Satan Have You For Breakfast
1Peter 5:8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (NASB:)
: Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. (Amplified Bible -
Be sober; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour
Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. (NLT -
: Be self-controlled and vigilant always, for your enemy the devil is always about, prowling like a lion roaring for its prey. (New Testament in Modern English)
Wuest: Be of a sober mind, be watchful. Your adversary who is a slanderer, namely, the devil, as a lion roaring in fierce hunger, is constantly walking about, always seeking someone to be devouring
Young's Literal: Be sober, vigilant, because your opponent the devil, as a roaring lion, doth walk about, seeking whom he may swallow up,
Paraphrase: (Peter commands saints to) Be sober, be self controlled, be circumspect, be cool, show sound moral judgment (Do it now. It is urgent). Be alert, vigilant, wide awake (Do it now. It is urgent). Your opponent (adversary) like a lion continually roaring and howling (trying to incite fear in his victims), is continuously walking around (pacing back and forth), continuously seeking to drink (you) down and devour (you). (: is my personal "
BE OF SOBER SPIRIT : Nepsate :
1Peter 1:13; 4:7; Mt 24:48, 49,50; Lk 12:45,46; 21:34,36; Ro 13:11, 12, 13; 1Th 5:6, 7, 8; 1Ti 2:9,15; 3:2,11; Titus 1:8; 2:2,4,6,12) ("spirit" is added by the translators
Be sober (3525) (nepho) in the physical sense literally was used to refer to either complete abstinence or in a relative sense to refer to temperance (drinking but not to the point of intoxication).
1.Yes, we can cast the burden of our anxiety and cares on God, but we are not absolved of the duty to remain sober and watchful. God's Spirit will enable us to carry out both of these commands (jettison self-reliance, self-effort!) but we are ultimately responsible to carry them out in loving obedience. To sum up all of the commands given to us in the NT (of which there are in the range of 1000!), believers are 100% dependent and 100% responsible to obey!
2. the NT is used only figuratively meaning to be free from every form of mental and spiritual "intoxication". The idea then is to be calm and collected in spirit, circumspect, self-controlled, well-balanced, clear headed. Be self-possessed under all circumstances or for believers a more accurate description would be "Spirit" possessed, for indeed there is no other way we can stay sober in our own strength. We are 100% responsible for staying sober minded but we are 100% dependent on the Spirit's enablement to exercise restraint and keep ourselves free from excess, from evil passions, from rashness, etc.
3. The aorist tense, imperative (command) mood calls for urgent action. Peter is saying you must "Do this now. Keep your head clear!" And the next passage explains why believers need to remain watchful and vigilant, for we have a watchful, vigilant adversary!
4. Here are the 6 uses of in Scripture (none in Lxx) (note some are discussed in more detail below)...
1 Thessalonians 5:6 so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober....8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.
2 Timothy 4:5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 5:8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
5. sober conveys
- idea of freedom from excitability (a contrast to the excitement of drunkenness)
- thus means to be calm and collected in spirit,
- temperate (marked by moderation, keeping within limits, not extreme or excessive), not given to excessive indulgence in drink or any other activity,
- dispassionate (not influenced by strong feeling; especially not affected by personal or emotional involvement),
- circumspect (careful to consider all circumstances and possible consequences, prudently watchful and discreet in the face of danger or risk), with
- equanimity (evenness of mind especially under stress and suggests a habit of mind that is only rarely disturbed under great strain),
- cool (marked by steady dispassionate calmness and self-control) and unimpassioned
6. "a part of this soberness includes not blaming everything on the devil. Some people see a demon behind every bush and blame Satan for their headaches, flat tires, and high rent. While it is true that Satan can inflict physical sickness and pain (Luke 13:16; and the Book of Job), we have no biblical authority for casting out "demons of headache" or "demons of backache(Wiersbe, W: Bible Exposition
7. sober means taking heed of what is happening and pursuing a course with calm and steady aim."denotes a condition free from every form of mental and spiritual loss of self-control; it is an attitude of self-discipline that avoids the extremes of the 'reckless irresponsibility of self indulgence on the one hand, and of religious ecstasy on the other.' It inculcates a calm, steady state of mind that evaluates things correctly, so that it is not thrown off balance by new and fascinating ideas. Such 'level headedness' is a constant Christian need)
8. "Christian living needs order as well as ardour." (E. P. Clowney. The Message of 1 Peter. page 63) (and similar words in this word group) is the antithesis of all mental fuzziness. The Greek culture highly valued sober judgment in both individual and public life.
9. Barclay says that the Greek word sober
like the English, can have two meanings. It can mean that they must refrain from drunkenness in the literal sense of the term;
and it can also mean that they must be steady in their minds. They must become intoxicated neither with intoxicating liquor nor with intoxicating thoughts; they must preserve a balanced judgment.
It is easy for the Christian to be carried away with this, that, or the next sudden enthusiasm and to become readily intoxicated with the latest fashion and the newest craze. Peter is appealing to them to maintain the essential steadiness of the man who knows what he believes..
This does not mean that the Christian is to be lost in a gloomy joylessness; but it does mean that his approach to life must not be frivolous and irresponsible.
To take things seriously is to be aware of their real importance and to be ever mindful of their consequences in time and in eternity. It is to approach life, not as a jest, but as a serious matter for which we are answerable. )
10. Sober characterizes the individual marked by self-control; of sound moral judgment. Sober Christians deny themselves worldly pleasures ( Titus 2:12). This allows them to be always alert, able to guard against Satan’s attacks (1Pet 5:8) and ready to receive the revelation of Christ ( 1 Peter 1:13).
11. a sense of coolness (arising out of abstinence from what will excite) of one who is prepared for any emergency. Part of being sober is not blaming everything on the Devil!
12. is the proper exercise of the mind, that state of mind in which the individual is self-controlled, and is able to see things without the distortion caused by worry, fear, and their related attitudes.
13. First Thessalonians 5:5-8 you are all sons of light and sons of day... not of night nor of darkness (Believers live in an entirely different sphere than those who will experience God’s wrath in the Day of the Lord);" and that because of who are they are (emphasizing that there must be an inseparable link between our new nature and new behavior) they are to "not sleep as others do (day people can still do deeds of darkness), but... be alert (continuously awake and able to rightly assess what is happening in the spiritual dimension)
and sober (nepho - calm, collected, and circumspect) For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let
us be sober (nepho), having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.
14. points to a condition of moral alertness, the sense of being so exercised and disciplined that all fear of sleeping again is removed. Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to live consistently with their new natures. The present tense (continuous action = lifestyle = habitual action) verbs in 1Thessalonians 5:6 (sleep...be alert.. and sober) call for the Thessalonians to be continuously awake, alert, and sober. A habitually spiritually sober person exhibits self-control, lives a serious, balanced, calm, steady life, and maintains proper priorities. To be sober is to be alert; the two terms are essentially synonyms. Just as sleep and drunkenness define night people’s insensitivity to spiritual reality, so alertness and soberness describe day people’s sensitivity to it.
15. William Hendricksen in discussing 1Thessalonians 5:6 adds that The sober person lives deeply. His pleasures are not primarily those of the senses, like the pleasures of the drunkard for instance, but those of the soul. He is by no means a Stoic. On the contrary, with a full measure of joyful anticipation he looks forward to the return of the Lord ( 1 Peter 1:13-14). But he does not run away from his task! Note how both here and also in 1 Peter 5:8 the two verbs to be watchful and to be sober are used as synonyms.
16. Knowing that Timothy would face spiritual opposition especially toward the pure truth of the gospel, Paul exhorted him to be sober (nepho - present imperative = make this your continual practice) in all things, endure (aorist imperative = do this now. It is urgent) hardship, do (aorist imperative) the work of an evangelist, fulfill (aorist imperative) your ministry." ( 2 Timothy 4:5)
17. Paul is encouraging his your protégé to be levelheaded, well-balanced, and in control of his faculties and by extension to be stable, unwavering, and steadfast.
