We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
- 2 Corinthians 1:8-11
Last week, we began looking at this introductory section of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. In that section, Paul emphasized how God is our comfort in times of suffering, and we should then comfort others. Here, Paul tells us a bit more about those sufferings and the hope that he has in spite of that.
In verse 8, he desires to inform the Corinthian church about what he’s gone through, though he does not go into great detail. Paul’s reference to “in the province of Asia” is vague, so scholars do not know exactly where this trouble occurred. Scholars believe that it had likely occurred recently, given that Paul still seems to be emotional from this experience. It is likely that the Corinthians would have known the specifics since Paul does not elaborate.
Scholars do have some ideas on what Paul’s great affliction in Asia was, though these are all speculative. Some believe it was his fighting with wild beasts in Ephesus (1 Corinthians 15:32). Others believe it was him suffering 39 lashes 5 times from the Jewish leaders, which he mentions later in this letter (2 Corinthians 11:24). It could also refer to the riot at Ephesus (Acts 19:23-41) or perhaps another time when people attempted to kill Paul. Or it may refer to persecution that Paul experienced somewhere from people who opposed him (Acts 20:19, 1 Corinthians 16:9).
However, this does seem to be a unique experience for Paul, at least up to this point in his life. It was incredibly overwhelming to him and his travel companions, and they basically gave up hope. They felt they could not endure it, and they did not think they were going to live through it. The rare Greek word translated as “despaired” in the last phrase implies that there is absolutely no opportunity to get out of a particularly oppressive circumstance. They did not think God was going to sustain them on earth through this affliction.
Paul reiterates that sentiment in the first part of verse 9: “Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death.” He fully expected that his time on this earth was done. But, God clearly delivered Paul and his companions from this terrible experience! Paul equates being so close to death and then being given life again with resurrection. He knows that it was only God who brought them through that affliction, and he shares this with the Corinthians so they can see what a miraculous work God did in Paul’s life. This was not to bring Paul and his companions any glory but rather that they would rely on God. God is the only one who can raise the dead, and Paul can now relate to that, being given a new lease on life.
God had delivered them from a deadly situation, and Paul believed that God would do that again in the future (verse 10). Note that Paul doesn’t say that he hopes never to be in a similar situation instead. He does not try to avoid future suffering. Instead, he knows that he will be put in this kind of situation again in the future, and he trusts that God will deliver him again. Whether that deliverance is on this earth or to leave this life and spend eternity in heaven, Paul does not know. But he fully trusts in God to provide deliverance through suffering, rather than hoping that God would simply not let him go through that kind of suffering again.
Paul also knows that the prayers of the Corinthians and other churches of the time will help sustain him and his fellow workers for the Kingdom (verse 11). The people should pray to thank God for delivering Paul so that he may continue to spread the gospel message of Jesus Christ on this earth; his work was not yet done! Many will give thanks for God sparing Paul’s earthly life at that time because he would continue to spread the gospel to more people.
While we don’t know exactly what Paul experienced, we do have the opportunity to know the God who delivered Paul through it. We want God to deliver us from suffering rather than delivering us through it, but that is often not how God works. We need to go through difficult times in our lives in order to see God as the one who delivers us, sustains us, and comforts us no matter what. Stories like Paul’s, even if we don’t have many details, can encourage us just like Paul writes: “He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again.”
God is a God of deliverance. Sometimes that means delivering us here on this earth, or sometimes that means delivering us to eternal life in heaven with Him. But either way, take comfort in the fact that although we cannot (and should not) avoid suffering on this earth, God is there to deliver us through it, just as he was for Paul.
This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration. All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved. Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.
0 comments:
Post a Comment