“Be also patient, stablish your hearts:for the coming of the Lord draws nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest you be condemned; behold, the Judge stands before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering affliction and of patience” (Jas. 5:8-10).

        James warns the disciples against walking in a complaining and quarrelsome spirit one toward another. If we are waiting for the Lord, the spirit is calm and contented; it does not get irritated with its persecutors; moreover, we bear with patience the ills of the desert, just as Christ did, bearing wrongs and committing Himself to God. We are contented and quiet, with a happy and kindly spirit, for kindness flows easily from a happy heart. The Lord’s coming will put everything right, and our happiness is found elsewhere. This is what Paul says in Phil. 4:5:”Let your moderation [or yielding spirit] be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” How real, how mighty and practical, was this expectation of the Lord! What power it had over the heart! “The Judge stands before the door.”

        Then he gives examples. The prophets were examples of suffering affliction and of patience, and we count them happy in their sufferings. They have not been alone; others also have endured and have been counted happy. For example, if we see one suffering unjustly for the name of Jesus, and he is patient and meek, his heart called out on behalf of his persecutors rather than irritated against them, then we recognize the power of faith and of confidence in the love and faithfulness of the Lord. He is calm and full of joy, and we say, “See how grace makes that man happy!”

                We, too, are happy when we suffer; at least, we ought to be so. “Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven” (Matt. 5:11,12). But it is one thing to admire others who are sustained by the Spirit of Christ, and another to glory in tribulations when we are in them ourselves. We need a broken will, confidence in God, and communion with Him who has suffered for us, in order to be able to glory in sufferings.

        “And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt” (Num. 14:4).

        “[They] hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage” (Neh. 9:17).

        “This is that Moses … to whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt” (Acts 7:37,39).

        Moses experienced much sorrow of heart at the hand of his brethren whom he was called to lead. With his eyes on the Lord, he was able to endure the hardships and complete the mission that the Lord had given to him to do. He led the children of Israel out of Egypt and through many difficult situations. At one point they rebelled against him and his God and chose a different, unnamed leader to take them back to the pleasures and bondage of Egypt. This was one of many difficult trials that Moses faced on his pathway to the Promised Land, but “he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible” (Heb. 11:27).

        When Moses was 40 years old he fled Egypt for fear of his life after defending one of his Hebrew brothers and killing an Egyptian (Exod. 2:15). He chose to “suffer affliction with the people of God” and to endure “the reproach of Christ” (Heb. 11:25,26) rather than enjoy the privileges that his position held for him in Egypt. He then enjoyed 40 years of contentment in the desert, keeping sheep and raising a family. He wrote Psalm 90 where he numbers the days of men as lasting 70 and possibly 80 years before they “fly away” (Psa. 90:10). At the age of 80, when he may have thought his years were about over in this world, he was called upon to do a monumental task of leading the children of Israel out of Egypt to a new land. The assignment involved returning to the scene of his crime and facing whatever lay before him there. It also involved speaking in front of powerful men, which he was very timid about doing. He said, O my Lord, I am not eloquent … but I am slow of speech” (Exod. 4:10). He went to Egypt and Aaron spoke for him at first, but as he saw the plagues of the LORD do their work, he became bolder and bolder. He spoke to Pharaoh and said “We will go … for we must hold a feast unto the LORD”; “You must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God”; “I will see your face again no more” (Exod. 10:9,25,29). These were not words of a timid man anymore, but words of a man who was carrying God’s message with authority and power.

        Then we see Moses leading a company of people numbering 603,550 men 20 years old and upward who were able to go to battle (Num. 1:45,46). Adding women and children and the tribe of Levi, the total population was likely well over two or three million. Moses had been taken from the quietness of the desert and placed in charge of a large nation. He needed to orchestrate an exodus from their homes, and a trip across the Red Sea through mountains and desert on foot along with their flocks of goats and sheep and herds of cattle. What a sight that must have been to watch them travel, being led by the pillar of cloud and fire! People from other nations joined them as well and added to their number (Exod. 12:38). The LORD laid a tremendous weight on Moses as all of these people followed him to a place that none of them had ever seen before. The people had complained about their hardships in Egypt (Exod. 1:14; 2:23,24) and wanted desperately to be free from the tyranny of Pharaoh. Now they were free and trusting Moses and the LORD to bring them into a better land and life.

        However, it wasn’t long before their murmuring spirit rose up as they complained at the Red Sea when Pharaoh was pursuing them (Exod. 14:12,13). Moses told them to “fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD” (Exod. 14:13) and the LORD preserved them. Then they complained about having no food and the LORD provided quail and manna for them to eat (Exod. 16). Next they complained about being thirsty and the LORD provided water from a rock (Exod. 17). In each of these instances their hearts turned back to Egypt, longing for the comforts that they had enjoyed there and not being thankful for the salvation from the hardships that they had endured in that country. How it grieved and frightened Moses to listen to their murmurings, but he took his burdens to the LORD and said “What shall I do unto this people? They are almost ready to stone me” (Exod. 17:4). The LORD always answered him and gave him reason to hope and courage to continue on being their leader.

        Their complaining hearts climaxed as they rejected Jehovah their God and presumed that Moses had left them or fled when he went up on Mount Sinai. They asked Aaron to make gods for them that they could see and touch. Moses interceded for them when the LORD wanted to destroy them, but he meted out an awful yet necessary judgment on the people as 3,000 men were killed by Levites at Moses’ command (Exod. 32).

        As time went on the people continued to complain. Now their source of complaint was the manna that was given to them every day as they remembered all of the variety and tastes of Egypt. Moses joined them as he asked the LORD, “Why hast Thou afflicted Thy servant? And why have I not found favor in Thy sight, that Thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?” (Num. 11:11). He asked the LORD to take his life, but the LORD responded by giving of the spirit that was upon Moses unto 70 elders of Israel so Moses would not have to bear the burden of the people alone. Then the sister and brother of Moses spoke against him and the LORD spoke on his behalf calling him “My servant Moses … who is faithful in all my house” (Num. 12:7). What a commendation from the Lord after Moses had just questioned the LORD’s ability to feed the nation and had complained about the burden he was bearing. The LORD knew his heart and patiently dealt with him during a time of doubting.

        This large nation finally came to their destination, but a bad report from ten men caused them to complain and weep all night as they wished that they had never taken this journey and decided to appoint a new captain for them who would lead them back to Egypt. Moses was faced with insurrection from a people whom he had given up everything to help, leaving his privileged position in Egypt and the comforts and solitude of the desert. He was now over 80 years old, longing for this journey to be done, and now he was about to be stoned again. The LORD expressed a willingness to disinherit and destroy the multitude (Num. 14:12), but Moses again interceded for them and pled for the LORD to be longsuffering and have mercy. The LORD listened to Moses but vowed that no one who was 20 years old and upward would go into the Promised Land, except for two faithful ones, Joshua and Caleb (Num. 14:29,30).

        Thus began 40 years of wandering by the people as Moses continued to lead them. He accepted this judgment from the LORD and bore it with the people. How difficult it must have been for Moses to continue leading a thankless multitude when he had been ready to enter the land and discharge his duties. The complaining continued as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram led 250 princes of Israel and questioned the authority and priesthood of Moses and Aaron. One of these may have been the captain that was appointed to lead the people back to Egypt as they attempted to overthrow their rulers. The LORD quickly re-established in the minds of the people that Moses and Aaron were His chosen leaders as He caused the earth to swallow up these three men, their homes, and their families. Fire from the LORD consumed the 250 men that had followed them.

        The people complained again about their thirst and reminded Moses of all the pleasures of Egypt. Moses was impatient with the people and heeded not the LORD’s command to speak to a rock, but in anger hit it instead and suffered the consequence of not being allowed to enter into the Promised Land (Num. 20). The soul of the people continued to be “discouraged because of the way” (Num. 21:4) and they spoke against God and against Moses. Fiery serpents were sent by the Lord this time and killed many people, but Moses made a serpent of brass for the people to look upon and those who had been bitten who looked at it lived (Num. 21:9).

        Moses had his 120th birthday and knew that the time had come for him to be laid to rest. He gave this charge unto the people of Israel:“Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them:for the LORD your God, He it is who goes with you; He will not fail you nor forsake you” (Deut. 31:6). He finished his days by writing a song of praise unto the LORD and blessing the people who had caused him so much sorrow and trouble. The first five books of the Bible are ascribed to this man of God and the LORD buried him after He showed him all the land that He had sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Deut. 34).

                Moses had left all in answer to God’s call and in sacrificial love for God’s people. He endured the hardships of traveling for 40 years with a murmuring, rebellious nation numbering in the millions who often wanted to forsake him and return to the land from which the LORD had rescued them. What patience! What endurance! May we follow his example and that of the Lord Jesus and patiently fulfill the call that the Lord has for us to do. “Behold, we count them happy who endure” (Jas. 5:11). “Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).

        In Numbers 14:34 we are told that the children of Israel must wander 40 years in the wilderness because of their unbelief. Only those under 20 years of age (14:29)and two others would enter the land of promise:“My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him and has followed Me fully, him will I bring into the land” (14:24). “Doubtless you shall not come into the land … save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun” (14:30).

        Apparently, Caleb spent the best part of his life in the wilderness. Those 40 years of aimless wandering were, to outward appearance, thrown away. Nor was he to blame. His faith was ready to take him into the land of Kadesh Barnea. He knew God was able to give the people their promised inheritance, and he was ready in the vigor of that assurance to act at once:“Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it” (Num. 13:30). But he, with Joshua, stood alone, and in vain attempted to stem the torrent of fear, unbelief, and rebellion that swept the whole congregation past this point of opportunity—opportunity never to come again to any of that unbelieving host. “We see that they could not enter in because of unbelief” (Heb. 3:19). So he must accompany a rebellious and unbelieving people compelled to go up and down in a waste land, and all that time the home of his choice, fair Hebron, lay away off in the land that the people had despised.

        What did it cost him to walk those 40 years in peace and patience? He was suffering under the government of God, not for his own sin, but because he was identified with Israel and had to go through all the circumstances of trial, sorrow, and temporary cutting off which, in righteous chastening, God was bringing upon the people. Personally he was guiltless, but this enabled him the more clearly and fully to enter into the reality of the chastening.

 

Caleb a Picture of Christ

        In all this, he presents a vivid illustration of our blessed Lord as Messiah, Israel’s King. In the Gospel of Matthew, Christ had attracted the people and awakened their desire for the “kingdom of heaven.” He had shown them—as it were “spied out” for them—the holy principles of that kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount; He had exhibited the “powers of the world to come” (Heb. 6:5), or Eshcol’s fruit (Num. 13:23), in healing every kind of sickness and infirmity, only to find the same unbelief that existed in Caleb’s day. This unbelief culminated in the same rebellion and apostasy, even ascribing to Satan the works of the Holy Spirit! How like Kadesh Barnea this was and how similar in result! The people as a nation refused to enter with Him into the blessings of the kingdom, and so from Matthew 13 onward we see Him, Caleb-like, treading in patience the thorny path of rejection, ending in His being “cut off” as Messiah (Dan. 9:26). “For the transgression of My people was He stricken” (Isa. 53:8).

        Caleb, in his measure, no doubt exhibited this same patience in accompanying the people in their wanderings. To be sure, it was the only thing for him to do; but he evidently did not succumb to the surrounding circumstances for we hear him say when at last a new generation of the people under Joshua had entered the land:“And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as He said, these 45 years … while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness:and now, lo, I am this day 85 years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me … for war, both to go out, and to come in” (Josh. 14:10,11). Only a man who had kept himself “unspotted from the world” (Jas. 1:27) could have said that. Only of the righteous can it be said, “They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing” (Psa. 92:14). There is no need to mention the various instances where special patience, kindness, or diligence was shown. His wilderness history is an unwritten one to be filled out by each one who will walk in his steps. And are not our circumstances very similar to Caleb’s in many ways? To be sure, there is the added factor of personal failure and the need of realizing the chastening for this, but there are certain general characteristics that can be applied to us all. What an example for those who, shut out for the time from their Home, become absorbed with their surroundings and forget “those things that are before” (Phil. 3:13). Did not the memory of Hebron remain in Caleb’s heart as fresh during all those years as at the first? How is it with us, dear brethren? Do we have a longing to be there? Do we have a desire to depart, if need be, and be with Christ? Are our treasures realized to be there and not here? Let us be taught by Caleb who, though his feet were in the desert, had his heart in the land. “Set your affection [or mind] on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:2).

 

Caleb an Example for Us

        We can get help and encouragement from Caleb’s example for individual cases. He was yoked with a carnal people and outwardly had to follow where they were led. We, too, are in christendom and must accept, in a broad sense, the position brought upon it by unbelief. We have often heard it said that it is impossible to restore a ruin; this is true, and we go wrong if we ignore it or attempt to extricate ourselves from the consequences of this ruin. Caleb could not leave the rest of the people, and neither can we separate ourselves from the professing church; we must sorrowfully bear witness to the fact that we are in confusion. (And who of us can claim personal blamelessness in contributing to this confusion?) But though Caleb was outwardly with the people, who could dream of his taking part in, or by his presence sanctioning, the shameful matter of Baal-peor (Num. 25)? So we have not the slightest excuse for mixing ourselves with practices which, if not so gross, are as much forbidden as the sin of Peor. Specification is not needed. “Let every one who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2 Tim. 2:19). We are to hold ourselves ready to help in every way and to minister to God’s people wherever they are, but we are most assuredly not to partake in their unscriptural practices.

        We have lessons still more individual. One of the constant complaints of God’s people, if not upon their lips, in their hearts at least, is that their circumstances are so unfavorable to a full enjoyment of divine things. One is hampered by absorbing business; another is thrown with ungodly persons in the performance of his duty; a third has, it may be, a worldly family. If matters were different, how much more would they enjoy the things of God. Caleb teaches us to have the heart wholly set upon God’s things, and then to walk the path of duty. It is not said that we cannot alter some of our circumstances. We surely ought where they involve us in dishonor to God. But the vast mass will remain unchanged, and it will spoil us for service if we are going to be dragged down by it. Here is our lesson—to live with God and for Him where He puts us. We may have, through unfaithfulness, put ourselves in positions where we must quietly learn from God and glorify Him in the position.

        What is the foundation of a proper walk? To be wholehearted for God. “Hebron [meaning communion] therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel” (Josh. 14:14). If the Lord has not our whole heart, the world will, like a wedge, enter and spoil all. Oh, for more confidence in His love, the conviction of His all-sufficiency that will abide with us in all our path and give us such rest of soul that we may remain, like Caleb, fresh and full of vigor until the Lord Jesus returns.

        Faith never expects to learn deep lessons without deep difficulties; therefore she is not surprised by strange and dark providences. How many are apt to say, “My temptation is peculiar.” But we should remember that it is the peculiar aggravations that make a trial effectual and we should not forget the word, “There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man” (1 Cor. 10:13). Our faith is greatly strengthened when we are brought to see that no one but God can help.

                (From Help and Food, Vol. 11.)

There is manifestly a vast difference between the one who “falls into temptation” or “endures temptation” (Jas. 1:2,12), on the one hand, and the one who “enters into temptation” (Matt. 26:41), on the other. We do well therefore to have it clear and settled in our souls that the former is blessed while the latter is facing the utmost possible danger to the soul. There is nothing more strengthening than to “endure temptation,” nothing more perilous than to “enter into” it. There seems little difference in the words, and people might easily slur over the difference in their thought. But the difference is complete; for in the one case it is an honor that God puts upon us, and in the other a snare that Satan presents to us.

 

Enduring Temptation

        Which of these two things do we know best? How far do our souls know what it is to fall into various temptations or to endure temptation? For we are blessed if we do. Falling into temptation, or enduring it, is that which God delights in. In Genesis 22 we find that Abraham was in a condition in which God could try him; and He loves that we should be in such a condition that He can try us. But this is not so when we are not governed by the sense of the presence of God, and when we are not happy in Him. It is not so where flesh is not judged.

        In Christ, salvation is not merely an incomparable favor such as God has shown to us in the depths of our need, but it is also inseparable from the dealing with self in the presence of God. Where this is not learned at the beginning it must be more painfully taught in the course of one’s life as a child of God. And then what dishonor to God and how grieving to His Spirit is our behavior! Such failure is not enduring temptation, nor is it in the least the same as God’s trying us. In such a state the Lord has rather to buffet us for our faults, as those who bear the name of the Lord Jesus in an uncomely manner.

        How grievous that those who have in the Saviour such a salvation, based on the utter judgment of the flesh, should so little have used it to deal with self, the most hateful of all things to God. I admit there is a greater daringness and pride and subtlety in Satan; but it seems to me that for that which is low and base and mean, there is nothing so bad as self; and yet this is the very thing that every one of us carries with us. The question now is, How far has grace acted upon our souls to lead us to judge it out and out in the presence of God? Where this is the case, the Lord can try us; that is, He can put us to the proof by what is not at all a question of evil of any kind, because God does not tempt by evil any more than He is tempted by evil things.

        When God was pleased to ask Abraham to give up his only son, this was in no wise evil, but a most blessed trial. It was proving whether Abraham had such perfect confidence in God that he would give up the object that was dearest to him, in whom were centered all the promises of God. By grace Abraham could. Of course he did it with the perfect certainty that, if Isaac were then to die, God would raise him up (Heb. 11:19). Abraham perfectly well knew, before the sacrifice was asked, that Isaac was to be the child of promise; and he knew that it was to be Isaac and nobody else—not another son. So he was certain, if Isaac were offered up, God would raise him again from the dead. It was therefore really the goodness of God’s own heart that was reflected in what He asked of Abraham’s heart; and Abraham was brought into greater communion with God in that which was in its measure the counterpart of the gift of His own Son.

        Just so is it with the trials that God is pleased to try us by, speaking now not of our bad trials, but of our good ones—not of such sorrows as Lot passed through, but of those like Abraham’s. It is a proof of the greatest confidence on God’s part if there is in us such a groundwork of walking before God, and in the consciousness of His presence, that He can try us with something that is like Himself—some prize to give up, some suffering to endure in grace—whatever it may be that is according to His own mind. It is in this sense that temptation is spoken of in Jas. 1:2,12.

 

Entering into Temptation

        After this (verses 13-15) we immediately turn to temptation spoken of in a bad sense, and this connects itself with the verse cited earlier in Matthew 26. I shall not dwell long upon either, though both are words of most salutary character for our souls. The Lord had looked for His disciples to watch with Him. Alas, He had not found it. The Lord had gone Himself alone, and had prayed to His Father in deepest suffering. Then He came back to the disciples, and, finding them sleeping, He said to Peter, “What, could you not watch with Me one hour?” No, they could not watch with Him one hour! The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak.

        Now it would be very unworthy for us to take this as an excuse for our own failure; this would be reading Scripture to the positive injury of our souls and the dishonor of God; yet I am afraid there are many who do so. We must remember there is this difference between our standing now, and that of the disciples. Flesh had not been thoroughly exposed and judged at that time; it was prior to the cross of Christ, and so before the Holy Spirit was given. There was divine life, but divine life, in itself, always goes in weakness.

        It is the Holy Spirit who acts in power; and you never can have power without Him. But we are always responsible for the power of the Holy Spirit, because He is given to the believer, and for ever abides in him. This time was not yet come for the disciples, but the Lord did say in view of it, as well as of the state in which they then were, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.” For remember this, it is not any power conferred by the Spirit of God that keeps, even though He be the Spirit of power. It is not energy in this or that which keeps, but dependence on the Lord. It is the sense of weakness that watches and prays, and thus has the power of Christ resting on us. His strength is made perfect in weakness.

        There is nothing that so tends, where it is severed from Christ, to destroy dependence, as a large knowledge of the Word of God. That is where our danger lies. The greater our knowledge of the Word of God, where it is separated from the sense of utter weakness, and consequently from the need of watching and praying, the greater the danger. This is a solemn warning for our souls. There is no doubt plenty of knowledge of Scripture, and of what is called intelligence of truth; but do our souls keep up this sense of our need and weakness, and the expression of it to God? “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”

        What does our Lord mean by “entering into temptation”? He is referring to one who in self-will goes into a scene where nothing but a judged will in one who goes at the bidding of God and leaning on Him can be kept. In other words, the will goes in where failure is inevitable, just because it is will at work. Peter himself soon experienced this. He went where he could not stand, unless the Lord had called and kept him by faith. There was no such thing as Peter enduring temptation; rather, he entered into it, and fell.

        Let me just say that it is all well in the midst of the saints of God to confess our Lord Jesus Christ; but it is not so easy to confess Him truly and humbly where, instead of saints sympathizing with us, shame and contempt or even death may be the consequence, as in Peter’s case. He would have endured, had he gone in by grace, obedience, watching and praying, instead of trusting in his own willingness to go to prison or even to die for his Master. When our Lord says, “The spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is weak,” He is looking at nature in man; and nature is incapable of such a trial. None but God can sustain, and therefore it would require God’s will expressed in His Word to lead us rightly into such a scene of temptation, and His grace sustaining in faith to keep us in it; otherwise it would be but our own will, and we would fall. It would have been an abomination in Abraham to sacrifice his son, unless God had spoken the word. But faith, where self is judged, strengthens the soul to endure temptation. One enters not into temptation where one abides in dependence and self-judgment. Then when we fall into various temptations, we count it all joy; and as we did not enter of our own will, so we do not fall in them, but by grace endure.

        The Lord give us to watch and pray, so much the more because He has blessed us with such a knowledge of His Word and of Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ.

                (From The Bible Treasury, Vol. 8N.)

 “Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him” (Psa. 37:7).

Have you loved ones who are heedless?
Knowing not thy blessed Lord,
Seeking from the world their pleasure,
Caring nothing for His Word?
Does this on your spirit weigh?
  Cease not—pray.

Does the waiting oft seem weary?
And the subject of your prayer
Show no sign or shade of turning?
Is it hard for you to bear
That your loved in darkness grope?
  Look up; hope.

Have you warned, besought, entreated;
Told of mercy from above?
Have you left no word unspoken,
Of God’s wondrous gift and love?
Does it seem already late?
  Only wait.

Let your love not cease an instant;
See how God has loved the lost!
Gave His Son, His only loved One.
Think, O think, the awful cost,
And the pains He took to prove
  All His love.

Some one prayed, and hoped, and waited,
When your heart was hard and dark,
Watching for the faintest glimmer
Of the longed-for living spark.
With your heart’s door’s lifted latch
  Keep your watch.

Some one pled at morn and evening
For your heedless, straying soul;
Some one craved the balm of healing,
Which alone could make you whole:
No, it is no weary task
  Just to ask.

God is patient, He is waiting:
Wait with Him, and willingly
Let Him carry all your burdens;
They’re too heavy, far, for thee.
Love and watch, and hope and pray,
  Every day.

In the glory over yonder
You shall find your prayers and tears:
Not e’en one has been forgotten,
Through the weary, anxious years.
Soon you’ll reach that changeless shore,
  Trust Him more.

Do you know the love of Jesus?
Measure it by Calvary’s cross.
Do you know the Father’s tender
Heart that yearneth over us?
Lean your head upon His breast;
  There is rest.
 (From Help and Food, Vol. 28.)

“The fruit of the Spirit is … longsuffering (Gal. 5:22). The word in the original Greek is makrothumia and means literally, “long-tempered.” This word is similar in meaning, yet distinct from hupomone which is usually translated “patience” in our English Bibles. Longsuffering is the quality of controlling one’s temper and not quickly retaliating when provoked by other persons; it is the opposite of anger, and is associated with meekness. Patience is the quality of bearing up under trials or adverse circumstances; it is the opposite of depression or despondency and is associated with hope. So longsuffering has more to do with trials from persons, and patience has to do with trials from things or circumstances.

        It is perhaps significant that it is the former—longsuffering—that is specifically mentioned as a fruit of the Spirit. The natural man seems to find it easier to bear up under adverse circumstances and trials than to bear without anger or retaliation the taunts, insults, slights, put-downs, and provocations from his fellow men. Thus it is often a particularly impressive and noticeable mark of being Spirit-filled for the Christian to manifest this quality of longsuffering, or long temper, in the face of antagonism by others.

        Longsuffering is an attribute of God. “The LORD passed by before him and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (Exod. 34:6; see also Num. 14:18; Psa. 86:15). “The Lord is … longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9; see also Rom. 2:4; 9:22; 1 Pet. 3:20). And how beautifully was this attribute manifested by the Lord Jesus, “who when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not” (1 Pet. 2:23).

        As we consider God’s longsuffering toward us (and how often, surely, have we provoked Him!), may we grow in our desire and ability through the power of the Spirit to manifest this same longsuffering toward others (Col. 1:10,11; 3:12,13).

                “Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:1-3).

It Did Not Look Like It:

        The accepted man, Abel, was murdered in jealous hate by the refused man, Cain. It seemed for the moment to be a sorry price to pay as the cost of God’s acceptance, though this latter was by virtue of his offering, type of our standing in God’s favor through the excellency of Christ’s offering. Abel was murdered, and this only hurried him into the everlasting peace of God’s presence. Was his usefulness on earth then cut short? No, he has preached longer than any preacher ever known. For one thing he began earlier than any:he was the first to die, and he being “dead yet speaks” (Heb. 11:4). His lips are more eloquent in death than they could have been in life. Ask Abel, “Does God care?” What answer will he give? There is only one possible answer, earnest and emphatic.

 

It Did Not Look Like It:

        The rough spoken lord of Egypt made it impossible for Jacob’s sons to return for corn, unless Benjamin was with them. The old man, bereaved of his loved wife, Rachel, and her firstborn, Joseph, clung with passionate affection to Benjamin, the sole link with that particular past. When at last he was compelled to part with him, he gave vent to his grief, “You have bereaved me of my children:Joseph is not and Simeon is not, and you will take Benjamin away:all these things are against me” (Gen. 42:36). Were they against him? He could not see far enough. Little did he think that the shadow of dreaded bereavement resting on his spirit, was in reality but the breaking of the clouds. Instead of losing Benjamin he was about to regain Joseph, and in regaining Joseph, every pinch of want would be a thing of the past, as he lived in the land of Joseph’s providing and received of his bounty, even though all the rest of the earth was famine stricken. Ask Jacob, “Does God care?” Hear him say to Joseph for answer, “I had not thought to see your face:and, lo! God has showed me also your seed” (Gen. 48:11).

 

It Did Not Look Like It:

        The children of Israel groaned under bitter bondage, smarted under the whip of the cruel taskmaster, their would-be deliverer doing nothing more heroic for 40 long years than keeping the flock of his father-in-law at the backside of the desert. And when he made his first effort to gain release for his oppressed countrymen, it was only to make their plight still worse, as the word went forth that no more straw was to be given to the people, and yet the count of the bricks was not to be diminished. When the people murmured against Moses, they did not look far enough. Could they have seen what lay before them, how differently they would have viewed things! To the question of “Does God care?” the song on the Red Sea’s banks gives triumphant answer.

 

It Did Not Look Like It:

        God’s anointed was hunted like a partridge on the mountains, a king without a throne. A motley crew was around him in the cave of Adullam, those distressed, in debt, discontented, all with their lives in their hands. It was a rough experience, and patience and endurance were sorely tried; yet tribulation taught David happier lessons than the prosperity of the throne. Those years of tribulation produced the Psalms, which have comforted the saints of God well nigh 3,000 years. When Doeg the Edomite told Saul that David had come to the house of Ahimelech, hear the answer of David’s heart to the question, “Does God care?” “Why do you boast yourself in mischief, O mighty man? The goodness of God endures continually” (Psa. 52:1). When the Ziphim came and said to Saul, “Does not David hide himself with us?” David’s response was, “Behold God is my helper:the Lord is with those who uphold my soul” (Psa. 54:4). When he fled from Saul in the cave, he could sing, “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed:I will sing and give praise” (Psa. 57:7). So it ever is. God does care, spite of appearances to the contrary.

 

It Did Not Look Like It:

        What a scene of imposing splendor:princes, governors, captains, judges, treasurers, counselors, sheriffs, and rulers were all going one way. But three men stood against the swiftly flowing tide.

        How easily might the three Hebrew children have asked in doubt, “Does God care?” Would it not be well to submit and bow to the image of gold? But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had but one thought. To bow to God? Yes! To bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image? Never! The king, full of fury, commanded the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than its wont. What must the feelings of the three Hebrew children have been as the most mighty men in the army bound them in their coats, their hats, and their other garments? But God was sufficient even for a test like this. The fiery flames with their scorching breath destroyed the mighty men, while they burned the bonds of those devoted youths, and set them free to walk where never mortal man had walked before, upon a pavement of molten fire, without the smell of fire upon them, not a hair of their head singed, and in the best of company, that of the Son of God. The inside of the furnace was better far than the outside. Not victims but victors were they, delivered by their God! The king’s word changed, and his decree altered into giving universal respect to a God who could so act—this was the unexpected result of their faithfulness and constancy. God cared! And what will He not do for us if we stand true to Him?

 

It Did Not Look Like It:

        At the end of a faithful course, after years of evangelizing and planting churches, the apostle Paul had to say, “All those who are in Asia be turned away from me” (2 Tim. 1:15). “I suffer trouble, as an evildoer, even unto bonds” (2 Tim. 2:9). “Demas has forsaken me—only Luke is with me” (2 Tim. 4:10). What a contrast! He, who had been in the forefront of the fight, was forsaken and alone! Yet when he writes, a prisoner, from Rome, with martyrdom before him, he can say to his beloved Philippians, “Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, rejoice” (Phil. 4:4); and, as we read the Epistle, we can note the long vigorous stride the aged spiritual athlete takes as he exultingly cries, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14).

        Should this not encourage us? Are we forsaken, left alone, isolated? Then is the time to lean upon the Lord Himself. We may with grief see the multitude turn away, but like Paul we may unmoved press on. In whatever circumstances we are, He is sufficient for us. To have His company and His smile is essential. Nothing else is.

        Scripture teems with illustrations of how God cares, and how shortsighted man is in looking at events happening to him. Yet with such a wealth of illustration, how little we are prepared to bring God into our calculations; how we leave Him out, thus losing both in peace of mind and steadiness of purpose.

        “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31). “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37).

        Surely we need never raise the question, “Does God care?” but henceforth calmly rest in the abiding sense of His ceaseless and untiring love.

        (From Scripture Truth, Vol. 1.)