Intense! (1 Peter 1:22; 4:8; Proverbs 25:21-22; Romans 12:20)

1 PETER 1:22 says:

"Seeing (that) you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, (see that you) love one another with a pure heart fervently..." (KJV)

"Now that, by your obedience to the Truth, you have purified your lives so that there is growing up among you a genuine brotherly affection, love one another earnestly with all your hearts" (TCNT)

"Having purified your souls by means of your obedience to the truth, resulting in not an assumed but a genuine affection and fondness for the brethren, an affection and fondness that springs from your hearts by reason of the pleasure you take in them; from the heart, love each other with an intense reciprocal love that springs from your hearts because of your estimation of the preciousness of the brethren, and which is divinely self-sacrificial in its essence..." (Wuest)

"Now that by obeying the truth you purified yourselves to love sincerely as brothers, love one another with a pure heart and intensely." (William Beck)

"...your souls being purified in the obedience of the truth through spirit, in unpretentious brotherly affection, from out of a pure heart, love one another intensely" (Apostolic Bible)

1 PETER 4:8 says:

 "...above all things, have fervent love among yourselves; for love shall cover the multitude of sins." (KJV)

"Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins" (Amplified)

"Before all things, in order of importance, having fervent love among yourselves, because love hides a multitude of sins." (Wuest)

"But before all (things) having the intense love among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins." (Apostolic Bible)

INTENSELY

Both 1 Peter 1:22 and 1 Peter 4:8 speak of loving each other "intensely", but sometimes the practical application of scripture is glossed over, or lost in translation, by the lack of vivid imagery to convey the "how to" of scripture. How do we "love" one another intensely? What does that mean?

HOT WATER

I remember the illustration of a little girl chasing her annoying brother around the house with a bowl full of hot water. When the frantic mother intervened, she confronted her daughter asking her why she was trying to throw hot water on her little brother. Her answer was that her pesky brother had really made her mad, and that the Bible had said to throw coals of fire on your enemy (Prov. 25:21-22; Rm.12:20), but she thought hot water would work just as good!

BURNING COALS

The scripture referred to says that "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for in so doing, you shall heap coals of fire on his head". The illustration is from an ancient Middle Eastern custom of carrying burning coals, in a container, when crossing rough terrain, on top of a person's head, to ensure that you had the means of starting a fire at the next stop, or location. Especially in parched desert climates, water was essential during the day, and heat was a necessity a night, when the sun sunk into the earth, and disappeared for hours, creating a rapid decline in temperature.

WARMING THEM

Therefore, what the scripture is saying, is that by your acts of kindness, in feeding and providing drink, or meeting the needs, of those who have made themselves your enemy, you are "warming them up", or, as one translation states, "...you will use the means to melt him..." (Charles Thomson).

WARMING the HOUSE

In contrast to the little girls actions, the scripture speaks, not of inflicting pain, but warming the house of another, or providing some positive acts from a spirit of love, towards a person entrenched in a spirit of hate and hostility.

GREEK

The Greek words translated "intensely", or "intense", are (ektenes), [1618, Strong's], (1 Peter 4:8) and (ektenos), [1619, Strong's], (1 Peter 1:22). The word group is only used 5 times in the NT and 7 times in all of scripture.

STRETCHED OUT

The words are a combination of (ek), "out"; and (teino), "to stretch". We get the English word "extension", which means, "something that is stretched out", like an extension cord; hair extensions; or an extended period of time. The original idea of the word was a suggestion of not relaxing in effort, and visually exemplifies "the taut muscle of strenuous and sustained effort, as of an athlete", in competition. (C.E.B. Cranfield).

TWO SIDES

The imagery has two sides:

1) perseverance, without letting up; unceasing.

2) fervor; urgently; zealously.

UNRELENTING PRAYER

In the only two OT uses in the Septuagint, both instances refer to intense; focused and unrelenting prayer.

JOEL 1:14

"Sanctify a fast! Proclaim a sacred service! Bring together elders, (all the ones dwelling in the land), into the house of the LORD your God! And cry out to the LORD intensely (ektenos,1619)".

JONAH 3:8

"And the men and the cattle, put around sack cloths and yelled out to God intensely (ektenos, 1619), and each turned from their wicked way, and from the iniquity in their hands".

REPENTANCE

In both OT uses, the prayer had to do with dramatic repentance, using vivid imagery.

The first NT use is also related to prayer:

LUKE 22:44

"And being in agony (agonia,74), more intensely (ektenesteron, 1618) He prayed, and His sweat became as clots of blood going down upon the ground".

INTENSE PRAYER

The proceeding verse, is Jesus' intense praying in the garden, just prior to His crucifixion.

The next NT usage is also by Luke:

ACTS 12:5

"Then indeed Peter was given heed to in the prison, and there was intense (ektenes, 1618) prayer taking place by the assembly unto God for him".

In it's only NT use, (ekteneia, 1616), is also found in Acts:

ACTS 26:7

"In which our twelve tribes, serving (latreuon, 3000) with intensity (ekteneia, 1616), night and day, hope to arrive. Concerning which hope I am accused, O King Agrippa, by the Jews".

DIVINE SERVICE

This particular verse, initially, does not seem to mention prayer, but the word translated "serving", is (latreuon, 3000), which translates as the priestly activity of divine service, in the holy and most holy place, referring to prayer, or worship; which meaning is reflected in other translations.

"...the very promise which our twelve tribes, ardently worshipping God day and night, hope to see fulfilled." (Rieu)

"...unto which hope our twelve tribed nation, with intensity night and day rendering divine service, is hoping to attain" (Rotherham)

"It is to the fulfillment of this hope that our twelve tribes expect to arrive by means of earnest prayers day and night..." (George Lamsa)

SCRIPTURAL COMMENTARY

Scripture is always the best commentary on itself, when other scriptural comparisons are available.

INTENSE LOVE

It would seem, that the "intense" love, to be directed at other Believers, would be practically demonstrated in the area of prayer, and though 1 Peter 1:22 seems to have no reference to prayer, 1 Peter 4:8 is preceded by 1 Peter 4:7,which says:

"Be serious and collected, therefore, and pray" (Edgar J. Goodspeed)

"...be sober-minded and temperate, that you may give yourselves to prayer" (Weymouth)

"Therefore, be earnest, thoughtful men/women of prayer" (Taylor)

PRAYER / INTENSE LOVE

In other words, the exhortation to pray for one another, is followed by the challenge, to have intense love for one another.

PRAYER

The word for prayer, is (proseuche, 4335), meaning, "to make bold or confident assertions; to brag or boast". This is from the root "euche", that has the meaning "to vow", meaning "a bold; audible statement" concerning something; "a declaration"

PRECIOUS

The word "love" is (agapen, 26), which refers to what is precious, above all else, and the corresponding action, on our part, that reflects that assessment of something, or someone, being "precious", to us.

TRANSLATION

In 1 Peter 1:22, Wuest gives an excellent translation of the Greek:

"Having purified your souls by means of your obedience to the truth, resulting in, not an assumed, but [a genuine affection and fondness for the brethren, an affection and fondness that springs from your hearts, by reason of the pleasure you take in them (philadelphian, 5360)]; from the heart, love each other with an intense [reciprocal love that springs from your hearts because of your estimation of the preciousness of the brethren, and which is divinely self-sacrificial in its essence (agape, 25)]".

DECLARING

This "love", that sees the preciousness of others, is expressed in prayer for those individuals, and it is not a religious form or ritual prayer, but it is making bold or confident assertions, concerning them. In other words, it is declaring the scriptures, out loud, concerning those whom are precious to you.

INTENSELY DECLARING

If you really love someone, then you will be expending your time, and energy, intensely declaring God's word concerning them, boldly announcing, for the whole spiritual realm to hear, the truth of God's word, concerning that individual, and you will not stop, until you see the manifestation of your profession, in their lives!

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