Perseverance
(New English Translation)
The idea of endurance in the Bible is an essential fact in the life of the believer. Endurance is “the capacity to hold out or bear up in the face of difficulty.”1 Endurance is “patience,” “fortitude,” “steadfastness” or “perseverance.”2 Additionally, endurance is “the act or state of patient waiting for someone or something.”3 One of the favorite and well-known verses in the Bible is James 1:12: “Happy is the one who endures testing, because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him.” This verse expresses the idea of endurance that one sees in both Testaments.
The Old Testament idea of endurance is witnessed in the life of Job. Specifically, the life of Job is the perfect example of the idea of perseverance. Job begins with a description of a man described as upright in his actions towards humanity and reverent toward the Lord. In a divine arrangement with Satan, the Lord permits Satan to “test” Job with adversity. In the first test, Job’s possessions are taken away and all Job’s children are killed. Satan accuses the Lord of putting hedges of protection in the form of blessings around Job and that Job is faithful simply because of Yahweh’s blessings. In the second test, Satan afflicts Job with illness. The Lord limits the attacks upon Job by Satan who is prohibited from taking Job’s life. After the attacks from Satan, Job’s friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar and Elihu, come to comfort Job. In Job 4-37, Job debates his friends regarding the “unfairness” of what has happened to him. In the context of attack by Satan, Job maintains his steadfastness of his faith toward Yahweh. The book of Job ends with a theophany of Yahweh, vindication of Job against the accusations of his friends, and the restoration of Job’s wealth(Job 38 –42:6). Job provides the believer with an example of endurance. One can endure even in the presence of unexplained adversity. James 5:11 states, “Think of how we regard as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and you have seen the Lord’s purpose, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” Christians can look to the example of Job and endure. One of the facts for the believer is that one can endure and trust in the Lord because the Lord is “full of compassion and mercy.” The reader of Job has a different vantage point than that of Job. The reader knows that the Lord is acting directly in the life of Job. The tests of Job’s are not as a result of sinfulness, but just the opposite. It is the character of Job that is held up by Yahweh and tested by Satan. Likewise, the believer has an example in Job and can identify with Job that at times one may suffer adversity and not know why or what the Lord is doing. However, the believer can trust in the compassion and providence of the Lord that is articulated in Romans 8:28. The example of Job foreshadows the endurance and restoration of Jesus Christ.
In the New Testament, the person of Jesus is an example of endurance. In the book of Hebrews, one sees the theme of endurance in the face of difficulty. Additionally, the believer is exhorted against shrinking back and renouncing the faith. Jesus is the model of endurance. Here are words of encouragement:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12: 1 and 2).
The writer of Hebrews highlights men and women who exhibit faith and steadfastness toward the Lord. Their example of determination can provide a model for the believer to follow. These pre-Christian role models are called a “ great cloud of witnesses.” The language utilizes athletic imagery and compares the Christian faith to that of an athletic contest. This contest demands endurance in the face of opposition (Hebrews 12:3). Jesus suffered the brutality of the Cross with its shame, and is the goal to which believers look in times of difficulty. Jesus is the “pioneer” of Christian the faith. The word “pioneer” carries the idea of a “trailblazer who breaks through to new ground for those who follow him.” The term “pioneer” is found four times in the New Testament (Acts 3:15; 5:31; Heb 2:10; 12:2). Jesus is called the “perfecter” of the faith by His sacrifice and brought to completion the path to salvation. Jesus is the one “on whom our faith depends from beginning to end” (Heb 12: 2).
In the examples of Job in the Old Testament and Jesus Christ in the New Testament, one sees exemplars of faith who provide models of imitation for the Christian. Additionally, endurance in the New Testament is a character trait that is developed in the life of a Christian. The Apostle Paul richly sketches out characteristics of endurance. Endurance is presented as a basic Christian virtue and attitude. Endurance develops out of the assurance and great wonder of Christian eschatological hope. Given the wonder of the glory that awaits believers, “they can endure present suffering with eagerness, knowing that all suffering in the present can be borne because the reward before them is incomparably delightful.” In 2 Thessalonians 3:5 one finds, “Now may the Lord direct your hearts toward the love of God and the endurance of Christ.”4 In 2 Thessalonians 3:5, the Apostle Paul expresses the hope that the Lord would foster both the love of Christ and also the “endurance of Christ.” The believer is directed toward the “love of God” and this in turn produces in the believer “love for God” in the lives and actions of the Christian. The patience or endurance of Christ is the perseverance which is in the believer on the basis of Christ’s indwelling. This is the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ that fosters God’s love in the believers in Thessalonica and Christians today. In Romans 5:3-5, one finds. “Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance, character, and character, hope. Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” The Holy Spirit in the believer produces a love for God in the trait of endurance and character.
Conclusion
When one thinks of the idea of endurance in the Bible, there are at least two individuals that come to mind. One is mindful of calamities that were encountered by Job. Despite the Satanic disasters foisted upon him, Job maintains his trust and faith in the Lord. The story ends with Job experiencing a divine encounter with the Lord and the restoration of Job to his original state of grace. In the New Testament, one sees our Lord Jesus as a model of endurance. In performing the will of the Father, Jesus endures the Cross and is vindicated by God. Additionally, the trait of endurance is one that is developed in the life of the Christian. The Holy Spirit develops within the believer the characteristic of persistence so the believer is able to withstand the life of faith.
Notes
1. “hypomenoœ” in A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature. Walter Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature. Third Edition. Revised and Edited by Frederick William Danker (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001), 1043.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ulrich Falkenroth and Colin Brown, “hypomenoœ” in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Volume 2. Colin Brown, Ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1986), 772.
