David B. Curtis
David B. Curtis
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Good morning, Bereans, we will be finishing our study of the devil this morning with part 6. Today we will be dealing with the text of verses 8-9.
Who is Peter writing to? This letter was written by the Apostle Peter around 65 AD. He is writing to the elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.
Peter, an apostle of Yeshua the Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 1 Peter 1:1 ESV
Peter is writing to Christians that are suffering greatly for their faith. Peter writes to them about the greatness of their salvation in order to encourage them and bring them joy in the midst of suffering. This epistle was written to strengthen those who were suffering.
casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 1 Peter 5:7-9 ESV
"Casting all your anxieties on him"—this is an aorist active participle used as an imperative. We are commanded to do this. This may be an allusion to Psalm 56.
Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. Psalm 55:22 ESV
This is an idiom of mentally placing one's concerns on Christ.
The word "casting" is the Greek verb epirrhipto which means "throwing something fully on something else or someone else." Casting is a rather energetic word. The idea is, "throw it away from you."
What is it that we are told to cast upon the Lord? Our anxieties. This is from the Greek word merimnao, which means "to be anxious about, to worry, be concerned for." We are to cast our worries and concerns on the Lord. How do we do this? We do this through prayer in which we give it to the Lord.
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6 ESV
We can do this because the text says, "because he cares for you." Think about that!
Anxiety is unbelief! It is a failure to trust God to care of us. The way you deal with anxiety and stress is a reflection of your view of God. If you know God, if you know that He is omnipresent, omniscience, all powerful; and if you understand that He is on your side, why would you ever worry? He's Sovereign, and He's working everything out for your good and His glory. Everything that happens is for His eternal purpose. When you trust in him in all of your circumstances, you will not have anxiety. Your faith in God is the bottom line in your ability to deal with anxiety.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 ESV
"Be sober-minded; be watchful"—these are aorist active imperatives. Believers are to make a decisive choice to be mentally alert.
"Sober-minded" is the Greek word nēphō, which means "to abstain from wine." This is not a call to sobriety but, rather, is a metaphor for mental alertness and level headedness. It is often used in the New Testament to refer to self-control. This word nēphō brings out the need to be under the Spirit's control.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, Ephesians 5:18 ESV
"But be filled with the Spirit" —this is a command as seen in the use of the imperative mood. Christians in Asia Minor were commanded to be filled with the Spirit. This tells me the following: Not all Christians are filled with the Spirit, but it's not an option. It's a verb that's in the present tense, and so it literally means "keep on being filled." This isn't a once-for-all experience. The verb is in the passive, indicating that we don't fill ourselves; it is something that is done to us. We can and should put ourselves in the position to be filled, but it must be the sovereign Lord, the Spirit, that does the filling.
The word "filled" is the Greek word pleroo. Here it would be better translated as "be controlled" with the Spirit not with alcohol. Being sober-minded is in contrast with the stupefied condition of drunkenness in which people are unable to exercise their faculties properly and cause harm to themselves.
Peter has used this word nepho twice earlier in this epistle.
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Yeshua the Christ. 1 Peter 1:13 ESV
The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 1 Peter 4:7 ESV
What is the common theme in these two verses? Notice that both of its other uses refer to a mental alertness about the Second Coming. Hold on to that thought.
"Be watchful"— is the Greek word gregoreuo, which means: "to keep awake, i.e. watch (lit. or fig.), be vigilant" Keeping alert means that you work against distractions and hindrances. You do what you have to do to stay awake and to stay at the task.
To remain alert and watchful is a command Yeshua gave His disciples when He told them:
Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. Matthew 24:42 ESV
Again, we see a connection to the second coming. Both of these words are also found in:
So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 1 Thessalonians 5:6 ESV
"Let us"—this is directed to the first-century audience. They were to be watching for the Day of the Lord. This does not apply to us because it is time sensitive. The event they were to watch for happened in A.D. 70.
G.K. Beale writes, "Paul underscores in 5:2-10 that Christ's final coming will happen unexpectedly and that Christians, nevertheless, should live in such a way that they will not be surprised by it. Though we cannot narrow Christ's return to any particular date, we should expect him to come at any time."
But according to the New Testament Scriptures we can narrow down Christ's return. It was to happen while some of his disciples were still alive (Matthew 16:28). It was to happen in the generation of the writers (Matthew 24:34). It was to happen soon or shortly, and it was near—so near that judge was standing at the door. That narrows it down.
So, both of these words, "Be sober-minded; be watchful" are connected with the second coming in other places, but are they here? Well, why does Peter tell them to
be sober-minded and watchful?
Be sober-minded; be watchful Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 ESV
Their alertness is to be because the devil wants to devour them. We'll, Peter is writing this around 65 AD which is only five years from the Lord's coming. And we are told in Revelation 20.
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. Revelation 20:1-3 ESV
I see the "little while" of Satan's release (Revelation 20:3) as a short, intense period of demonic activity and persecution immediately preceding the destruction of Jerusalem in
AD 70. They are about to enter this period of intense suffering. So, I think this use of
"Be sober-minded; be watchful" could be connected with the end times and the coming of the Lord.
"Your adversary the devil"— adversary is antidikos and means an opponent in a lawsuit. Devil is diabolos and means "a malicious enemy who slanders," one who throws things against you. He is described as the "accuser of the brethren" (Rev. 12:10).
The term "adversary" reflects the Hebrew title for Satan (used 36 times in the NT), which means adversary. The title "devil" (used 37 times in the NT) is a Greek compound "to throw across" meaning to cast aspersions.
We have been looking at the different views of the devil or Satan for the last 5 weeks. Most Christians think Satan is a divine being who is very active today. Some think Satan is just a human adversary and is no longer active today. I think Satan is a divine being who influenced humans to do his will. I do not believe that he or his demons are active today.
We have seen in this study on the devil and Satan that he was a real spirit being. A being who was once part of the Divine Counsel. This spirit being had influence over things that happened on earth. Notice what Peter says,
But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? Acts 5:3 ESV
Could this refer to the Jews or any human adversary? The word "filled" here is the Greek word pleroo which is better translated as "be controlled." Their hearts were to be controlled by the Holy Spirit [Ephesians 5:18] and not Satan.
As we said in our last study, at times when we see the devil or Satan in a text, it is referring to the Jewish leadership who are the adversaries of the Christians. But I think that even when it does refer to humans those humans are being influence by Satan.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 ESV
This animal metaphor for Satan probably comes from the Tanakh. The prowling, roaring lion is a symbol of viciousness in Scripture.
they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. Psalms 22:13 ESV
"Like a ravening and a roaring lion"—that's a picture of viciousness, of maliciousness. That same expression is used elsewhere in the Psalms with the same intent of one who would be vicious.
The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. Psalms 104:21 ESV
Tyler Hallstrom argued that the chief connotation of the lion metaphor, in Peter's usage, is its ferociousness. The picture is one of a beast swallowing its prey.
So, is this roaring lion a divine being or a human adversary? Well, in Ezekiel we see Israel's false prophets called a roaring lion.
The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. Ezekiel 22:25-26 ESV
Do you think Peter knew this text in Ezekiel. Sure he did. The roaring lion that Peter talks about could be a reference to the Jewish leadership. Do you see that? But what is driving the Jewish leadership to persecute the believers. Is the spirit being Satan behind it? Let's look at another text in Revelation.
And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. Revelation 12:1-6 ESV
Notice that John says, "a great sign appeared in heaven." It is important to recognize the relationship of all this to the astronomical symbolism in the text. The word John uses for sign was the term used in the ancient world to describe the constellations of the Zodiac. John's model for this vision of the Church is the constellation of Virgo which does have a "crown" of twelve stars (Virgo, the second largest constellation and one of the earliest to be distinguished, lies on the zodiac east of Leo). All of the twelve stars are visible ones that could have been seen by observers. It seem likely that the twelve stars also represent the twelve signs of the Zodiac, from ancient times regarded as symbols of the twelve tribes of Israel; in Joseph's famous dream his father, mother, and the twelve tribes were symbolized by the sun, the moon, and twelve stars of constellations (Gen. 37:9).
Revelation 12:1-6 is about spiritual warfare. It says in the middle of verse 4, look at this, "The dragon stood before the woman who was going to give birth." Who is the woman? Israel. "So that when she gave birth he might devour her child." Who is the child? Christ. The Messiah was about to come out of Israel and Satan is poised to devour the child. And what is fascinating to note here is how did he try to do that? Through demons? No. Through a human being. What was his name? Herod, Herod who went and slaughtered all of the infant children under the age of two.
Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Matthew 2:16 ESV
Revelation 12:1-6 and Matthew 2:16 are connected as they depict the same cosmic conflict from different perspectives: Revelation 12 provides the spiritual reality of Satan attacking the Messiah, while Matthew 2:16 records the physical, historical attempt by Herod to kill Yeshua.
The Dragon vs. The Child: Revelation 12:4 shows the "great red dragon" (Satan) waiting to devour the "male child" (Yeshua) as soon as he is born. Matthew 2:16 records Herod—under satanic influence—ordering the murder of all boys in Bethlehem under two years old to destroy the child.
Both narratives highlight protection in the wilderness. Revelation 12:6 mentions the woman fleeing to the wilderness for 1,260 days, while Matthew 2 records the flight of Joseph, Mary, and Yeshua for safety.
So, in this story Herod is the Satan who is trying to kill Yeshua but Herod is being influenced by the spirit being Satan. We saw this idea of spirit beings influencing humans in 1 Kings 22.
And Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; and the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' And one said one thing, and another said another. 1 Kings 22:19-20 ESV
This is a throne room scene with the divine council. Yahweh is talking to the heavenly host, the divine beings who are part of His council.
Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, saying, 'I will entice him.' And the LORD said to him, 'By what means?' And he said, 'I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.' 1 Kings 22:21-22 ESV
I want you to see something important in this verse. What does the spirit say that he will do? He says, "I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets." The spirit, the divine being says that he will influence the prophets to lie so that Ahab will be killed. So, the human prophets lied to Ahab. But why? It was because they were being influenced by the divine beings. Remember that I said that my view is that Satan, the devil, and demons are real spirit beings that had influence over humans.
So, there are many places in Scripture where we can see that Satan is used of human adversaries but there are other times when it is clearly a spirit being. For example.
They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when Yeshua had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. And when he saw Yeshua from afar, he ran and fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What have you to do with me, Yeshua, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me." For he was saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!" And Yeshua asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many." And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, "Send us to the pigs; let us enter them." So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. Mark 5:1-13 ESV
This man came running to Yeshua and called Him by name, using the phrase demons always employ: "Son of the Most High God." This is very revealing, because it is the highest name a nonbeliever can know or use to refer to God - "the Most High God." It is used all through the Tanakh by members of the Gentile nations. Israel knew him as Yahweh. Everyone else knew Him as El Elyon, "God Most High." This is how the demons refer to Him.
Do you know what these pigs did? They did a swine dive! These demons recognized His power over them and so they ask permission to enter into a nearby herd of pigs. The implication is that without His permission, they would have been powerless to accomplish this. Do you see what this means? They were under the authority of Christ!
However grotesque this scene may appear, it is certainly awesome; the demonic force that has ravaged the demoniac's existence for so long takes possession of the pigs, which are immediately overcome by convulsions, making them stampede over the edge of the cliff to plunge into the lake's waters below and drown. It hardly needs saying that there is no way to rationalize this narrative; it does not concern itself with even a violent form of schizophrenia, but rather with a power that is awesomely demonic.
The drowning of these pigs has caused a great deal of discussion amongst Bible students. Had our Lord achieved such a miracle today, He would have been in deep trouble. First of all, the EPA would have been investigating the pollution of Lake Galilee with decaying pigs. Then, the PETA would have been up in arms over such cruelty to animals.
Why did the demons go into the pigs? The possession of the pigs would prove that the multitude of spirits had left the man. Actually seeing the pigs flee would be seen as adequate proof. It would give certainty to both the man and the watchers. Josephus tells of an exorcist, called Eliezer, who "placed a cup or foot-basin full of water a little way off and commanded the evil spirit as it went out of the man to overturn it, and make known to the spectators that he had left the man." (Josephus: Antiquities 8.48)
Notice the response of the towns' people: And they fell at Yeshua's feet and worshiped Him. No, that's not what our text says:
And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Yeshua to depart from their region. Mark 5:16-17 ESV
Yeshua - get back into your boat and get out of our country! In both the accounts of Mark and Luke, the primary motivation is described as that of fear.
Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 1 Peter 5:9 ESV
"Resist him, firm in your faith"—resist comes from two ancient Greek words: stand and against. Peter tells them to stand against the devil. The Greek word translated "resist" (antistete) means to "defend oneself against," as opposed to attacking the enemy. James put it this way.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7 ESV
"Resist him" is an aorist active imperative. They are to resist him by submitting to God and being firm in their faith. In Yeshua believers had the power to resist evil and the evil one! In James 4:7 this same admonition is linked to Satan fleeing, but here it is linked to ongoing suffering and persecution. Victory over the devil was not the absence of suffering!
What does it mean to "stand firm in the faith?" Paul put it this way.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. Ephesians 6:10-11 ESV
The armor is just a graphic way of saying what Paul says in Romans 13:
But put on the Lord Yeshua the Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. Romans 13:14 ESV
In other words, Christ Himself is our armor. What does Paul mean by "put on Christ"? "Put on" here and in Ephesians 6:11, is from the Greek enduo, which means: "to put on clothes," or "envelope in." It has the idea of a garment which is wrapped around oneself, and the Greek word is used literally this way in a number of places in the New Testament. "A literary parallel to this use of 'put on' is quoted from Dionysius of Halicarnassus' Roman Antiquities 11.5, where 'to put on Tarquin' means: 'to play the part of Tarquin.'" Bruce, p. 229.
Enduo in Ephesians 6:11 and Romans 13:14 is an aorist imperative middle. An aorist imperative calls for a specific, definite, decisive choice: "Do this now, at once, once for all." The middle voice indicates the subject performs an action upon himself or herself. So believers are called to once and for all put Christ on as a garment, to play the part of Yeshua. Paul is saying, "Become like Yeshua Christ, act like Him. Put on Yeshua Ha'Moshiach when you get up in the morning. Make Him a part of your life that day."
Notice what Paul says in Galatians:
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Galatians 3:27 ESV
"Put on" here is also enduo, but here is an aorist indicative middle, which simply states a thing as being a FACT. Believers have clothed themselves in Christ at salvation.
How can Ephesians 6:11 and Romans 13:14 say to believers to put on Christ when Galatians 3:27 says that we have put on Christ at salvation? I believe that Galations is talking about our position, where Romans and Ephesians are talking about practice. At salvation every believer puts on Christ in the sense that we receive His righteousness:
And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, Romans 4:5 ESV
For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19 ESV
When you trusted in Christ, you received His righteousness. God declared you righteous in Christ, because positionally you are in Christ. You became united with Christ and share all He is and has.
In Ephesians 6:11 and Romans 13:14, Paul is talking to believers, he is not telling them to get saved and put on Christ's righteousness in a positional sense. In this text putting on Christ is an exhortation. Those who are positionally righteous are to practically act like it. We are to play the part of Christ. You are to live like Him, act like Him, put Him on. Many believers do not look like Christ, but we are all supposed to. When the world looks at you, they should see Him.
So, the first century believers were to put on Christ who is the armor and thus stand against the devil.
It is my position that Satan and his demons were all destroyed in AD 70 but most Christians believe they are still alive and well.
David Guzik commenting on our passage in 1 Peter writes, "Your adversary the devil walks about: Peter exhorts us to remain clear-headed (sober) and watchful (vigilant), because Satan has not yet been bound and restrained for 1,000 years as Revelation 20:1-2 says he will be. At the present time, the devil walks about."
Adam Clarke writes, "He walketh about-he has access to you everywhere; he knows your feelings and your propensities, and informs himself of all your circumstances; only God can know more and do more than he, therefore your care must be cast upon God."
These men hold a majority view but I believe the Scripture proves them wrong.
Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8 ESV
John gave us a reason why Yeshua came in 3:5, "He appeared in order to take away sins." Now, John in this parallel passage puts it this way: that He might destroy the works of the devil.
The word destroy here is luo. Strong's says of luo, A primary verb; to loosen' (literally or figuratively): — break (up), destroy, dissolve, (un-) loose, melt, put off.
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, Hebrews 2:14 ESV
The Greek word for "destroy" is katargeo: "to be (render) entirely idle (useless), lit. or fig.:—abolish, cease, destroy, do away, become (make) of no (none, without) effect, bring (come) to naught, put away (down), vanish away, make void."
Christ came into the world to destroy the devil and his works. Was he successful? Or was he a failure? We saw in our study thus far that Satan and his demons were destroyed in AD 70
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Matthew 24:29 ESV
Here "stars" and the "host of heaven" refer to sentient created spiritual beings which reside in the heavens. If you are not familiar with the Divine Council Viewpoint, you may be wondering who the sentient, created beings are.
and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Revelation 20:10 ESV
Here the devil who deceived them fits well with Old Covenant Judaism which was destroyed in the fires of Jerusalem. And at this time "the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken." The battle is over; Christ is victorious. Those gods and people who rebelled against Yahweh and the first-century church have been judged. The battle was won, and it is over.
"Knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world"—Peter uses the common experience of believers scattered throughout the Roman Empire as an encouragement to these persecuted believers. Their experience was not unusual, but normative.
Let me close with this. For those who believe that Satan was the Jewish leadership and he was not a supernatural being how was Satan destroyed in AD 70. I know that the Jewish persecution ended in AD 70 with the destruction of the Temple. But Christian persecution did not stop. If Satan is merely a human adversary there are many humans today persecuting believers. Yet the Scripture clearly teach that Satan was destroyed in AD 70.
Based on data from Pew Research Center, Christians face high levels of harassment in many countries. As of 2022, Christians faced harassment in 166 countries making them the most persecuted religious groups worldwide. Approximately 365 million Christians (1 in 7) suffer high levels of persecution. Reports indicate this includes violent, systemic discrimination in parts of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
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