|
News for the Pews |
Home
7th December 2024
SaturdayReflection
************************
'The Wild Olive'
'also known as Elizabeth'
************************
"1Peter 5:8-10 - How to Deal
with a Roaring Lion"
I think Peter wrote this passage out of his own personal experience.
Perhaps he was thinking back to a Spring evening when a roaring lion (in the form of a teenaged girl) terrified him into denying that he even knew Jesus.
Never mind that he'd been hanging out with Jesus for 3 years and had been appointed to be the leader of the new Church formed in Jesus' Name!
Perhaps Peter vividly remembered the shame and regret he felt for days after that.
How he walked around in self-condemnation, hearing those false lion's roars over and over in his mind.
And then one morning, our God of all comfort in the Person of Jesus, made Peter some breakfast and took him for a walk.
On that fateful walk Jesus did four things:
● Restored Peter to fellowship with Him.
● Confirmed Peter's calling not only as His
personal disciple but also as His Apostolic
ambassador to the world.
● Strengthened Peter for the path of martyrdom
that call would entail.
● Established Peter once for all as the Rock on
whom He would build His Church.
As believers, we battle the evil one every day.
His mission is to discourage and defeat us at every turn.
Our mission is to resist him, but how do we do that?
If we examine 1Peter 5:8-10 we'll see that in only a few words Peter gives us quite a lot of useful information about our enemy and ourselves.
Armed with these truths, we "need never fear the result of a hundred battles."
Victory can be ours every time.
However, Peter also lets us know that even if we suffer a temporary defeat, we can be restored.
If you've been in church or Bible study awhile, you've probably heard someone quote or teach on 1Peter 5:8-10 (or part of it) many times.
But have you ever thought about why Peter describes the evil one as "like a roaring lion"?
What is significant about that simile?
And what, exactly, are we supposed to do with this information?
[For those of you who don't want to relive high school English, a simile is a figure of speech comparing one thing with another to make a description more vivid or colourful.]
Before we get all deep here, let's discuss if these are even legit questions to ask or answer.
Isn't this phrase "just a stylistic choice" or "a little bit of colour" that Peter is using to spiff up his letter?
It's just one little simile, right?
Does one little simile even matter?
Yes, yes it DOES matter!
There are no wasted words in the Bible.
In his second letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul tells us that every word in the Bible is inspired by God and useful to us for teaching, correcting, and training
Every word!
And Jesus Himself affirmed that Heaven and Earth will cease to exist before even the smallest word in Scripture passes away.
That means this little simile paints a picture we need to stop and look at.
Because 1Peter 5:8 is such a familiar verse, people often unknowingly paraphrase or misquote it.
Since every word is precious, we don't want to add any, change any, or leave any out!
I myself have heard people paraphrase or outright misquote this verse as "Your enemy the devil IS a roaring lion ..."
Please note that Peter does NOT say that!
He says the evil one prowls around LIKE a roaring lion.
The Apostle does not say the evil one IS a lion - prowling, roaring, or otherwise.
Contrast this point with what the Bible says about Jesus, "weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that He can open the scroll and its seven seals."
Jesus IS the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
Whatever Jesus is, you can be sure the evil one will try to pretend that he is too.
><(((°>
This is an edited version.
The full article and Bible references are avaiable on request
'I'm Elizabeth'
also known as the Wild Olive.
I was born in Indiana, mostly grew up in northern California and I've spent my entire married life happily residing in North Carolina.
I grew up going to church and always enjoyed it, but my faith didn't become "real" to me till I was a newly married woman.
I have a Masters in Biblical Studies, and my happy place is definitely studying the Bible, especially in small groups with other women.
I've led women's Bible study groups for 25 years and I still love it.
Contact the Rector
The Revd.
Nic.Edwards
The Rectory,
Church Lane,
BUGBROOKE,
Northampton,
NN7 3PB
Land Line: 01604 - 815496
(Can be accessed from the mobile device)
Mobile: .....
E-mail:
thebeneficeofbhkandr at gmail dot com
Contact the Benefice Office
Sunday School Rooms, Church Lane,
BUGBROOKE, Northampton, NN7 3PB
Land Line: 01604 830373
E-mail:
thebeneficeofbhkandr at gmail dot com
Mon., Tues., Wed,, Thur., Fri.
9:00am to 11:30am
For Baptism bookings (Christenings)
to arrange an appointment please contact
the Benefice Office.
For Wedding bookings:
please contact the Benefice Office to arrange
an appointment.
Who Made This?
Seeing as you asked, if you can give helpful
advice or report factual corrections and
'deliberate mistakes',email:-
regparker3 at gmail dot com
Email addresses shown using words in an
attempt to avoid 'spam',
Type the email address replacing 'at' with '@',
and 'dot' with '.'
|