Verse of the Week: 1 Peter 5:8
(The majority of the footnotes are taken from the Ryrie
Study Bible, to clarify additional verses quoted in this writing.)
In the
first part of 1 Peter 5, Peter has addressed the leadership of the church and
given them their duties and rewards for faithful exercise of those duties. The
false teachers are moving into the church, suffering and trial was manifesting
itself in the church, and believers were learning what it truly meant to live
in a pagan and corrupt world and maintain their Christian beliefs. Persecution
had not fully developed into martyrdom at this time, but that would soon come.
The Christian church was faced with slander, bigotry, misunderstanding, and
small outbursts of physical persecution. Leaders must prepare their people for
these circumstances when they come into the life of those the Lord has put in
their charge.
After delivering his message to the
leaders, Peter turns to address those who have placed themselves under the
leadership. These are your everyday, pew-sitting, constantly in the world
believers. They are the “rank and file” who go out each day and try to make a
living. They are common believers that the world may never know but their
Heavenly Father knows them each by name:
2 Thou dost know
when I sit down and when I rise up,
Thou
dost understand my thoughts from afar.
3 Thou dost
scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And
art intimately acquainted with all my ways.
Psalm 13:1-3
And our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ know us by our names:
14 “I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know
Me,
15 “even as
the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down My life for the
sheep.
John 10:14-15
Peter
understands that rough times are coming for the believers. His writings are
warnings to us about what we should be looking for and what this life has in
store for us. Christians are never promised a beautiful path in this life lined
with roses along a golden path that is marked out clearly for us to follow. But
instead of us facing this life in our wisdom and knowledge God has given us His
word to be a guide. Peter writes on of the most repeated verses in Scripture.
“Though believers should place their confidence in God, they should not be
careless. Christians in conflict are to be on the alert, made strong and steadfast
by Christ Himself.”[2]
Be of
sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a
roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
Be- A
state of being. How we are to conduct ourselves. This is something that we make
a choice to do. This is not something that is inherently in us. We all breath
without thinking about it. Peter writes that we are to choose to live in this
state.
Of
sober spirit- Peter clarifies what
state of being we should maintain. We are to be mentally alert and thinking
clearheadedly. Our minds, if we keep them on Him, should be calm and in
control. “Sober” is translated from the Greek word that means
calm and collected, to have good sense, good judgement, wisdom, and
level-headed in times of stress.
In other places in the Bible we are
warned against being drunk. In fact Peter writes on the value of soberness
earlier in the book:
For the time already past is
sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having
pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousals, drinking parties
and abominable idolatries. 1 Peter 4:3
Just as we are not to allow our
physical bodies to come under the intoxicating effects of alcohol we are not to
become intoxicated with false teachers and false doctrine. When we read and
listen to the Word of God being taught, we are to evaluate it with a clear head
and not a head that is listening for a teacher that tells us what we want to
hear. If we are not clear-minded and listening with a discerning ear we will
not be able to detect when Satan is coming against us and we will fall into his
snares. We are to “watch with diligence, care, and industry, keeping a good
lookout, minding and observing everything that presents, and remembering the
power and cunning of the enemy;”[3]
Be- Once again, be in a
state of readiness.
On the alert- Be vigilant,
be aware. Imitate the watchmen that is carefully scanning the horizon for the
enemy in the field. We must keep our eyes open at all times for you never know
when the devil will pounce upon you or come upon you in a manner that you would
never expect.
Your adversary- This
description of Satan gives us a look at one of the characteristics of his
personality. In his role as adversary Satan is consistently opposing
God’s Person, His plan, and His will for his creations on the earth.
Satan at one time was a holy angel
who was apparently very powerful. He fell from heaven because of pride being
found within him. He now desires to usurp God's power making him God's enemy
who opposes Him, His purposes, and His people.
In Ezekiel we are given a
description of Satan as he is described as one of the cherubim and the highest
of the created angels.
12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation
over the king of Tyre,[4]
and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,
Full
of wisdom and perfect in beauty
13 “You were in Eden,
the garden of God;
The
ruby, the topaz, and the diamond;
The
beryl, the onyx, and the jasper;
The lapis
lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald;
Was
in you.
On
the day that you were created
They
were prepared
And
I placed you there.
You
were on the holy mountain of God;
You
walked in the midst of the stones of fire. Ezekiel 28:12-14
Instead of remaining in this most
exalted position Satan became proud. His beauty and position began to take
control of his thinking. Why should he be in second place? Didn’t he have every
right to be the number one in the creation? He decided he wanted God's place
and to sit on His throne as the highest being.
15 “You were blameless
in your ways
From the day that you were
created,
Until unrighteousness was found
in you. Ezekiel 28:15
13 “But you said in
your heart,
‘I
will ascend to heaven,
I
will raise my throne above the stars of God,
And
I will sit on the mount of assembly
In
the recesses of the north.
14 ‘I will ascend
above the heights of the clouds;
I
will make myself like the Most High.’ Isaiah 14:13-14
Because of his pride and sinful
desire to take the sovereignty, which is only rightfully God's, he was cast
from heaven. Satan is nothing if not tenacious. Despite what history has shown
he believes he will conquer at the end. Even at the last moment of earthly,
human history, after one thousand years in a bottomless pit, Satan still
believes he can conquer:
7 And when the thousand
years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison,
8 and will come out to deceive the
nations which as in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather
them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.
9 And they came up on the broad plain
of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and
fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
10 And the devil who deceived them was
thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false
prophet are also; and they will be forever tormented day and night forever and
ever. Revelation 20:7-10
The devil- Satan is a
person, not just an idea or an evil influence. Throughout the Old Testament we
see him conversing with the Lord and in the New Testament with Jesus Christ.
Prowls about- Think about
how a cat attacks. Generally, a cat does not come at an opponent with a full-frontal
assault. The cat thinks, plans, he checks his surroundings with his eyes while
his ears and nose and in full combat mode. Slowly the cat approaches his prey
and in a blazing fit of energy pounces upon them.
The same is true of Satan. He
observes us (through his demonic servants) and looks for our weaknesses. He
does not charge in with a full-frontal assault on believers. By such
observation he knows our feelings and our circumstances. Probably he knows more
about us than we do. Once he finds our weaknesses, he will exploit it (or them)
to its fullest potential to harm us and hinder our relationship with our Savior.
On a side note, Satan is a finite
being. He is NOT omnipresent (nor can her read minds or possess
believers). He can only be at one place at one time. However, the unceasing
energy he puts forth towards believers and the 24 hrs. a day 365 days a year
work of his associates make it seem like he is everywhere at all times. Though
Satan may know much about us God knows more than he does and can do more for us
than we can possibly imagine.
Like- The roar is a
deception. This is his lies told in our ears that might scare us, but who has been
defeated at the cross:
When He had disarmed[9]
the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed
over then through Him. Colossians 2:15
A roaring lion- Yet, despite
being disarmed, Satan still has the sound of his roar, possibly an allusion to
the lies he tells all of us, believers and unbelievers, are still potent. Satan
still has power, but it is a false power. He utilizes this power by convincing
unbelievers not to choose Christ or robbing believers of their joy Satan.
Seeking someone- Satan has
been doing this for some time now:
6 Now there came a day when the sons
of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among
them.
7 And the LORD said to Satan, “From
where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about
on the earth and walking around on it.” Job 1:6-7
Seeking
indicates a persistence in what he is doing. He will never be satisfied with
taking down the one Christian. His goal is all believers to have a broken
relationship with their Savior.
To devour- To swallow, to
gulp down, to overcome. Satan is not looking to nibble on us. Satan is not
looking to lick us.
This is a very strong Greek word
indicating that this is one of the devil’s chief aims. This devouring indicates
that Satan is able take away, for a time, our effectiveness as Christians. He
cannot steal our salvation, nothing can separate us from Christ, but he can rob
us of our first love, our witness, our desire to walk with the Lord and instead
turn it into walking in our own way (which is his way).
The Christians at the time of
Peter’s writing needed these words. The false teachers and false doctrine were
moving in fast. The Word of God was not available to them as it is for us
today. Two thousand years of study, learning, and debate was not available for
them to access. But just as they had an enemy which seeked to devour them, so
do we today. Satan is an enemy whose ultimate purpose is destruction and death.
He is an enemy to all that is good, Godly, and true.
We will give the last word to
Spurgeon:
“He can never be content till he
sees the believer utterly devoured. He would rend him in pieces, and break his
bones and utterly destroy him if he could. Do not, therefore, indulge the
thought that the main purpose of Satan is to make you miserable. He is pleased
with that, but that is not his ultimate end. Sometimes he may even make you
happy, for he hath dainty poisons sweet to the taste which he administers to
God’s people. If he feels that our destruction can be more readily achieved by
sweets than by bitters, he certainly would prefer that which would best effect
his end.”
[1] Searched-
Used of the careful scrutiny involved in mining operations (Job 28:3) and
in exploring a country (Judges 18:2)
[2] The
Bible Knowledge Commentary: Epistles & Prophecy, Roger M. Raymer, p 94
[4] This
section (vv. 11-19) with its superhuman references, apparently describes
someone other than the human ruler of Tyre; namely, Satan. If so, Satan’s
unique privileges before his fall are described in verses 12-15 and the
judgment on him in verses 16-19.
[5]
Satan was the consummation of perfection in his original wisdom and beauty.
[6]
Dress or robe.
[7] Settings
and sockets. The sockets or grooves used as the settings for the precious
stones.
[8]
Satan had occupied a special place of prominence in guarding the throne of God
(cf. Exodus 25:20).
[9]Disarmed.
Literally stripped (as was done to enemies).
