The Significance of “Like”:īecause 1Peter 5:8 is such a familiar verse, people often unknowingly paraphrase or misquote it. (Matt 5:18) That means this little simile paints a picture we need to stop and look at.
Every word! And Jesus Himself affirmed that Heaven and Earth will cease to exist before even the smallest word in Scripture passes away.
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 (2Timothy 3:16). Yes, yes it DOES matter! There are no wasted words in the Bible. Isn’t this phrase “just a stylistic choice” or “a little bit of color” that Peter is using to spiff up his letter? It’s just one little simile, right? Does one little simile even matter? Does One Colorful Phrase Really Matter?īefore we get all deep here, let’s discuss if these are even legit questions to ask or answer. 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? ? Let’s take a close look at this familiar passage to see what we can glean. 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. However, Peter also lets us know that even if we suffer a temporary defeat, we can be restored. Armed with these truths, we “need never fear the result of a hundred battles.” Victory can be ours every time. 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. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” (emphasis mine) We definitely don’t want that last option! Thankfully, Peter’s got our backs.
If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. Our mission is to resist him, but how do we do that? Hundreds of years before Peter wrote his letter, Sun Tzu wrote in the Art of War, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. His mission is to discourage and defeat us at every turn. As believers, we battle the evil one every day. 1Peter 5:8-10 is a classic teaching on dealing with our old enemy, the devil.