Court Room Antics! (1 Peter 5:8-9)

1 Peter 5:8-9 says to "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion walks about, seeking whom he may devour; whom resist steadfast in the faith..."

COURT ROOM

This passage is very similar to Romans 8:33ff, where there is a court room scene that is in view, and God, our Father, does not bring any charge or accusation against us; does not pronounce a guilty verdict, but rather, declares us righteous, absolved of all charges against us, and standing in perfect favor with Him and the court of heaven. Jesus, our brother, who could, legally, have a right to pronounce us guilty, does not condemn us, but rather, serves in our behalf, as the legal representative in our case, our counsel for the defense, Jesus Christ, the Righteous (1John 2:1).

SOBER

However, there is an accuser, a prosecuting attorney, hurling accusations against us. We are to be sober (nepho, 3525), meaning not just free from wine, or intoxication, but calm; cool; collected in our thoughts; aware of what is going on, with nothing clouding our judgment or perception of reality. We are to be clearly aware of the spiritual reality of the conflict we are in, and who the enemy is that we deal with.

VIGILANT

We are also to be vigilant (gregoreuo, 1127), not only aware, but alert, for any conflict; not "sleeping on the job", but ready for any conflict or surprise attack.

ADVERSARY

The reason for this sober awareness of what is going on spiritually, and diligent preparedness against attack, is because we have an adversary. This adversary (antidikos, 476), is literally, 'one who brings lawsuits against us, the one arrayed against us, in legal conflict'. He is the devil (diabolos, 1228), the one who throws things between; the divider; bringing separation between people, and trying to separate us from our rightful relationship with our Father. [(balos) is where our English word ball comes from, and (dia) means between, or through].

ROARING LION

He is dramatic, and like a roaring lion, he roars, and tries to intimidate, with his accusations and legal maneuvers, but he has no right, other than what we give him. He walks about, which gives the literal image of him pacing busily, in the court room, hurling his charges against us.

SEEKING to DEVOUR

He is seeking (zeteo, 2212), in a judicial inquiry, a legal hold against us, hoping that we will say something from our mouth, that will give him legal grounds to enforce his false charges. Through his roaring; and aggressive pacing; hurling accusations, of false charges, he is hoping that someone will give in to him, so he can swallow them whole. In other words, he is confident that his dramatic display, will intimidate some, to the point, that they will be easy prey, and he won't even have to chew. It will be so simple, that he will devour (katapino, 2666), literally, swallow them down.

RESIST

But, we choose to resist (anthistemi, 436), meaning 'to stand against, in word and deed'. What we do and what we say, is in conformity to the Word, and we are steadfast (stereos, 4731). There is kind of a play on words, because (stereos) is the opposite of liquid, it is 'solid; immovable; unbreakable', and definitely cannot be swallowed, without choking on it! Obviously, we are solid, so we can't be swallowed; we will not be defeated, or overcome by his courtroom antics.

FAITH

Our standing solid, is in faith. In fact, one translation says to "stand solid as a rock in your faith" (Wuest). Faith is the revelation of spiritual reality that we walk in from the word of God. No matter what we face, the reality is, our revelation of who we are; what we have; what we can do; and who Christ is, in us, is unstoppable!

You are God's Best and God's Best is Yours