In
fact, it is such a marvelous message that even the angels of heaven
desire to look into it. Can you imagine that? The angels in heaven
are in the presence of the glory and majesty of God. Yet they long to
look into this message of salvation. The verbal form translated as
“look into” is a marvelous word in the Greek. It is parakúptō,
and it means to “stoop down to take a peek.” Isn’t that
wonderful? The angels of heaven want to take a peek at this wonderful
salvation which has been declared by the prophets, revealed by the
Holy Spirit, and is available for all who will receive it by faith in
Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord!1
“What
you’re experiencing,” Peter says, “is something by which the
prophets were intrigued, interested in, but couldn’t get a handle
on.” You see, the prophets wrote about things they just couldn’t
figure out, for they saw the glory of Psalm 2. However, they also saw
the suffering of Isaiah 53. They saw the triumph on the Mount of
Olives, where the returning Messiah will stand; but they also saw the
blood on Mount Calvary upon which Messiah died. How can it be,
they must have wondered, that He will be despised, rejected, and
smitten; suffering, yet also ruling and reigning? This doesn’t make
sense.
They saw Mount Calvary. They saw the Mount of Olives.
But what they didn’t see was the valley between the two—a valley
of about two thousand years. They didn’t understand that they were
writing of two comings—that Messiah would come as a suffering
Savior before returning as a conquering King.
Some today might say, “I hear all of the promises, but
I don’t see any glory.” That’s because there’s a valley
between them that might last a week, a month, a decade, a lifetime.
But God’s plan is being unfolded nonetheless, for glory always
follows suffering. Always.2
1:10,
11. The prophecy of
salvation looks to the past. This section is most important, for it
reveals that salvation was the object of prophecy and reveals how
much the Old Testament prophets knew of Christ. The
prophets, that is,
the Old Testament prophets
searched diligently:
This emphasizes the study involved in their search. They wanted to
know when
the Messiah was coming and
what would be the
circumstances of His coming.
The Spirit of Christ,
that is, the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom. 8:9).
Which was in them
indicates the prophets were indwelt by the Spirit.3
1
Cedar, P. A., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1984). James / 1 & 2
Peter / Jude (Vol. 34, pp. 120–121). Nashville, TN: Thomas
Nelson Inc.
2
Courson, J. (2003). Jon Courson’s Application Commentary
(pp. 1546–1547). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.
3
King James Version study Bible . (1997). (electronic ed., 1
Pe 1:10). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
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