Peter Exhorts the Persecuted Believers Volume 1

 Peter's Greeting to the Dispersed Brethren & Sisteren Part 1

1 Peter 1:1 Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version

The Apostle Peter (like James) is writing his letter to all the Jewish converts to Christ Jesus our Lord who because of extreme persecution i.e. their very physical lives being in danger in Jerusalem fled to various other cities, as is written here by Peter with these words, "Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia," (1 Peter 1:1) (KJV). This little English phrase 'scattered throughout' is translated by the Greek word diaspora meaning dispersion, that is, (specifically and concretely) the (converted) Israelites resident in Gentile countries: - (which are) scattered (abroad). Note: "Scattering of the Jews from the land of Palestine into other parts of the world. The term 'dispersion' is also often used to describe this process. The diaspora took place over several centuries. While its exact beginnings are difficult to date, two major events greatly contributed to it. In 722 B.C. the Assyrians captured the Northern Kingdom (Israel). Following this victory, the Assyrians resettled large numbers of the Israelites in Assyria (2 Kings 17:6). In 586 B.C. the Babylonians captured the Southern Kingdom (Judah) and followed the same policy of resettlement. Many of the residents of Judah were transported to Babylon (2 Kings 25:8-12). While some of these persons later returned to Judah, many of them remained permanently in Babylon. Later other wars fought by the Greeks and Romans in Palestine helped scatter more of the Jewish people. The result of the diaspora was that by NT times as many Jews lived outside of Palestine as lived within the land. In almost every city Paul visited on his missionary journeys, he found a Jewish synagogue (Acts 14:1; 17:1,10; 18:4). The diaspora thus helped pave the way for the spread of the Gospel." (Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary). So, we see then that the dispersion of the Jews began long before our Lord Jesus Christ ever came to the earth 🌎 and that the land of Palestine has always belonged to the Jewish people and is part of the Jewish Nation. These brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus Christ were most likely spoken of by Luke in Acts 8:1-2, as it is written here, "At that time a great persecution arose against the Church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the Apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him." (Acts 8:1-2) (NKJV). As we see this occured right after the murder of Stephen (which was witnessed by Saul who would later become a Jewish convert to Christ himself and change his name to Paul the Apostle). Every Jewish convert to our Lord Jesus Christ was extremely hated during that time by the remaining unconverted Jews. It is no different for we converted Gentiles today who live and move and have our being in our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 17:28), but we live among unconverted people of every ethnicity and they are doing the same things to us as the unconverted Jews did during the time the Apostle Peter 🖋 penned this first letter ✉, for let us recall, remember, and realize the reason for the constant hatred and persecution as written by the Apostle Paul with these words, "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14) (NKJV). The natural man 👨 or woman 👩 is the person simply still dead in their trespasses and sins and have not yet been resurrected from spiritual death by our Lord Jesus Christ, as He said of Himself, "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?'" (John 11:25-26)(NKJV). Outside of the 'new birth' (John 3:3-8) there is no connection to God at all and the persons who are still disconnected from God see those of us who are connected to Him as their enemies i.e. light vs darkness, as it is written, "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: 'I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.' Therefore 'Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.' 'I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.'" (2 Corinthians 6:14-18) (NKJV).

Here is what Alexander MacLaren had to say of 1 Peter 1:1, "All those who really have faith in Jesus Christ are ‘strangers of the Dispersion’; scattered throughout the world, and dwelling dispersedly in an order of things to which they do not belong, ‘seeking a city which hath foundations.’ The word ‘strangers’ means, originally, persons for a time living in an alien city. And that is the idea that the Apostle would impress upon us as true for each of us, in the measure in which our Christianity is real. For, remember, although all men may be truly spoken of as being ‘pilgrims and sojourners upon the earth’ by reason of both the shortness of the duration of their earthly course and the disproportion between their immortal part and the material things amongst which they dwell, Peter is thinking of something very different from either the brevity of earthly life or the infinite necessities of an immortal spirit when he calls his Christian brethren strangers. Not because we are men, not because we are to die soon, and the world is to outlast us; not because other people will one day live in our houses and read our books and sit upon our chairs, and we shall be forgotten, but because we are Christ’s people are we here sojourners, and must regard this as not our rest. Not because our immortal soul cannot satisfy itself, however it tries, upon the trivialities of earth any more than a human appetite can on the husks that the swine do eat, but because new desires, tastes, aspirations, affinities, have been kindled in us by the new life that has flowed into us; therefore the connection that other men have with the world, which makes some of them altogether ‘men of the world, whose portion is in this life,’ is for us broken, and we are strangers, scattered abroad, solitary, not by reason of the inevitable loneliness in which, after all love and companionship, every soul lives; not by reason of losses or deaths, but by reason of the contrariety between the foundation of our lives, and the foundation of the lives of the men round us; therefore we stand lonely in the midst of crowds; strangers in the ordered communities of the world. Ah, there is no solitude so utter as the solitude of being the only man in a crowd that has a faith in his heart, and there is no isolating power like the power of rending all ties that true attachment with Jesus Christ has. ‘Think not that I am come to bring peace on earth, but a sword’—to set a man against his own household, if they be not of the household of faith. These things are the inevitable issues of religion—to make us strangers, isolated in the midst of this world." Here also is what John Wesley had to say of 1 Peter 1:1, "To the sojourners - Upon earth, the Christians, chiefly those of Jewish extraction. Scattered - Long ago driven out of their own land. Those scattered by the persecution mentioned Act 8:1, were scattered only through Judea and Samaria, though afterwards some of them travelled to Phenice, Cyprus, and Antioch. Through Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia - He names these five provinces in the order wherein they occurred to him, writing from the east. All these countries lie in the Lesser Asia. The Asia here distinguished from the other provinces is that which was usually called the Proconsular Asia being a Roman province."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…