"And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing
that tribulation worketh
patience;" ~ Romans 5:3
"Tribulations are the common lot of humanity, and only the
Christian, as captive to the will of God, can triumph over them in utter glory.
One of Job's comforters expressed a truth that has become proverbial:
'Affliction comes not forth of the dust, neither does trouble spring out of the
ground; yet man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward" (Job 5:6,7).
Trial and suffering are the common lot of man, and no one will escape this
heritage. The Hebrew of this passage in Job is very beautiful, for the
comparison between the trouble of mankind and the flying sparks is couched in
most poetic language. The two Hebrew words translated by our one word
"sparks" are literally "the sons of flame." The fire on the
hearth produces an offspring of sparks. Life is a similar fire, and each
generation is placed upon the burning embers of the past. Coming from fallen
Adam as we all do, there is nothing for us but the trials and sorrows,
adversities and afflictions common to all men."
"The believer who has entered into the redemption that is in
Christ has been introduced to the endless supply of grace provided among the spiritual
blessings which are ours in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3) rejoices in the hope
of the glory of God and glories in tribulations. That this is a supernatural
experience is evident from the meaning of the words that describe the suffering
which purchases for us rejoicing and glory. "Tribulation" has been
taken over from the Latin. The verb tribulare, which
means, "to press, to oppress, to afflict."
The Greek word brings us the same thought, couched under a
slightly different imagery. The word is thlipsis, and
originally conveyed the idea of "pressing together, pressure." It is
interesting to note from the lexicons and dictionaries of the ancient language
that the application of this word to human suffering was first employed in the
New Testament. The Christians were the first to think of themselves as being in
the vat like grapes or olives, and being pressed to the point where their joy
ran out like wine or oil. How can we press joy from sorrow as one presses wine
from grapes or oil from olives?"
"Oil and wine are biblical symbols of joy. (Psalms 104:15;
Numbers 6:24,25; Psalms 45:7; Psalms 104:15). The Lord has told us that He
wants our joy to be full. In spite of this, many of His children come short of
the great grace that He has for us in this life. They are fundamental and know
the doctrines; they are instructed and know the vocabulary; they are saved and
have the potentialities, but do they have fullness of joy? They have olives but
no oil, grapes but no wine."
"Olives and grapes are fruits which produce oil and wine but
they are not oil and wine themselves. In Palestine we find olives and grapes
that have never fulfilled their true destiny. The olive shrinks and is
wrinkled. A hungry man will eat such olives, and the poor people put them in
their food; but the richness has evaporated. Grapes that remain on the vine
harden, and after a time are pulpy and dry. They will keep for months, dry all
the time, and will still be nourishing, but the wine is gone, and the raisins
excite a thirst for the juice that is not there. Such olives and grapes are
better than nothing, but they are not substitutes for oil and wine."
"Are you satisfied with olives and grapes? Be sure they will
dry up in your storehouse and will never furnish the shining face or the merry heart.
Oil and wine bring joy, not olives and grapes. And surely you can see that it
is not possible to have oil and wine unless olives are pressed and grapes are
crushed. Even the finest fruit will not yield its essence without this process.
Indeed, the finer the fruit the firmer the skin, and the heavier pressure that
must be put upon it to burst its surface that the juices may spurt. If you are
to be splashed with joy, you must be crushed."
Barnhouse, Donald
Grey. God's River Romans 5:1-11 Expositions of Bible Doctrines Epistles to the
Romans.Philadelphia: The Evangelical Foundation, inc., 1959. 72-74
