As part of learning to interpret the epistles there are four steps to interpretation. I will outline them here, in italics, before showing you my thoughts (which I think are God's thoughts) on those verses.
Step 1: Grasp the text in their town: what did it mean to the original audience? In this you need to research the background of the book (in a commentary/study Bible etc), read the whole book to find any main issues and then read the specific parts of the book the verses under question are found within.
Step 2: Measure the width of the river to cross. That's looking at the differences between the audience then and the audience now
Step 3: Cross the principle bridge: find theological principles that can be applied to today.
Step 4: Grasp the text in our town: Apply it to now, leaving the first century stuff there, but taking the principles and implying them here.
Now on to the text.
Step 1:
1 Peter is a book written "about 60 AD"1 by the Apostle Peter. It is believed that it is written to Christians generally and not to a specific Church. The content of the letter is about living in holiness. "Peter addresses the issue that believers are to live a life of personal holiness as God's people, even during times of suffering and persecution."2
The content of the letter seems to tell us something about the context that the letter was specifically written to. Peter is talking a lot about maintaining your holiness, and remembering who you are in Christ in the face of persecutions. It could follow (though does not necessarily follow) that the Christians receiving the letter were being persecuted for their faith and perhaps some of them were reacting in a way unbecoming their status as people born again in God.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV)
By the time we get to Peter's final chapters, chapters 4-5, we are talking about how the readers of the letter should not be astonished when they are persecuted and that God uses that suffering to purify the Church. "Peter concludes his letter with exhortations for the leaders and the congregation as a whole to continue in the faith, knowing that their final reward is certain."3
The context of the verses specifically under question make clearer the intended meaning of the two verses. "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:6-7 ESV)
Reading these verses out of the context of the whole epistle might lead one to ask, "humble yourselves to what?" but, as the ESV Study Bible puts it, "Humble yourselves. In their suffering, God's people are to give themselves entirely to him, submitting to his wise ordering of their lives."4 The context is specifically in their suffering that they are to humble themselves so that God, the mighty one who liberated Israel from Egypt, may bless them and lift them up when the time is right. The second verse changes the humble idea to one about casting worries and doubts on Him because He cares for them. So, in keeping their doubts stored up inside they are actually being proud and prideful.
Step 2:
1 Peter is one of the nicest epistles, in my opinion, in terms of measuring how wide the river to cross is. This is because it was not written to any specific church where issues may, or may not, only have faced that Church. The first verse in 1 Peter tells us this: "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." (1:1 ESV)
Peter probably does not mean literal exiles, but exiles in the sense that all Christians are exiles as we are not in our eternal home in heaven. In that sense we, 21st century Irish Christians, could be included in the list.
The persecution and suffering we face in 21st Century Ireland is quite different from anything that would have been suffered by the believers Peter wrote to, yet the results are the same.
Christianity in Ireland today is suffering from the pressures of the atheist, and sometimes, scientist community as well as the pressures of the world (in terms of temptation to live a life that is, at best, lukewarm; engaging instead the pleasures of the flesh). It is often said that in our world today there is much more an emphasis on sin as being acceptable than there ever has been before, and the Devil has more opportunities, and means, than ever before to ensnare even the most mature of Christians.
Though these two issues (persecution of the church and onslaught of the Church) are not the same thing there are comparisons we can make. Christians who live differently, who want to follow Jesus, who will not give in to temptations, are often insulted and belittled by the world around them. This is suffering.
In light of this suffering Christians can have one of two reactions, humble yourself to God and cast your burdens on Him, or give in to the evil one. It is clear which Peter would suggest.
Step 3:
Finding the theological principles for 1 Peter 5:6-7 is easy once you have read the entire context of the epistle.
The principles are fourfold.
1. We are to humble ourselves before God in the face of sufferings. This is about recognising He is sovereign and in control of all the elements of our lives.
2. In time, God will exalt those who believe in Him and give them the rewards that are coming for their faithfulness.
3. Next we are to cast all our anxieties on Him. This, in truth, is part of humbling ourselves, but Peter seems to be saying that it is just as destructive a part of pride as others. The fact he specifically mentions it must mean he heard about it. For today this is also a big issue. As Christians, we often bottle up our worries and fears, for a number of reasons. This verse gives us the confidence that we can cast our cares on Him... why?
4. Because He cares for us. This is the fourth, and possibly most powerful of the four principles found in this verse.
Step 4:
There can be many applications to these two verses in different contexts for our brothers and sisters around the world today. We shall stick to a generalised 21st century Irish Christianity context.
As I pointed out earlier Christians in Ireland today face many pressures to give in to the ways and temptations of the Evil One. Our suffering often comes from the ridicule that we do not have sex before marriage, don't get drunk, don't curse, don't joke crudely with our peers, don't gossip, don't watch things we shouldn't etc. etc. The world is constantly placing these things in front of us and when we do reject them we are laughed at.
This causes one of two reactions. The first is to give in to the pressure of this world and sin. When we fear rejection from our peers and being laughed at it sometimes, to some Christians, feels as if it would be easier to give in and do what the crowd are doing. Logic such as "Everyone else is doing it, so it must be okay" comes into play.
The other reaction we can have is to 'humble ourselves' before God. Look to Hi for His strength to overcome the suffering knowing that we have our place in Heaven and one day He will wipe away every tear and 'exalt' us. The starting ground to sin can often be thoughts and so Peter implores us to cast our cares on Him. Give the worries we have, about being laughed at, rejected, maybe even physically assaulted because of our faith, to Him. God is judge and God can deal with these things. We should not take vengeful action, nor should we give in to the things people are laughing as us for not giving in to.
We can do all this because God cares for us. That is an overwhelming statement that we do not understand 2000 years after Christ as people would have in the days 1 Peter was written. God, the creator of the universe, the one who led the Israelites out of Egypt, the one who fell the walls of Jericho and brought nations into submission to, or destruction at the hand of, Israel. That God cares for us and wants to know our worries and struggles and wants us to tell Him about them, and allow Him to be the judge. Then we can go on living in a holy manner, upright and pleasing to Him, because we can have confidence in where we are going, who loves us, and that He will deal with those that cause our sufferings.
1. Jay Smith on 1st Peter, pg. 1.
2. Ibid.
3 ESV Study Bible on 1 Peter 4:12-end.
4. ESV Study Bible on 1 Peter 5:6.
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