I
accept it.”
By definition, this kind of suffering is
rarely noticed. I can almost guarantee that every good Christian of your
acquaintance is experiencing it. They are bleeding on the inside silently.
Tenth is dioko, persecution. And I,
brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution?
Then is the offence of the cross ceased. (Galatians 5.11) This is suffering
specifically because of my belief and practice. Peter expands on this superbly
in his first epistle.
Eleventh is thlibo, to crowd, a host of
afflictions. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we
should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know. (I
Thessalonians 3.4) Troubles comes in packs. The psalmist said, and notice
the plural, Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: All thy
waves and thy billows are gone over me. (Psalm 42.7)
This is why tribulation is a good word
here. At any given time, several people I pastor are in this predicament. They
do not have one grievously heavy burden; they have several. Each one would be
enough to stagger the average Christian, but God is pressing them, developing
them, driving them deeper into Himself by layering burden on top of burden on
top of burden.
Twelfth is oneidizo, to defame, revile,
rail. For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we
trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that
believe. (I Timothy 4.10) Reviling is different than persecution. They both
cause us to endure suffering, but reviling is only verbal. It still hurts, and
understandably so, but the distinction is worth noting.
Thirteenth is hupomeno, to stay under,
abide, persevere with the idea of patience. If we suffer, we shall
also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us. (II Timothy 2.12) This
is similar to five, anechomai, endure. This is a suffering that I live in, that
abides. The difference between this and anechomai is the stress is placed here
upon patience under suffering. Good pastoring and good barbecue both take time.
In exactly this way, God holds us in suffering for extended seasons, sometimes
our entire lives, that the beautiful image of Christ may be formed in us.
Fourteenth is sugkakoucheo, to torment. Choosing
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season. (Hebrews 11.25) God is referencing Moses here, and by
extension the Jews in Egypt. The pharaohs were purposely inflicting pain and
suffering on them as a form of institutional ethnic control. The Chinese
government is doing exactly this with the Uyghurs at the moment. It is the
epitome of injustice, and God hears the cries of those so afflicted.
We could spend several more weeks
examining the biblical synonyms for suffering. By one count I read, there are
nineteen distinct Hebrew terms related to suffering in Isaiah 53, for
example. But I think we can fairly summarize all of this in one relatively
simple definition: suffering is loss.
Sometimes, I lose bodily strength. Other
times, I lose peace of mind. I lose freedom. I lose choice. I lose comfort. I
lose strength. I lose happiness. I lose people I love. I lose health. I lose
success or accomplishment. I lose the respect of others. I lose my desire for
life. I lose ease. I lose possessions or money. I lose attention. I lose love.
I lose the future. I lose my life. I lose Heaven. Illustrate suffering any way
you want, biblically or practically, the result is the same – loss.
You cannot live life without suffering,
without experiencing loss. Since the Garden of Eden this has been so and will
be until the advent of the New Heaven and the New Earth. No, you cannot live
without suffering, but understanding that helps you to accept it. Accepting it
helps you to deal with it.
Like the life it always comes along with,
suffering can be spent well or spent badly. It is going to come; it is
inevitable. Yet man is born to trouble, As the sparks fly upward. (Job 5.7)
We do, though, get to choose how to respond to it. We can spend it well or
spend it badly.
May the Lord give you and me the grace and
wisdom to respond well.
Excellent work
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