Tag: affliction

affliction, poverty, misery – עֳנִי

θλῖψις – tribulation, affliction, trouble, anguish, persecution, burdened

  • Through Many Afflictions Saul and Joseph return to Antioch

    Through Many Afflictions Saul and Joseph return to Antioch

    What afflictions, which tribulations will we suffer for our witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

    ~AD 49 - a return journey
    
    [Just a reminder that Paul is a more local name for Saul from Tarsus beyond the imposing Guyik and Taurus mountains and many brothers address Joseph of the island of Cypress by his encouraging nickname, Barnabas.]
    
      - from remote Derby through Lycaonia to Antioch through Pisidia & Pamphylia to Perga and sailing from Attalia (without returning to Cypress) to their home port in Syria to Antioch.

    Joseph of Cypress and Saul of Tarsus have endured many afflictions for the Gospel, even a stoning of Saul (as he had once witnessed of Stephen in Jerusalem).

    Barnabas

    You’ll recall that Joseph of Cypress, known to his friends as Βαρναβᾶς or son of encouragement is a very Jewish Levite.

    Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement)

    Acts of the Apostles 4:36 LSB

    Joseph had devoted his life to the Apostles’ teaching and gave them money from selling a field. This highly respected older man from Cypress had brought the feared young and zealous Pharisee Saul to the Apostles vouching for the authenticity of his conversion and teaching since encountering Christ.

    Even then he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews, but they were attempting to put him to death.

    So the Church at Jerusalem, led by the Apostles, sent Saul off to the Church at Antioch, nearer to Tarsus as well as Cypress.

    Barnabas continues mentoring a young Saul of Tarsus known to the Gentiles as Paul.

    The Church at Antioch sends them out to Cypress along with Joseph’s nephew John Mark. From there these two apostles proceed to cities and small towns in the Taurus Mountains.

    As a reminder: 
    Luke publishes ACTS OF THE APOSTLES in about AD 62 as a historical account for a growing Church.
    
    This FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY of the Apostles PAUL & BARNABAS occurs over several months and many miles in about AD 47-49.
    

    Another Rising of Saul

    Not too many men or women ever suffer the afflictions of Saul OR the miraculous raisings of a man who seems to have been struck down by God and men to persevere in more persecution for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

    conversion of saul on the road to Damascus

    and falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

    And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”

    And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,

    Acts of the Apostles 9:4-5 LSB
    The Jews are divided by Paul’s Gospel of the Messiah Jesus

    Acts of the Apostles 14:

    19 But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.

    Derbe where Paul and Barnabas fled after they were first worshipped as Zeus & Hermes in Lystra then suffered afflictions by the crowds

    20 But while the disciples stood around him, he rose up and entered the city.

    The next day he went away with Barnabas to Derbe.

    21 And after they had proclaimed the gospel to that city and had made many disciples..

    Dr. Luke once again accounts for not only the miracle of Paul's rising after being stoned to death and his battered frame dragged out of Lystra, but again that they 'had made many disciples' of the risen Lord Jesus in Derbe.
    

    Their Return Journey to Antioch Pisidia

    map of return journey of Paul and Barnabas from first missionary journey
    [from Derbe] .. they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples..

    The Apostles’ Parting Message:

    .. encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying,

    “Through many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God.”

    θλῖψις – Afflictions, Tribulations, Pressure & Persecution

    So you want to enter the kingdom of God?

    You hope for THE LIFE in a risen KING- the Son of God JESUS.

    AND THIS IS the GOSPEL GOOD NEWS Paul proclaims?

    thlipsis STRONGS G2347:

    properly, a pressing, pressing together, pressure (Strabo, p. 52; Galen); in Biblical and ecclesiastical writings, a Greek metaphor, oppression, affliction, tribulation, distress, straits;

    Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

    Gospel of Matthew 24:9 KJV – a prophesy of Jesus to his disciples

    Paul and Barnabas have already seen much tribulation. But now others – Jewish converts, Hellenists, even Roman believers among so many saints of these growing churches will also suffer afflictions as disciples of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

    The Gospel of Paul comes with more than a change of heart and soul – these Christians will see afflictions and tribulations — troubles never before encountered when they did not claim the risen Christ Jesus as their Lord.

    Galatia map with its capitol Pisidian Antioch

    The SOULS of the disciples of these NEW CHURCHES will need much STRENGTHING from leaders ENCOURAGING them to CONTINUE in THE FAITH.

    Paul and Barnabas will continue that work which they begun by returning to these new disciples on their return journey to the Church at Antioch from which they were sent out by the Holy Spirit and church.

    A foundational ministry in the mountains

    • they had proclaimed the gospel [in Derby] and had made many disciples,
    • they returned
      • to Lystra
      • and to Iconium
      • and to Antioch

    And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

    Acts of the Apostles Paul and Barnabas 14:23
    Antioch Pisidia map
    And when they passed through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia. – ACTS 14:24

    And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.

    route of Paul and Barnabas returning to Antioch Syria after first missionary journey
    Acts of the Apostles 14 – Paul & Barnabas’ return from first missionary journey

    And from there they sailed to Antioch, from where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled.

    Home in Antioch (Syria)

    This Ancient Roman road connected Antioch and Chalcis.

    And when they had arrived and gathered the church together,

    they began to report all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

    And they spent not a little time with the disciples.

    This first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas has taken about two years. The apostles (ones sent out) of the Gospel have much to share with the disciples (followers) of the risen Christ Jesus. 
    
    NEXT: In Acts of the Apostles 15 Luke will record some differences in worship yet to be worked out between Christians in Antioch and disciples of Christ in Judea and other parts of Syria.
    

    Acts Apostolos - Acts of the Apostles - the chronicles of Christ's Apostles - a history of Christ's Church

    To be continued…

  • COVID – the Affliction of Social Distancing – 2

    COVID – the Affliction of Social Distancing – 2

    Affliction

    Our hearts in this year of our Lord 2021 still struggle with the affliction of COVID and restless crowds of displaced people displaced from work. All the world suffers a great loss of normalcy as we cry out, “HOW?”

    COVID – the Affliction of Social Distancing – 1 + talk of Jesus .com
    How lonely sits the city that was full of people! Lamentations 1:1 and 2020 city with few people

    We will return to our 21st century lamentations of COVID, but now return to the 6th century B.C. question of the people of Judah:

    “How?”

    Previously, in case you missed part 1:

    Even though the Lord warned those with ears to hear in advance, their unexpected suffering is real.

    Eicha – Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah

    • 1:3 Judah has gone into exile under affliction H6040 And under harsh servitude..
    • 1:7 In the days of her affliction H6040 and homelessness Jerusalem remembers all her precious things That were from the days of old..
    • 1:9 She did not consider her future. Therefore she has fallen astonishingly; She has no comforter. “See, O LORD, my affliction, H6040..

    Strong’s H6040 עֳנִי

    • affliction, poverty, misery;
      • from H6031; depression, i.e. misery:—afflicted(-ion), trouble.

    That’s it! .. with this COVID affliction of A.D. 2020, 2021 and perhaps years of a generation to come, isn’t it?

    Jeremiah tells us [in Lamentations 3]:

    I am the man who has seen affliction H6040
    Because of the rod of His wrath.
    .

    Remember my affliction H6040 and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.

    Like Jeremiah, we ask: Does the Lord our God not hear our laments of this present affliction?

    Lamentations 4 & 5

    Hear this 6th c. B.C. prayer with contrition of crushed spirit and acceptance of just punishment for guilt.

    Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach..

    The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!

    Lamentations 5:1,16 KJV

    Where is our A.D. 2021 confession of sin against the Lord?

    Indeed, the nations are unclean before the Lord our God.

    θλῖψις – Strong’s G2347

    Not that we require more synonyms for our sufferings, but the NT Greek brings with it hope of the Good News of Jesus Christ our Savior.

    TRIBULATION or affliction

    • a pressing, pressing together, pressure
    • metaph. oppression, affliction, tribulation, distress, straits
      • From θλίβω (G2346); to press (as grapes), press hard upon
      • a compressed way; narrow straitened, contracted
      • metaph. to trouble, afflict, distress
      • Four years ago I addressed this root & persecution in Tribulation? Cheer up.

    Behold the hour is coming

    This prophesy of Jesus Christ may not sound any more encouraging than the affliction of COVID or our isolation in social distancing; but you with ears to hear, listen to this metaphor of the Lord Jesus for the time ahead.

    The Gospel of John

    “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish G2347 because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. – John 16:21 NASB

    Does the Lord’s metaphor not apply to these early pangs of pain in these last days?

    Jesus continues in His metaphor of labor pain applying it personally to His own approaching Crucifixion for our sins in Jerusalem, which of course is followed by the Lord’s triumphal resurrection!

    The Disciples would once again know their Lord in His risen flesh!

    COVID may be one cause of our present affliction, but social distancing will not cure the condition of our dejected demeanors of heart and soul.

    “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. – John 16:22 NASB

    The Lord assures the Apostles that they will be ALONE.

    While Jesus is isolated in death they will think that HE is ALONE. But HE is not.

    Jesus will be with the Father.

    “Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.

    John 16:32 NASB

    SCATTERED.. AND ALONE! Sure sounds like our contemporary SOCIAL DISTANCING.

    “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, G2347 but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

    John 16:33 NASB Strong’s G2347thlipsis: tribulation, affliction, trouble

    COVID – an affliction of God’s Judgment?

    Jesus and the Apostles guide the Church to the narrow path along the valley of the shadow of death.

    Perhaps the time has come and is now here for Christians to witness Light into the darkness of these foreboding days of COVID’s crumbling impact on the unclean social environment of the world.

    Roger Harned – talk of Jesus .com challenge to the socially distanced church of A.D. 2021
    to be continued...
    NEXT: letter to a church persevering through suffering

  • COVID – the Affliction of Social Distancing

    COVID – the Affliction of Social Distancing

    Solomon’s Jerusalem – the end of an era

    Until the death of Solomon in 931 B.C., a glorious city of Jerusalem overlooked a great empire blessed by the LORD God, but then the politics of Israel divided the great land.

    In just a few generations Israel (Samaria) succumbed in 722 B.C. and Judah when Jerusalem was sieged and the Temple burned in ~586 B.C.

    Prophesy: Affliction Now!

    אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה בָדָד הָעִיר רַבָּתִי עָם הָיְתָה כְּאַלְמָנָה רַּבָּתִי בַגּוֹיִם שָׂרָתִי בַּמְּדִינוֹת הָיְתָה לָמַֽס׃ ס

    Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah Eicha 1:1 WLC

    Our Loud Cries, “HOW?”

    Jerusalem falls [~586 B.C.]. Three years later the Jews and Jeremiah are forced to depart to Egypt. For forty years from (ca. 645–605 B.C.) Jeremiah had preached to Judah of the LORD’s judgment against it.

    The Septuagint [Greek O.T.] introduces the crying out loud of Lamentations:

    esile to babylon

    “And it came to pass, after Israel had been carried away captive…Jeremiah sat weeping [cf. 3:48, 49, etc.]…lamented…and said…”

    Introduction to Eicha (Lamentations) 1 :: Septuagint (LXX)

    How lonely sits the city
    That was full of people!
    She has become like a widow
    Who was once great among the nations!
    She who was a princess among the provinces
    Has become a forced laborer!

    Lamentations 1:1 NASB

    Lamentations for the lonely cities

    You may have felt that recently for a virtually empty NYC New Year’s Eve broadcast. Or perhaps the closed shops of your town caused anxiety that maybe you should where a mask in public.

    What we knew as home and comfort, security and blessing — all those things have changed until God knows when.

    The affliction of our hearts in this year of our Lord 2021 still struggles with COVID and countless crowds of displaced people have NO place to work. Some will be evicted from their meager subsistence in cold rooms rented from the rich princes of our darkness.

    All the world suffers a great loss of normalcy as we cry out, “HOW?”

    Will we find hope in our despair?

    For in A.D. 2021, we feel just as lonely and afflicted as those forced from Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and also in A.D. 70, Jews and Christians into a crumbling Roman Empire.

    Our journey into this unknown world of COVID doesn’t look so hopeful just now.

    excerpts from Lamentations

    She weeps bitterly in the night,
    And her tears are on her cheeks;
    She has no one to comfort her..
    3 Judah has gone into exile out of affliction..

    All her gates are deserted..

    Her little ones have gone away
    As captives led by the enemy.
    6 All of her splendor
    Is gone from the daughter of Zion;
    Her leaders have become like deer
    That have found no pasture,
    And they have fled without strength
    From the pursuer.

    Social Distancing

    Fleeing from the world’s uncleanness

    garden statue girl with flag and pumpkin "Give Thanks to the Lord"

    It was never just the Jews fleeing Jerusalem or multi-ethnic victims of a holocaust perpetrated by a 20th century thousand-year empire who suffered affliction.

    Solomon suggested that there is nothing new under the sun.

    Sieges of our empty cities of our empires in the time of Assyria or Rome, the U.S. or China, and even current afflictions of our political princes and their followers or victims do not surprise Almighty God.

    In every era some in all nations some will succumb to war and hunger. Souls suffering by circumstance must flee from the wrath that is to come.

    A pandemic of sin forces social distancing from the love of the LORD and each other. Throughout the self-idolatrous nations of their ‘mother earth,’ a covert COVID infested world will do what is right in their own eyes.

    Wail out from the depths of your soul

    The funeral dirge of your affliction

    For it is not only for the sins of Jerusalem

    But for the afflictions of the world

    Fleeing from the Lord God.

    Roger@ talkofJesus.com Jan. A.D. 2021

    to be continued...
    
    NEXT: in COVID - the Affliction of Social Distancing - part 2
    we will define affliction & look to Scripture for our cure.