1 Peter 4:7-11

⁷ But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.

⁸ And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”

⁹ Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.

¹⁰ As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

¹¹ If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

There are three passages in the section before us that are carefully woven together with a common thread. This thread clearly has to do with a coming persecution that will befall the house of Israel. Peter writes:

“But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer (1 Peter 4:7).

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you” (v.12).

“For the time is come that the judgment must begin at the house of God” (v.17).

We must always bear in mind that Peter’s writings have a twofold purpose throughout. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the aged apostle was addressing those then present and his countrymen in the future day of the Lord. We feel a greater emphasis of these periods is placed upon the latter of the two … In the coming day of the Lord, the Tribulation saints will turn to the Hebrew Epistles for their marching orders.

While the fall of Israel occurred with the stoning of Stephen, the casting away of the favored nation was a gradual process which covered approximately a thirty year period. … Within five years of Peter putting the finishing touches on his epistles, Rome dispatched Titus to besiege the city of Jerusalem. This would be Israel’s last stand nationally. …

With great difficulty [Titus] finally breached the wall of the city in the spring of 70 A.D. … He rewarded the stubbornness of the Jews by massacring everyone who resisted his advance. A large number of Jews managed to barricade themselves inside the temple, probably hoping that the Messiah would deliver them from the hand of the oppressor. … In the end, the city of God was destroyed and the temple set ablaze. Historians tell us that not one stone was left upon another at the temple site. …

The leaders of the rebellion and resisters were either crucified or sent to the arena where they were torn asunder by wild beasts. It is said that so many were sold into slavery that Rome had difficulty finding slave traders to purchase their spoils of victory. …

As the curtain of the present dispensation is drawn to a close at the Rapture, it will immediately be followed by the time of Jacob’s Trouble. Israel will again be center stage as the final drama of the Prophetic Program unfolds.

As the Anti-Christ rises to power through flatteries, he will establish a covenant with the chosen nation, which essentially allows her to reestablish the sacrificial system in Jerusalem at the beginning of the Tribulation. In the middle of the Tribulation, he breaks the covenant with Israel. He will then enter the  temple, which defiles it in the sight of God. This is the abomination of desolation!

When [the Jews] behold this event, they are to immediately flee Jerusalem, for the armies of the Gentiles will soon occupy the city (Revelation 11:1-2). This will be the man of sin’s death machine that will pursue Israel with the swiftness of a leopard attacking its prey.  … We cannot begin to fathom the intensity of the fiery trials that the future Tribulation saints will be called upon to endure. … Thankfully, we’ve been delivered from the wrath to come. — Sadler, pages 139-143.

The next four verses (8-11) should be interpreted in light of what Peter just said in v.7 about the coming end.

serious (v.7) = of sound mind

watchful (v.7) = calm and collected in spirit

“love will cover a multitude of sins.” — Quote from Proverbs 10:12.

love (v.8) = agape

The Greek word here [v.8] translated “fervent” means literally “stretched out.” The idea is that of a love that is extended to reach the one loved. … The word means here “intent, earnest, assiduous.” … The words “above all” are more properly “before all in order of importance.” That is, love is a prerequisite to all proper exercises of duty. — Wuest, page 115.

hospitable (v.9) = “friendly to strangers”

as (v.10) = in whatever quality or quantity

stewards (v.10) = a steward is one who governs a household, one who has the responsibility to see that the things entrusted to his care are used properly

Peter warns those who have been given the ability to preach and teach that they should only do so according to the oracles of God. It is said that in classical Greek the word “oracle” was used of the utterances of heathen deities. Here, of course, Peter is speaking about the utterance and revelations of the true and living God regarding the kingdom. You will recall that Peter sat at the Master’s feet when He taught the disciples to beware of false prophets and anti-christs who would come among them to deceive. Therefore, those who are called to minister the gospel are to speak the oracles of God. In other words, the Scriptures must confirm what they teach. — Sadler, pages 147-148.