TRIBULATION
AND DISTRESS:
thlipsis kai stenochoria: (Pr 1:27,28;
2 Th 1:6) (Click
Romans
for all uses of thlipsis)
(See tribulation in
ISBE,
EASTON)
(Torrey's Topic
Punishment of the Wicked)
Tribulation
(2347) (thlipsis
from
thlibo = to crush, press together,
compress, squeeze in turn derived from thláo = to break) (see
in depth study of
thlipsis) originally expressed sheer,
physical pressure on a man. It conveys the idea of being squeezed or
placed under pressure or crushed beneath a weight. Thlipsis is
literally a pressing together. When, according to
the ancient law of England, those who willfully refused to plead guilty, had heavy weights placed on their breasts,
and were pressed and crushed to death, this was literally thlipsis. The iron cage was
stenochoria (see below).
Figuratively in the NT, thlipsis usually refers to suffering brought on
by outward circumstances affliction, oppression, trouble as Paul
described elsewhere in Romans writing...
And not
only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that
tribulation brings about perseverance (see notes
Romans 5:3).
Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
(see notes
Romans 8:35)
Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,
(see notes
Romans 12:12)
Thlipsis is seen
experienced when believers participate in the sufferings of Christ (see
notes
Colossians 1:24). of sufferings
of the end-time tribulation, trouble, distress (MK 13.19); Thlipsis
refers to a specific three and one half years which Jesus referred to as
the "Great Tribulation" (click
description including table of synonyms)
a time
of great trouble for the world, and especially for Israel (Mt
24:15, 21-22;
Revelation 7:14)
Clearly
in the present context thlipsis is referring to eternal
destruction in gehenna. In a similar use of thlipsis (and the
related verb thlibo) Paul assures the believer who were suffering
temporal affliction as the result of their stand for the gospel of Jesus
Christ that...
"after all it is only just for God to
repay with affliction (thlipsis) those who afflict (verb thlibo) you,
and to give relief to you who are afflicted (verb thlibo) and to us as
well when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty
angels in flaming fire dealing out retribution to those who do not know
God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus." (2Thes 1:6-8)
Figuratively thlipsis pictures one being "crushed" by intense
pressure, difficult circumstances, suffering or trouble pressing upon
them from without. Thus persecution, affliction, distress, opposition or
tribulation, all press hard on one's soul. Thlipsis does not
refer to mild discomfort but to great difficulty. In Scripture the
thlipsis is most often used of outward difficulties, but it is also
used of emotional stress and sorrows which "weighs down" a man’s spirit
like the sorrows and burden his heart. Thlipsis then includes the
disappointments which can "crush the life" out of the one who is
afflicted.
The
English word "tribulation" is derived from the Latin
word tribulum (literally a thing with teeth that tears), which
was a heavy piece of timber with spikes in it, used for threshing the
corn or grain. The tribulum was drawn over the grain and it
separated the wheat from the chaff.
Marvin Vincent has the following note explaining that the root
thlibo means...
"to press or squeeze. Tribulation is
perhaps as accurate a rendering as is possible, being derived from
tribulum, the threshing-roller of the Romans. In both the idea of
pressure is dominant, though thlipsis does not convey the idea of
separation (as of corn from husk) which is implied in tribulatio."
(Vincent, M. R. Word studies in the New Testament Vol. 1, Page
3-80)
Distress
(4730)
(stenochoria
from stenos = narrow + chora = place) occurs 4 times in the NT in the NASB: (2x Ro;
2x 2Cor)
Stenochoria is literally a narrow place,
a confined space and then the painfulness of associated with this
condition.
Vincent comments that the “dominant idea is constraint."
It pictures finding oneself in a "tight corner", hemmed in with no way
out, in a narrow strait without the possibility of escape.
Stenochoria
might be used of an army caught in a narrow, rocky defile with space
neither to maneuver nor to escape. It might be used of a ship caught in
a storm with no room either to ride it or to run before it. There are
moments when a man seems to be in a situation in which the walls of life
are closing round him -- that is the picture inherent in stenochoria.
The opposite state, of being in a large place, was metaphorically used
to describe a state of joy as in
Ps 118:5 where the psalmist writes "From
my distress I called upon the LORD. The LORD answered me and set me in a
large place."
In the Greek translation
of the Hebrew (LXX)
stenochoria is used to picture the
horrors of confinement by a siege, Moses recording
"Then you shall
eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your
daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, during the siege and the
distress by which your enemy shall oppress you." (Dt
28:53)
The
other 7 uses of stenochoria in the
LXX are found in
Deut 28:55, 57, Est 1:1, 4:17, Isa 8:22, 9:1, 30:6.
Albert Barnes writes
that stenochoria
"means literally narrowness of place,
lack of room, and then the anxiety and distress of mind which a man
experiences who is pressed on every side by afflictions, and trials, and
want, or by punishment, and who does not know where he may turn himself
to find relief. It is thus expressive of the punishment of the wicked.
It means that they shall be compressed with the manifestations of God’s
displeasure, so as to be in deep distress, and so as not to know where
to find relief."
Stenochoria metaphorically refers to great anxiety and distress of
mind, such as arises when a man does not know where to turn himself or
what to do for relief. It conveys the
idea of anguish (which Webster defines as extreme pain; distress of mind
and suggests torturing grief or dread ), dire calamity, extreme
affliction or distress. In three of the four NT uses (Ro 2:9;
8:35; 2 Co 6:4) stenochoria is found with
thlipsis. Whereas
tribulation (thlipsis) emphasizes troubles pressing
upon us from without (e.g., persecution, etc). Stenochoria has in view
the distress which arises from within (usually caused by thlipsis),
such as anguish or discomfort. Trench concludes that stenochoria is the
"stronger" of the two words.
Besides capital
punishment, solitary confinement has long been considered the worst form
of punishment, being the absolute, lonely confinement of a prisoner who
is already strictly confined. Part of hell’s torment will be its
absolute, isolated, lonely, and eternal confinement, with no possible
hope of release or escape.
Paul uses stenochoria later in answering the rhetorical question "Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?"
(see note
Romans 8:35)
Four terrifying words in (Romans 2:8-9) suggest a series of cause and effect. The
first wrath (orge) indicates God’s attitude toward sin, the second
indignation (thumos)
the expression of that attitude, the third affliction (thlipsis) the result there from, the fourth
distress (stenochoria) the realization of entire
helplessness. These four descriptions stand in dramatic contrast to eternal
life. If this picture of contrasting destinies does not get
a sinner's attention, what will? In
each contrasting destiny there is a conscious experience either of woe or of
blessedness!
William Newell sums this section up noting that in the
tribulation...
the visitation strikes its object.
The false peace (cf 1Thes 5:3) of his hardened, impenitent earth-life is
now horribly broken up by direct visitation from God in vengeance.
Finally, anguish: which sets forth the result of that tribulation which
meets the lost directly from an angry, indignant Creator and Judge. "I
am in anguish in this flame, " cried lost Dives, in Hades (God's prison
for the lost until the Day of Judgment). What unspeakable horrors, then,
will that Day bring! (Romans 2)
FOR EVERY SOUL
OF MAN
WHO
DOES EVIL: epi pasan psuchen anthropou tou katergazomenou (PMPMSG)
to kakon: (soul
Ezek 18:4;
Mt 16:26)
(for evil click
kakia)
(soul in
ISBE, evil in
ISBE)
For
is the preposition epi which is more literally translated upon,
which more dramatically pictures the tribulation and distress as if they were
coming down upon
every rebellious soul.
In Ezekiel God declares...
Behold, all souls are
Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the
son is Mine. The soul who sins will die. (Ezekiel 18:4)
Jesus speaking of men's souls asked one of the most
piercing question in all eternity...
"For what will a man be
profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or
what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mt 16:26)
This future
aspect of God's wrath is dramatically illustrated by John who describes
"huge
hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, (coming)
down from heaven UPON men and men (blaspheming)
God because of the plague of the
hail, because its plague was extremely severe." (Rev 16:21)
John gives us a similar picture of this aspect of God's
wrath even in the present age of grace noting that
"He
who
believes in the
Son
has
eternal
life; but he who does not
obey the
Son will not
see
life, but the
wrath
of
God
abides (continually =
present tense)
UPON
him." (John
3:36)
Every soul of man -
This phrase expresses the
equality and universality of the treatment dealt out by the just Judge
of all mankind.
Does
(2716)
(katergazomai
from kata = intensifies meaning of + ergazomai =
engage in an
activity involving considerable
expenditure of effort) means to work out fully.
The idea of
katergazomai is to finish what one has begun. This verb clearly indicates the thoroughness of
their evil behavior. And so we see that men's evil works betray their
evil heart which in turn is a heart of unbelief and disobedience. Works
are always the outward expression of a person’s heart attitude toward the
Lord.
The Roman scholar Strabo uses the verb
katergazomai
to describe the extraction of silver from mines with the
implication being that intense effort is required to carry mine for
precious metal and in this case is motivated by a potential reward.
Paul
uses
katergazomai
to emphasize that these
individuals work with effort to bring their evil deeds to fulfillment or completion.
The
present tense
indicates that they
continuously, habitually are performing these deeds with "success"! It is ironic that Paul chose this same
verb (Katergazomai)
in (Philippians
2:12) calling believers to
Work out (katergazomai
in the
present imperative =
command to believers to continually do this) salvation with fear and
trembling" (see
discussion)
This verse emphasizes the effort
called for to accomplish the specified task (in this case "salvation"
refers not to the first time event which would be "justification" but to
the everyday working out of our salvation which is referred to as
"sanctification" or "present tense salvation" - see discussion of
Three Tenses of Salvation).
Evil (2556)
(kakos) (Click
for in depth analysis of related word
kakia) speaks of lack of goodness, of a
bad nature, not such as it ought to be and defines one who is evil in
himself, wicked, vicious, bad in heart, conduct, and character and, as
such, gets others in trouble. Kakos is found from Homer on in a
large variety of associations and means bad in the sense of lacking
something, always in contrast to agathos which is good.
Kakos was descriptive of a
soldier who was cowardly. It is seen in several English words,
such as "cacophony" (a discordant, bad sound), "cacography" (illegible
writing), and "cacodemon" (an evil demon—as if there were "good"
demons). The very sound of the word kakos suggests the idea in the word
“reprehensible.”
Larry Richards explains
that...
one passage in Romans is
theologically definitive in explaining the kakos done by human
beings who know what is good and who want to do it. Romans 7:7-25
contains Paul's report of his personal struggle with sin. In this
passage he links the law of God, expressed in commandments, with
"another law [principle] at work in the members of [his] body" (Ro
7:23).
Paul sees in Scripture the divine
revelation of righteousness and agrees that God's will is both right and
beautiful. But when Paul tries to do what this revelation unveils, he
discovers that he cannot. "I know that nothing good lives in me, that
is, in my sinful nature" is the apostle's agonized confession (Ro 7:18).
Thus he says, "What I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil
[kakos] I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. . . . When I want to
do good, evil [kakos] is right there with me" (Ro 7:19, 21).
This is Paul's explanation of the
moral gap that exists between what human beings recognize as good and
what they actually do. The problem is that sin has warped human nature:
"kakos is right there with me." There is a flaw within us that
keeps the best of us from being what we should be and what we want to
be. (Richards,
L O: Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Regency)
And so we see that one
can chose to do (work out) evil deeds or salvation, the evil path
terminating in
tribulation and distress, the righteous path of sanctification leading
to eternal life.
Could the choice between blessing and
cursing be more clear?
This picture reminds
us of Jehovah's warning through Moses to Israel just prior to entering
the "land of milk and honey" declaring
"I
call
heaven and
earth to
witness against you
today, that I have
set
before you
life and
death, the
blessing and the
curse. So
choose
life in
order that you may
live, you and your
descendants, by
loving the
LORD your
God, by
obeying His
voice, and by
holding
fast to Him; for
this is your
life and the
length of your
days, that you may
live in the
land
which the
LORD
swore to your
fathers, to
Abraham,
Isaac, and
Jacob, to
give them."
(Dt 30:19-20)
The words of Paul's warning here in
Romans 2 are not identical to those in Deuteronomy , but the message is
the same - choose life and blessing that come only from loving and obeying the
Gospel of Jesus Christ, not from works of the flesh, of self effort..
OF THE JEW
FIRST AND ALSO OF THE GREEK: Ioudaiou te proton kai Hellenos:
(Ro
2:10;
1:16;
3:29,30;
4:9-12;
9:24;
10:12;
15:8,9;
Am 3:2;
Mt 11:20-24;
Lu 2:30-32;
12:47,48;
24:47;
Acts 3:26;
11:18;
13:26,46,47;
18:5,6;
Acts 20:21;
26:20;
28:17,28;
Gal 2:15,16;
3:28;
Eph 2:11-17;
Col 3:11;
1Pet 4:17)
(See Jew in
Smith,
ISBE,
Easton) (See Greek/Gentile
in
Easton,
Smith,
ISBE,
Torrey's Topical)
Jew (2453)
(Ioudaios) occurs first in 2 Kings 16:6 (NAS - Judeans,
KJV - Jews) the Hebrew word yehudiy which is derived from
yehudah meaning Judah or "praise". And so strictly
speaking Jew means a member of the tribe of Judah, but with
common usage came to be used as a designation of all Israelites. Israel
readily received the appellation of Jew and took great pride in
this name and its association with praise (cp note
Romans 2:17;
see probable play on words by Paul in
Romans 2:29
where he uses the word "praise"!). The Jewish expectation was that
the Gentiles would be judged by God, while they would escape, but Paul
quickly dissolves their false assertions.
First (4413)(proton) means first in
time, place, order or importance. In the present context Paul is
emphasizing priority not chronology per se. (See also note on use of
first in
Romans 1:16).
Be careful to note that Paul's prioritizing the Jews in no way
impugns God's partiality (Romans
2:11 click note), for His judgment will still be impartial
for all offending parties, irregardless of whether they are Jew or
Gentile.
Greek (1672)
(hellen) refers to Greeks by birth but in this context refers to
Gentiles.
Jew...and...Greek -
Encompasses the totality of mankind. No exclusions. No partiality. No
favorites. (see note
Romans 2:11)
Mounce observes that...
Ironically, priority in
blessing (Romans
1:16)
results in priority in judgment. Israel was privileged to be the
first to receive the revelation
of God. But spiritual privilege carried with it spiritual
responsibility. Failure brought “trouble and distress.” Concerning
Israel, God said, “You only have I chosen of all the families of the
earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins” (Amos 3:2).(Mounce,
R. H. Romans: The New American Commentary. Broadman & Holman Publishers
or
Logos)
Cottrell agrees
adding that...
Here for the first time in this
chapter Paul actually mentions the Jews, and he does so in a way
that drives home his main point: the righteous judgment of God falls
equally on both Jews and Gentiles. (Ed note: In other words God's
judgment will be impartial) This is enough to expose the fallacy
of the myth of divine partiality toward the Jews, but Paul goes even
further. Not only does God apply the principle of judgment equally to
the two groups; He will actually pour out His wrath on the “Jew first.”
This is an application of Jesus’ principle, “From everyone who has been
given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been
entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48). (Cottrell,
J. Romans : Volume 1. College Press NIV commentary. Joplin, Mo.: College
Press)
Haldane writes that...
In this place, “the Jew first”
must mean the Jew principally, and implies that the Jew is more
accountable than the Gentile, and will be punished according to his
superior light; for as the Jew will have received more than the Gentile,
he will also be held more culpable before the Divine tribunal, and will
consequently be more severely punished. His privileges will aggravate
his culpability, and increase his punishment. (Haldane,
R. An Exposition on the Epistle to the Roman. Ages Classic Commentaries)
The judgment of God will be according to privilege or light received.
The Jews were first in privilege as God’s earthly chosen people and they
will be first in responsibility. Israel will receive severer punishment
because she was given greater light and blessing (see note
Romans 9:3-4). Jesus taught this principle
in the gospel of Matthew declaring to the Jewish audience:
Woe
to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had
occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have
repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it
shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than
for you. (Matthew
11:21-22)
MacArthur adds that...
God had indeed chosen Israel above
other peoples to be His elect nation. “You only have I chosen among all
the families of the earth,” He declared to Israel (Amos 3:2a). But He
immediately went on to say, “Therefore, I will punish you for all your
iniquities” (v. 2b). Israel will receive severer punishment because
she was given greater light and greater blessing. As Paul here makes
clear, the Jew first means that being first in salvation
opportunity also means being first in judgment responsibility. (MacArthur,
J: Romans 1-8. Chicago: Moody Press
or
Logos)
It is truly tragic that God’s bountiful blessings failed to
lead the majority of the Jews to repentance. Here in Romans 2
Paul's desire is for the Jew (and all so-called religious and
self-righteous persons) to be confronted with their evil, empty works
which warrant God's judgment. Paul's goal is that they might see their
empty works and their doomed condition and
turn to truth of the gospel which is the power of God for salvation.
God
doesn't want big talkers but "big doers" (enabled by grace and
the indwelling Spirit of the new birth) because anyone can say "I keep
the law" but what God wants is men and women who actually live the Law
from a (circumcised) heart
that obeys God out of love not legalism. That's where most of the Old
and New Testament Jews fell short. They did not
understand that it is not the possession of the law but the
practice of the law (empowered by grace and the Holy Spirit) that
pleases God.
