Thlibo: Withstanding Pressure

Word of the Week

June 1, 2025

Thlipsis: Withstanding Pressure

 

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.

John 16:33 NASB

 

George Washington was known as a physically strong man, not just a political stateman.  Someone commented that he could crack a walnut with his powerful fingers.  I, on the other hand, always use a nutcracker!

According to the Web, it takes 10-20 pounds of force on a tiny bit of the surface to crack a walnut.  That translates into 1000 to 2000 pounds per square inch!

Many of us feel like a walnut being squeezed by the circumstances of life that exert immense pressure on us.  You may feel as if you’re ready to crack!

That’s why I’m glad that the Bible has a lot to say about pressure.  In fact, there’s a Greek word for it that holds a prominent place in the New Testament.

The word is thlipsis [THLIP-sis] and it occurs 45 times in the New Testament, especially in Paul’s epistles – he lived with lots of pressures!  It is usually translated as “tribulation, affliction, pressure.”

Secular Greek used thlipsis in the literal sense of “compression, pressure.”  A physician might use it to describe the strength of a person’s pulse.  It occurred often with other words that meant “to put in a narrow place, to be hemmed in.”

It could describe the inner, emotional pressure that we feel when things are out of control.    The imprisoned Paul spoke of rivals who were preaching for faulty motives, “thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment” (Philippians 1:17).  He told the Corinthians that he was writing to them “out of much affliction and anguish of heart” (2 Corinthians 2:4). When someone squeezes you too tightly, it can hurt.

Most of the time, thlipsis refers to the external forces that are pushing at you from all sides.

• A woman in labor suffers the pain of muscle contractions. Jesus refers to this as the anguish that is forgotten once she has the joy of a new child (John 16:21).
• Famine brings pressure. Stephen told the story of Joseph’s role when “a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it” (Acts 7:11).
• Early Christians often suffered pressure from persecution. Saul the bigot launched a persecution that scattered believers after the death of Stephen (Acts 11:19).  Later he wrote to encourage young followers of Jesus who were undergoing persecution for their faith (2 Thessalonians 1:4, 6).
• Prison is another source of pressure. Paul was warned that “bonds and afflictions” awaited him in Jerusalem {Acts 20:33).
• Poverty brings its own pressures. Paul praised the churches of Macedonia who gave generously to help struggling believers in Jerusalem.  He testified that “in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality (2 Corinthians 8:2).
• Pressure might even take the form of ridicule and character assassination. Hebrews mentions those who suffered “by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations” (Hebrews 10:33).

When it feels that tribulation is pushing too hard, here are some of the wisdom that you can find in the New Testament uses of this word.

1. We all have tribulation. Jesus promised it as a feature of living in the world (John 16:33).
2. We can have peace even when we face tribulation. Jesus promised this in the same verse.
3. Tribulation has a good effect because it builds endurance. We may not enjoy the experience, but we can be joyful about the way it strengthens us (Romans 5:3).
4. Tribulation equips us to comfort others with the same comfort that God gives us (2 Corinthians 1:4).
5. We are not victims. Even when the Corinthians faced poverty, they were able to share with others (2 Corinthians 8:2).
6. Jesus knows all about the pressures that we feel. He told the church at Smyrna, “I know your tribulation and your poverty . . .” (Revelation 2:9).
7. Christ experienced the pressure of suffering, and when we undergo tribulation, we are simply continuing His experience as we carry out the mission that He began (Colossians 1:24).
8. There is a bigger tribulation coming in the days leading up to the return of Christ. Jesus said that “there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will” (Matthew 24:21).  You may feel that things can’t get worse – but that’s not true!

Satan would love to crush you, but God will always provide His strength so that you can withstand the pressure.

The Greek Old Testament uses thlipsis in two encouraging promises:

Many are the afflictions of the righteous; But the LORD delivers him out of them all (Psalm 34:19).

Thou, who hast shown me many troubles and distresses, Will revive me again, and will bring me up again from the depths of the earth (Psalm 71:20).

 

 

Study Hint:

Thlipsis is linked to the verb thlibō, which means “to press, trouble, afflict.”  It also has the idea of something that is narrow or constricted (Matthew 7:14).  Mark 3:9 uses it to describe the masses crowding around Jesus.  Here are the other verses where this word is used:

2 Corinthians 1:6; 4:8; 7:5; 1 Thessalonians 3:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7; 1 Timothy 5:10; Hebrews 11:37.

Studying this word is a great way to expand your understanding of pressure and tribulation.

 

Coming Up

When we took a survey earlier this year, there was a high degree of interest in exploring some of the Greek words for sin.  That’s what we will tackle next.  This series should help us deepen our understanding of what’s really so bad about sin.

 

Ezra Project 2025