In verse 8 Peter continues, “Be sober; watch. Your adversary, the Devil, as a roaring lion walks about, seeking someone to devour.” To be sober is to have a clear mind of sobriety and self-control so that we may know, especially as disclosed in this chapter, God’s purpose in disciplining us and His enemy’s scheme to destroy us.
If we do not cast all our anxiety on the Lord, it will be difficult for us to be sober. Many saints become confused because of anxiety. If we hold on to our anxiety, our mind will not be sober. Instead of being sober, we may be under a thick cloud of confusion and have no sense of direction. If our mind is disturbed by anxiety, we cannot be sober. Our thinking will not be clear, but will be confused, mixed up. If our mind is in such a condition, it will be difficult for us to hear the Lord’s speaking. Anxiety may also cause us to speak in a nonsensical manner. Therefore, if we would be sober, we must cast our anxiety on the Lord.
According to what Peter says in 5:8, we also need to watch. To watch is to be vigilant as in warfare, as soldiers on the frontier. Anxiety is a subtle enemy. Many times anxiety is Satan’s incarnation. We need to be watchful and not allow anxiety to invade us. A country’s defense requires watchfulness. Those in the defense department are always watchful lest an enemy invade the country. This is also Peter’s concept when he urges us to be sober and watchful.
Peter wrote verse 8 according to his experience. Peter may have been lacking in schooling, but he was rich in experience. When he was a young man, he was called by the Lord. After the Lord’s resurrection, Peter learned much in the Spirit. Before the resurrection of Christ, Peter had heard and seen many things. However, he did not have the proper interpretation and understanding of those things. But after the Lord’s resurrection, the Spirit came to be within Peter and upon him, and he began to understand what he had experienced during the three and a half years he was with the Lord. Peter, therefore, was a man full of experience. His writings are based not merely on doctrine, but also on experience. Because of his experience Peter could charge the saints to be sober and watchful.
As we have indicated, the word “watch” implies fighting. We are involved in a warfare, and we need to be vigilant. Do not let the enemy come in. Anxiety is a subtle enemy. Often the Devil is concealed within anxiety or lurks behind it. If you welcome anxiety, you will welcome Satan, the Devil. Therefore, you need to be watchful. The Lord Jesus also charged His disciples to watch and pray (Matt. 26:41). We need to watch, to be on the alert.
The reason we need to be watchful is that our adversary, the Devil, as a roaring lion walks about, seeking someone to devour. Literally, the word “adversary” in Greek means an opponent (in a lawsuit). Here this word refers to Satan, who is our accuser (Rev. 12:9-10). The Greek word for Devil, diabolos, means accuser, slanderer. The Devil, who is Satan, accuses us before God and slanders us before men.
The Devil, the adversary, in verse 8 is related to the anxiety in verse 7. If we give way to anxiety, we shall also give way to the adversary, the Devil. We may even say that the anxiety in verse 7 is the adversary in verse 8.
An adversary is different from an enemy. An enemy is an opponent who is objective to us, outside of us. An adversary is a subjective opponent, an opponent within us. Satan is not only the enemy outside of us; he is also the adversary within us. Anxiety is a form of the Devil as our adversary. Whenever we are anxious or worried, we should say, “Satan, you are exposed. This anxiety is really you. Don’t cover yourself with a cloak. I know who you are. This is not anxiety—this is you, the Devil. Satan, get away from me!”
According to the context, anxiety is actually the Devil. The Devil comes to us to attack under the cloak of anxiety. He pretends to be anxiety. Therefore, we need to be watchful, vigilant.
In verse 8 Peter also says that the Devil is as a roaring lion walking about, seeking someone to devour. The word “roaring” indicates that this lion, the Devil, is howling in hunger. The words “walks about” indicate the Devil’s constant and aggressive activity in seeking prey. There is a proverb which says that the Devil never sleeps. He is always busy and aggressive, seeking someone to devour.
Here Peter warns the suffering believers in persecution. If they would not be humbled under God’s mighty hand and cast their anxiety on God, they will be devoured by the roaring lion, the Devil, their adversary. This teaches us that pride and anxiety make us delicious prey to fill the hunger of the roaring lion. In this respect Peter no doubt could not forget the Lord’s warning to him regarding the Devil’s desire (Luke 22:31).
Peter’s writing in verse 8 is simple, short, and to the point. We all have something to learn of him, especially in the giving of testimonies. Certain testimonies are long stories, filled with unnecessary details. Instead of long stories in the meetings, we need testimonies that are brief and to the point. Often this kind of testimony is most effective.
In verse 9 Peter says, “Whom withstand, firm in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being accomplished in your brotherhood in the world.” To withstand here does not mean to resist nor to struggle against. It is to stand firmly as a rock on the ground of our faith before the roaring Devil. In this verse “the faith” actually means our faith. It refers to the believers’ subjective faith, their faith in God’s protecting power and loving concern.
In verse 9 Peter says that the same sufferings are accomplished in our brotherhood in the world. According to the context of this chapter and the preceding one, these sufferings are sufferings in persecution. We have seen that the brotherhood is the aggregate of the brothers, the family of the brothers, the brothers in the feeling of brotherliness (2:17).
The anxiety spoken of in 5:7 is related to persecution. When saints are under persecution, they are anxious, not knowing what will happen to them. This anxiety, this worry, may cause them to doubt the gospel they have heard. This may have a negative effect on their faith. For this reason, Peter charges the believers to withstand the Devil by remaining firm in the faith, that is, firm in their faith. Instead of doubting what we believe, we need to be firm in our faith, knowing that the same sufferings of persecution are being accomplished in the brotherhood throughout the world.