“For the time has come for judgment to begin with God’s household, and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?
And if a righteous person is saved with difficulty,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?
So then, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator while doing what is good.”
Today we will wrap up chapter four. I must admit that when I first read this section, I was a little confused. As I worked through it, it became clearer and I’m going to work through that process with you. To do that, we need to understand the ways the Old Testament is referenced in the New Testament. Special thanks to Mike Winger’s teaching from his YouTube channel (Home – BibleThinker) on 1 Peter for this.
The first way that the Old Testament is referenced is by direct quote. The New Testament always quotes the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament. According to the Britannica website, “The name Septuagint (from the Latin septuaginta, 70) was derived later from the legend that there were 72 translators, six from each of the tribes of Israel, who worked independently to translate the whole and ultimately produced identical versions.” Hebrew ceased to be a spoken language sometime after the exile, and Aramaic became the language of the Jewish people. When Alexander the Great came to power, and many of the Jews became Hellenized, Greek became the primary language. Thus, it was important to have the Scriptures translated into Greek. It was fascinating to learn about the Septuagint. I had heard of it, but never really understood what it was. I encourage you to learn about it for yourself!
Let’s get back to the direct quote. Peter has already quoted the Septuagint several times directly in his letter. We saw it the first time in 1:16: “Be holy, because I am holy.” This is a direct quote from Leviticus 11:45. He does it several more times in the letter. I’m going to go off on a quick tangent here. I’ve heard some people say that we don’t need to study the Old Testament, that we just need to study Jesus and his words. But when we do study Jesus, we will understand what a high regard he had for the Old Testament. He quoted from many of the books, referred to the Old Testament as “the Scriptures”, “the Word of God”, and “the wisdom of God”. He referred to events and individuals as being factual events. Because Jesus valued the Old Testament Scriptures, we need to value them too.
The second way of the New Testament referencing the Old Testament is with a summary of biblical doctrine. This would be an Old Testament teaching without giving an actual passage. Peter has already done this in this letter when he referenced “the fiery ordeal” (v.12). He has already written in Chapter 1, “You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (vv 6-7). This is a summary of the refiner’s fire found in Malachi 3:2-3.
The last way that the Old Testament is referenced to is by an example. Peter does that here in these verses. He says, “For the time has come for judgment to begin with God’s household…” This is a concept that his readers would have been familiar with because in the Old Testament, God’s judgment began with his people. We see examples of this in Ezekiel 9:6, when God purifies the temple and in Jeremiah 25:29, where when God begins his punishment of the nations, he begins with his own people.
Now that we understand these concepts, let’s start with that last one. Peter starts with what to us might be a confusing statement. But to his Jewish readers, who were familiar with the Septuagint, probably was not. They knew that God purified his own people, cleansed his own house first. The second part of the question is rhetorical. If God’s people do not escape judgment, how much more terrible will it be for non-believers? Wayne Grudem puts it this way. “The refining fire of judgment is leaving no one untouched, but Christians are being purified and strengthened by it- sins are being eliminated and trust in God and holiness of life are growing.”
This next verse is the part that confused me until I understood the translation part. “And if a righteous person is saved with difficulty, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” This is a direct quote of Proverbs 11:31. Proverbs 11:31 reads, “If the righteous are repaid on earth, how much more the wicked and sinful?” I now understand why the scriptures that are directly quoted in the New Testament don’t read the same. The New Testament authors were quoting the Greek which had been translated from the Hebrew. We now have Bibles that are actual translations from the original languages. So when I am reading the quote in 1 Peter, it is being translated from Hebrew to Greek to English, where the verse in Proverbs is just Hebrew to English. That has cleared up so much confusion for me as I read Old Testament scriptures quoted in the New Testament. Of course there will be some changes. But the meaning is there. I encourage you to read about how we have gotten our Bible translations. The more I learn, the more convinced I am that we have God’s Word to us!
For these verses, this is one of those times where we let the verses that come before explain what Peter means here. Peter has spent chapters talking about the suffering that Christians will face. We are going to go through many difficulties as Christians. We will suffer. And here again Peter has a rhetorical question. What will become of the ungodly and the sinner? The difference between the Christian and the ungodly and sinners is that the Christian has accepted the atoning work of Jesus on the cross. Their sins are forgiven. They have access to God the Father. They are filled with the Holy Spirit. And because of that, when we go through various trials, we know that he is with us. I look at it this way. If I, as a Christian, am saved and go through difficulties, how much harder is it going to be for unbelievers?
That leads to the last verse. “So then, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful creator while doing what is good.” Grudem writes, “In this one verse is summarized the teaching of the entire letter. Christians do not suffer accidentally or because of the irresistible forces of blind fate; rather they suffer according to God’s will.” This goes against so much popular preaching today, as I have already written about. God knows that the way we grow closer to him is by being refined. That will look different for every person. I read this quote from Edmund Clowney and found it so interesting. “Only here in the New Testament is God called the Creator. Peter reminds us that the Lord whom we trust is the Architect of all things, accomplishing his great design. He feeds the birds and numbers the hairs of our heads; He will watch over us who commit ourselves to his care.” I love that! Peter is reminding us that God created us. He loves us. And just as he loved Israel, he loves the church and wants us to be holy.
Grace be with you!
Abundant Joy 