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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Pe_5:6-11
6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. 10After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. 11To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.
1Pe_5:6 "humble yourselves" This is an aorist passive imperative. This is a characteristic of Jesus (cf. Mat_11:29) which becomes a standard for His followers (cf. Jas_4:10).
▣ "the mighty hand of God" This is an anthropomorphic phrase (cf. Jas_4:6; Jas_4:10) which speaks of God's care, provision, and faithful love, even amidst persecution. He is the "unseen hand," as in Esther!
▣ "that He may exalt you" This reflects Jesus' words in Mat_23:12 and James' admonition in Jas_4:6. YHWH is regularly depicted as resisting the proud and exalting the lowly (cf. Job_5:11; Psa_138:6; Pro_3:34; Eze_17:24; Eze_21:26).
NASB "at the proper time"
NKJV, NRSV,
NJB "in due time"
TEV "in his own time"
In context this serves two theological purposes: (1) currently these readers are going through persecution, not exaltation and (2) the time of exaltation is at the Second Coming. Alertness, humility, and lack of anxiety are crucial in the face of Satanic-inspired persecution.
1Pe_5:7 "casting all your anxiety on Him" This is an aorist active participle used as an imperative and may be an allusion to Psa_55:22 in the Septuagint. This is an idiom of mentally placing one's concerns on Christ (cf. Mat_6:25). He carries them for us even amidst persecution and suffering. He bore our sin and now He bears our anxiety and fear!
Believers can do this because we know He cares for us. We know this from:
1. His death (cf. 1Pe_2:22-24; 1Pe_3:18)
2. His intercession (cf. 1Jn_2:1-2)
3. His shepherding (cf. 1Pe_2:25; 1Pe_5:4)
1Pe_5:8 "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert" These are aorist active imperatives. Believers are to make a decisive choice to be mentally alert (cf. Mat_24:42; Mat_25:13; Mat_26:41; Mar_13:35; Mar_13:37; Mar_14:38; Act_20:31; 1Co_16:13; Col_4:2; 1Th_5:6; 1Th_5:10; Rev_3:2-3; Rev_16:15). Peter has emphasized these (i.e., sober and alert) before (cf. 1Pe_1:13; 1Pe_4:7). Alertness and proper thinking can overcome anxiety and temptation.
▣ "Your adversary, the devil" 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. See Special Topic below.
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▣ "prowls around like a roaring lion" This animal metaphor for Satan probably comes from the OT.
1. symbol of powerful enemy (cf. Psa_7:2; Psa_10:2; Psa_17:12; Psa_22:13; Psa_22:21; 2Ti_4:17)
2. one of God's ways to judge His people (cf. 2Ki_17:25; Isa_15:9; Jer_50:17)
▣ "seeking someone to devour" Satan's ultimate purpose is revealed—destruction and death. He is an enemy of all that is good, godly, and true.
1Pe_5:9 "resist him" This is another aorist active imperative. In Jesus believers have the power to resist evil and the evil one! In Jas_4:7 this same admonition is linked to Satan fleeing, but here it is linked to ongoing suffering and persecution. Victory over the devil is not the absence of suffering!
▣ "firm in your faith" Believers must continue in their faith (cf. Col_2:5). Prosperity and health are not always signs of God's blessings (cf. Job, Psalms 73). Believers must exercise their faith in any and all circumstances. Continuance is crucial (cf. Act_14:22; Rom_8:17).
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▣ "knowing that the same experiences are being accomplished by your brethren who are in 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.
1Pe_5:10 "After you have suffered for a little while" This refers to this life (cf. 1Pe_1:6).
▣ "the God of all grace" The hope of all believers is the settled, unchanging character of a loving, gracious, merciful God. Although we live in a fallen world of evil and rebellion, when we trust Him nothing can separate us from Him (cf. Rom_8:31-39).
The NIDOTTE, vol. 2, pp. 78-79, has a wonderful list of the genitive phrase used to describe God.
1. God of peace – Rom_15:33; Rom_16:20; 1Co_14:33; 1Th_5:23; Php_4:9; Heb_13:20
2. God of mercy – Luk_1:78
3. God of all comfort – Rom_12:1; 2Co_1:3
4. God of all grace – 1Pe_5:10; 1Pe_5:12
5. God of love – 2Co_13:11
6. not the God of confusion – 1Co_14:33
▣ "who called you to His eternal glory in Christ" This is another emphasis on our identification with Christ. We are identified with Him now in His death (cf. Rom_6:4) and suffering (cf. Rom_8:17), but also His resurrection and glory (cf. 2Co_4:17; 2Ti_2:10). This eternal glory only comes experientially at physical death or the Second Coming!
1Pe_5:11 "will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you" God's goal for all believers is Christlikeness through suffering and struggles (cf. 1Pe_4:13; Rom_8:17; 2Co_1:5; 2Co_1:7; Php_3:19; 2Ti_2:12; Heb_2:10; Heb_5:8). Yet it is He Himself who provides all that is necessary. Here again is the paradoxical covenant concept. God does His part and we must do our part!
▣ "to Him be dominion forever and ever" This restates 1Pe_4:11, except here there is no verb. So many of the themes of 1 Peter (like 1 John) are like patterns in tapestries or melodies in music repeated with slight variation. God is in control of all things (cf. Rom_11:36).