These small group studies of 1 Peter 1:10-12 contain outlines, cross-references, Bible study discussion questions, and applications. Visit our library of inductive Bible studies for more in depth inductive studies on this and other books of the Bible you can use in your small group.
1 Peter 1:10-12 Bible Study Commentary And Questions
1 Peter 1:10-12 Bible Study Video
1 Peter 1:10-12 Podcast
1 Peter 1:10-12 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
Discussion Questions
• What were the prophets investigating? What does this tell us about them and their character?
• Who knows more about the Messiah, the prophets or us? Is it better to know a few select things revealed directly by God (as the prophets did) or all of God’s revealed plan (as we do)?
• For what purpose did God reveal these things to the prophets?
• What are some Old Testament Scriptures which tell of the sufferings and glories of the Messiah?
• Who are the ones who have “preached the gospel to you?”
• What does the end of verse 12 tell us about angels?
Verses on the Messiah’s Suffering
Zechariah 11:12-13 – I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So, they paid me thirty pieces of silver.
And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So, I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.
Isaiah 50:6 – I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.
Zechariah 13:6 – If someone asks, ‘What are these wounds on your body?’ they will answer, ‘The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.’
Verses on the Messiah’s Glory
Jeremiah 23:5 – “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.
Luke 1:31-33 – You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
Zechariah 14:4 – On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.
Verse by Verse Commentary
1. This salvation that is not yet completely fulfilled for us (since, for example, our bodies will only be glorified in the yet future) was even much more distant future for the prophets. They had many parts of God’s plan revealed to them, which they recorded in the Scriptures. We are saved by faith by looking back at the coming of Christ while they were saved by faith by looking to the future coming of Christ.
2. The prophets were diligent to study what had been written in the Scriptures, including their own writings, wanting to find out as much as possible about the coming Messiah. When would this happen? Who would fulfill this prophecy? Where would these things take place? What would be the signs? I’m sure many of them were looking and hoping for these promises to be fulfilled in their lifetimes.
We can learn important lessons from them:
A. If we don’t know something or have questions, we should study as much as possible to try to have those questions answered. This is a method God uses to encourage us to be diligent in order to draw closer to Him.
It is like a kid who has a math problem. Sometimes he will ask his father to answer it for him. My father never would. Instead, he gave me some principles, but asked me to keep trying myself, no matter how long it took. This process helped me much more than him directly answering the question would have.
God wants us to be diligent spiritually. Sometimes the process of learning can be as important as the end result.
B. Just as the prophets looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, so should we. Knowing that He could come at any time certainly would have affected their lives. They would have been motivated to godly living, so that they would be ready. What they didn’t know was that Jesus would come twice. While we are looking and hoping for Jesus’ second coming, we will also never know the time it will happen until it happens, but we should be ready.
C. Just as the prophets didn’t understand everything God wanted them to do, we may not either.
3. There were Old Testament prophecies covering both Jesus’ sufferings and His glories. The sufferings are prophecies fulfilled the first time He returned to earth while prophecies about His reign, kingdom, etc. are still yet to be fulfilled.
4. The prophets were serving us. Some Christians might wish that God would speak directly to them like He did to the prophets. Surely it would be better to hear God speak to us directly, instead of having to find the answers in the Bible, right? Wrong! The prophets’ knowledge was very limited compared to ours. We are extremely privileged to have the complete, finished Bible with all of God’s revelation to us in it, containing everything we need for our lives.
We know far more about Christ than the prophets did. What is the lesson for us? Well, we have no excuse. We know what we should do. The resources are right in front of us. The principles are right in front of us. We just need to dig into God’s Word, root out the gold nuggets of truth, and then obey it. The key is to love God’s Word (1 Peter 2:2). Then we will study it and obey it.
Notice also that the angels are not all-knowing. They too want to study to know more about God’s plan. Never think it would be better to be a prophet and have God speak to you, or to be there when Jesus came to earth to see Him face to face or to be an angel in heaven. Actually, we have the best possible position as children of God, a position that angels will never have. This should motivate us to gratitude and obedience as well as study of the Word which God has given to us.
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I pray the blessing of God always with you. i blessed by this message.
it changed my understanding. Thanks God bless you.
I thank God for this study and it’s clarifying my understanding of God’s Word and it’s clear application to my life. It has given me not only my increased knowledge and direction but wonderful awareness of how to improve my own study techniques. Thank you and God bless you.
I wound up here because I just read 1 Peter 1:10-12 and it may have been in some alien language that no human has ever heard of. I could not for the life of me, decipher what it was attempting to say. I have a very hard time understanding anything that was originally written in Greek, which makes the new testament much more difficult for me than the old testament, and I know grammar and structure was much more loose back then, but that passage is a linguistic nightmare. This article definitely helped me to better understand, so thanks for the much needed clarification.
However, I absolutely disagree on two points. They are just issues with opinions and not major doctrinal disputes or anything, but I thought I’d include them since I was responding anyway.
“Surely it would be better to hear God speak to us directly, instead of having to find the answers in the Bible, right?”
Yes, absolutely, 100% better! The prophets didn’t know everything but they had an actual experience with God. They didn’t have to spend an entire lifetime just blindly hoping something they read was right. Just like the prophets, I have an unending list of unanswered questions, but God actually engaged with them and acknowledged their existence. I can’t even begin to grasp the enormous magnitude of such an event on one’s life and faith.
“Actually, we have the best possible position as children of God, a position that angels will never have.”
Angels are loved by God, actually experience God, and while they may not have all knowledge, they still have more more than humanity could ever hope to have. Angels don’t have to just hope they’ll someday find out they chose the right thing to follow, they knew God from the moment He created them. Humans may eventually experience a *TRUE* relationship with God, meaning there is actual face-to-face interaction, audible conversation in both directions, answered questions, no hiding or confusion; but angels have, at least more of, that already. Angels can’t be rejected and condemned because they simply didn’t know or were mistaken, they have to look God in the face and purposefully reject Him in order to go to Hell. I’m sure angels have their own issues and struggles, as they too are beings created inherently weak, but they are still far better than humans, or being human.