Peter’s epistles......overview
Peter was introduced to Jesus by his brother Andrew and rose to prominence in the early church. He heads every list of the apostles, was given the “keys of the kingdom” by Jesus, a position of some authority, and restored to high ranking shepherd care of the people of God by the Lord Jesus following his denial outside the hall of judgment. He was described by Paul as “the apostle to the circumcision” (Galatians 2 v8), indeed was effective in that role “He that wrought effectively in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles”. Peter obeyed his Lord in his restoration and became the shepherd of his people for God especially those of the dispersion, the “diaspora” as they were called. He saw himself as a modern day Moses, tending to the considerable needs of the saints and modelled his letters on the five books of Moses as can be seen by the flow of thought in these epistles. A fisherman by trade, and not academically trained, Peter, however under the tutelage of the Lord had given himself to the study of the scriptures as is evident by his now famous sermon in Acts 2. He uses the same grasp of scripture in his letters and expertly follows the principal thoughts in each of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
1st Peter 1 vv1-12 we have the Genesis section, where the topics are election, sojourning, and inheritance, all major subjects in Genesis where the primary presentation is of the Sovereignty of God.
1st Peter 1 v13-2 v3 we have the Exodus section where the topics are exodus (girding up the loins), holiness (the law-“be holy for I am holy), redemption redeemed with precious blood, and a new beginning being born again. The main message of Exodus is the Power of God.
1st Peter 2 v4-10 we have the Leviticus section where the topics are the priesthood and the spiritual house, the primary thought being the Holiness of God.
1st Peter 2 v11-5 v14 we have the Numbers section, where the detail is of “strangers and pilgrims” travelling through the wilderness of this world. This is the biggest section and discusses the various ways we can devote ourselves to God in wilderness conditions. The primary revelation of Numbers is of the Patience of God.
2nd Peter 1-3 we have the Deuteronomy section. Literally means “the words” and the faithful words of God are contrasted with the false words of men. It is a book of remembrance, the restating of the Divine instruction as they were about to enter the land. Deuteronomy consists of three sermons by Moses which were his last words before his death, just as 2nd Peter (1 v14) writes his last words before his death. There are some calls to remembrance(1 v12, 1 v13, 1 v15, 3 v1-2) and a key word in Deuteronomy is “remember” which occurs 13 times. The primary thought in Deuteronomy is of the Promises of God.
In each case the corresponding sections in Peter’s epistles reflects the particular revelation of God.
There are a number of themes in the letters which we can briefly mention. Firstly, Peter being an extrovert kind of person, he uses superfluous language in his writings such as....”abundant mercy”(1 v3); “living hope”(1 v3); “joy unspeakable”(1 v8); “unfeigned love”(1 v22); “exceeding great and precious promises”(2nd epistle 1 v4); and “an abundant entrance into the kingdom”(2nd epistle 1 v11). This style of Peter greatly enhances the truth of this wonderful salvation. Again he traces the theme of true value by the use of the word “precious” which he employs 7 times (1st Peter 1 v7; 1 v19; 2 v4, 2 v6, 2 v7, 2nd Peter 1 v1, 1 v4). In a letter where he classifies what the world values most(silver and gold) as “corruptible things”, he sets a true value from God’s perspective. He defines this in 1st Peter 3 v4 as “ which in the sight of God is of great price”. He is contrasting earthly with heavenly values. Another theme is of reverence and respect where he uses the word “fear” five times (1st Peter 1 v17; 2 v17; 2 v18; 3 v2; 3 v15) By contrast in the 2nd epistle the false teachers are totally devoid of fear and respect (chapter 2 v10 “...not afraid to speak evil of dignities”.) Another big theme is that of submission where he develops the necessity of accepting our role in life. He speaks of submission of all of us to authorities(2 v13); servants to masters(2 v18); wives to husbands (3 v1); younger to elder (5 v5); all to each other (again 5 v5). This again is in contrast to the false teachers who are “presumptuous and self-willed”(2nd Peter 2 v10) and who “speak great swelling words of vanity” 2nd Peter 2 v18).
By far, however the major subject is of suffering and glory, that of Christ as predicted of old, and that of his people undergoing trials now, but with the prospect of glory to come. Fifteen times he mentions suffering and fourteen times glory. The two always go together and always suffering first and glory to follow. This was the one thing Peter always struggled with when Christ was here. He found it hard to accept His suffering, which is why three times in the gospel of Mark (a gospel which Peter influenced) is recorded the fact of suffering first before the glory: Mark 8 v31 “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and of the chief priests and scribes and be killed and after three days rise again”; Mark 9 v31 ”The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men and they shall kill him and after that He is killed He shall rise again the third day”; Mark 10 vv33-34 “..the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and unto the scribes and they shall condemn Him to death and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles, and they shall mock Him and shall scourge Him and shall spit upon Him and shall kill Him and after three days He shall rise again”. They had great difficulty accepting this but Peter now weaves this principle throughout his letters and he will discuss the many aspects of suffering as well as the many aspects of glory, both in relation to Christ and the believer. Across the letters of Peter, which are written to areas he had not evangelised and to people he did not know personally, could be written the words of the Lord Jesus to him in Luke 22 v32 “When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren and this is exactly what he is doing.
The 1st epistle therefore is written to encourage the saints to persevere under persecution and the 2nd epistle to warn of the dangers of false teachers.
Peter was introduced to Jesus by his brother Andrew and rose to prominence in the early church. He heads every list of the apostles, was given the “keys of the kingdom” by Jesus, a position of some authority, and restored to high ranking shepherd care of the people of God by the Lord Jesus following his denial outside the hall of judgment. He was described by Paul as “the apostle to the circumcision” (Galatians 2 v8), indeed was effective in that role “He that wrought effectively in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles”. Peter obeyed his Lord in his restoration and became the shepherd of his people for God especially those of the dispersion, the “diaspora” as they were called. He saw himself as a modern day Moses, tending to the considerable needs of the saints and modelled his letters on the five books of Moses as can be seen by the flow of thought in these epistles. A fisherman by trade, and not academically trained, Peter, however under the tutelage of the Lord had given himself to the study of the scriptures as is evident by his now famous sermon in Acts 2. He uses the same grasp of scripture in his letters and expertly follows the principal thoughts in each of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
1st Peter 1 vv1-12 we have the Genesis section, where the topics are election, sojourning, and inheritance, all major subjects in Genesis where the primary presentation is of the Sovereignty of God.
1st Peter 1 v13-2 v3 we have the Exodus section where the topics are exodus (girding up the loins), holiness (the law-“be holy for I am holy), redemption redeemed with precious blood, and a new beginning being born again. The main message of Exodus is the Power of God.
1st Peter 2 v4-10 we have the Leviticus section where the topics are the priesthood and the spiritual house, the primary thought being the Holiness of God.
1st Peter 2 v11-5 v14 we have the Numbers section, where the detail is of “strangers and pilgrims” travelling through the wilderness of this world. This is the biggest section and discusses the various ways we can devote ourselves to God in wilderness conditions. The primary revelation of Numbers is of the Patience of God.
2nd Peter 1-3 we have the Deuteronomy section. Literally means “the words” and the faithful words of God are contrasted with the false words of men. It is a book of remembrance, the restating of the Divine instruction as they were about to enter the land. Deuteronomy consists of three sermons by Moses which were his last words before his death, just as 2nd Peter (1 v14) writes his last words before his death. There are some calls to remembrance(1 v12, 1 v13, 1 v15, 3 v1-2) and a key word in Deuteronomy is “remember” which occurs 13 times. The primary thought in Deuteronomy is of the Promises of God.
In each case the corresponding sections in Peter’s epistles reflects the particular revelation of God.
There are a number of themes in the letters which we can briefly mention. Firstly, Peter being an extrovert kind of person, he uses superfluous language in his writings such as....”abundant mercy”(1 v3); “living hope”(1 v3); “joy unspeakable”(1 v8); “unfeigned love”(1 v22); “exceeding great and precious promises”(2nd epistle 1 v4); and “an abundant entrance into the kingdom”(2nd epistle 1 v11). This style of Peter greatly enhances the truth of this wonderful salvation. Again he traces the theme of true value by the use of the word “precious” which he employs 7 times (1st Peter 1 v7; 1 v19; 2 v4, 2 v6, 2 v7, 2nd Peter 1 v1, 1 v4). In a letter where he classifies what the world values most(silver and gold) as “corruptible things”, he sets a true value from God’s perspective. He defines this in 1st Peter 3 v4 as “ which in the sight of God is of great price”. He is contrasting earthly with heavenly values. Another theme is of reverence and respect where he uses the word “fear” five times (1st Peter 1 v17; 2 v17; 2 v18; 3 v2; 3 v15) By contrast in the 2nd epistle the false teachers are totally devoid of fear and respect (chapter 2 v10 “...not afraid to speak evil of dignities”.) Another big theme is that of submission where he develops the necessity of accepting our role in life. He speaks of submission of all of us to authorities(2 v13); servants to masters(2 v18); wives to husbands (3 v1); younger to elder (5 v5); all to each other (again 5 v5). This again is in contrast to the false teachers who are “presumptuous and self-willed”(2nd Peter 2 v10) and who “speak great swelling words of vanity” 2nd Peter 2 v18).
By far, however the major subject is of suffering and glory, that of Christ as predicted of old, and that of his people undergoing trials now, but with the prospect of glory to come. Fifteen times he mentions suffering and fourteen times glory. The two always go together and always suffering first and glory to follow. This was the one thing Peter always struggled with when Christ was here. He found it hard to accept His suffering, which is why three times in the gospel of Mark (a gospel which Peter influenced) is recorded the fact of suffering first before the glory: Mark 8 v31 “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and of the chief priests and scribes and be killed and after three days rise again”; Mark 9 v31 ”The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men and they shall kill him and after that He is killed He shall rise again the third day”; Mark 10 vv33-34 “..the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and unto the scribes and they shall condemn Him to death and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles, and they shall mock Him and shall scourge Him and shall spit upon Him and shall kill Him and after three days He shall rise again”. They had great difficulty accepting this but Peter now weaves this principle throughout his letters and he will discuss the many aspects of suffering as well as the many aspects of glory, both in relation to Christ and the believer. Across the letters of Peter, which are written to areas he had not evangelised and to people he did not know personally, could be written the words of the Lord Jesus to him in Luke 22 v32 “When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren and this is exactly what he is doing.
The 1st epistle therefore is written to encourage the saints to persevere under persecution and the 2nd epistle to warn of the dangers of false teachers.
No comments:
Post a Comment