Be sober, watch, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

Most believers are familiar with this passage, which serves as a reminder to avoid living the lifestyle of a drunkard. However, this verse alludes to more than a simple warning against being a drunkard. More importantly, this passage reminds us that the devil is always actively seeking to destroy a believer who is engaged in any sinful practice. This repeated warning can be seen throughout the entire Bible, where kings fall due to their sinful choices and where believers in Yahusha (Jesus) fall away. This passage from the Apostle Peter instructs believers to be watchful, reminding us to stay vigilant. It emphasizes the importance of being on guard, like disciplined disciples and vigilant soldiers protecting a kingdom’s gate.

You Must Remain Situationally Alert

When believers lower their guard, they allow sin to enter their lives and can easily become entangled in the fallen ways of the world instead of staying aligned with the righteous ways of Elohim Yahuah. It is essential to consider the spiritual aspects related to these verses:

Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I shall give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart, and you shall find rest for your beings. For My yoke is gentle, and My burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30 TS2009

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18

In Deuteronomy 7:3-4, Yahuah warns the children of Israel against the wicked idolatrous practices of the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites:

Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, because they will turn your sons away from Me to worship other gods. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.

3 John 1:11 states, “Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.” Ephesians chapter 5 describes how light cannot be mingled or yoked with darkness, instructing believers not to be partners with the wicked who are on a path of destruction but rather to walk as children of the light being partners with the righteous.

Beware of Enemy Combatants

Many other verses in the Bible emphasize the importance of believers not getting involved with sinful or wicked people or activities, which is a consistent message throughout.¹ The point is, that as children of God, we should separate ourselves from those who do not follow Yahuah’s laws and hate evil, just as He does.

The Apostle Paul agrees. In his letter to the Romans, he describes love this way:

Love is to be sincere and active [the real thing—without guile and hypocrisy]. Hate what is evil [detest all ungodliness, do not tolerate wickedness]; hold on tightly to what is good.

Romans 12:9 Amplified Bible

As disciples and imitators of Yahusha who desire to follow God’s laws, we must pause and reflect on our lifestyles, relationships, careers, and devotion to Yahuah’s Torah. We are instructed to be imitators of God (Eloah) and Messiah Yahusha, who always obeyed the laws of his heavenly Father.

Ephesians chapter 5 begins with a list of sinful behaviors to avoid and advises against partnering with those who lead an evil lifestyle. When we consider the broad scope of biblical history, we can clearly observe the spiritual cause and effect that arises when believers align themselves with either Yahuah’s ways or the ways of the world.

During the reigns of righteous leaders like Moses, Joshua, David, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah, Israel flourished under Yahuah’s protection. However, in other biblical periods, both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah strayed from righteousness, engaging in idolatry and worshiping false gods and demons. These sinful decisions resulted in plagues, war, death, and slavery. They ultimately led to the destruction of both kingdoms, where all of the Hebrew tribes were dispersed among the nations as a form of punishment by God.

When the children of Israel yoked themselves with the world’s sinful lifestyle, they no longer retained the hedge of protection provided by Yahuah. They opened the door for evil spiritual powers and principalities to dominate their lives, separating them from their heavenly Father, Yahuah.

When we choose to rebel against Yahuah’s ways and remove his light yoke, we become yoked with Satan, the evil one. This choice leads us down the broad path of destruction. Truly, we have no one to blame but ourselves as Yahuah gave us free will. 

Every day, believers must make the Joshua 24:15 decision to choose whom they will serve — good or evil, God or Satan. There is no middle ground or grey area, which scripture describes as lukewarm. Revelation 3:15-16 graphically illustrates God’s disgust with those who are lukewarm. We must not kid ourselves or fall prey to false teachings. Many false Christian teachers preach the lie of the tolerance and acceptance of evil. 1 John 2:15-16 makes it clear: if you love the world or the things of the world, the Father is not in you.

Honor the Father’s Rules of Engagement

When the yoke of the world is chosen, it is a dangerous path. And, as Romans 1:24 points out, God will turn the rebellious over to the sinful desires of their own heart. Likewise, as Jeremiah 17:9-10 warns, the heart is deceitful above all things. Furthermore, 2 Timothy 4:3 warns of the very problem we see today as it pertains to this subject, where it reads:

“For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear something new.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

From a spiritual perspective, one can see many pieces of evidence that lead to idolatry. Paul also cautions against this in 1 Corinthians 10:20, highlighting how engaging in idolatrous practices aligns us with demons. This points to the root of the problem, whereby mankind rejects Yahusha’s easy yoke and light burden.

In today’s world, we witness the persistent efforts of rebellious individuals who reject God’s ways, the Torah, the Gospel, and the laws of liberty. They confidently assert their own understanding as superior. Believers who are perceptive can observe how these individuals, within the “Woke Cultural and Progressive Movement,” subject themselves to numerous layers of human rules and regulations. Ironically, this self-imposed burden further enslaves them under the weight of others’ expectations. By choosing this path, they distance themselves from true freedom and the liberating principles found in the Torah and the Gospel of the Kingdom message.

Consider that when the world imposes laws that starkly contrast biblical morality, it is not simply that they disagree with “religion’s laws” but that such laws have a stark spiritual contrast as well. 1 Timothy 4:1 describes it as follows:

Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared.

HCSB

Make no mistake; we are living in the times of 2 Timothy 4:3, 2 Peter 3:3-4, and 2 Timothy 3:1-5 where it is written:

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

English Standard Version (ESV)

Believers must diligently follow the instructions of Luke 21:36, which reads:

But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.

ESV

As we continue to see the world devolve into a perpetual state of wickedness and rebellion against God, now more than ever, we must hold fast to God’s ways, observe the Torah, and work hard to be self-disciplined at all times. We must be imitators of Yahusha Messiah and endure until the end. In Matthew 24:37-39, Yahusha draws a comparison between the end times and the era of Noah. Genesis chapter 6 illustrates the extreme wickedness of humanity during Noah’s time, with their continuous focus on evil thoughts.

The Enemy Is Always At the Gate

We can expect the same to happen again as the end times grow closer. We can already see the passage of numerous laws protecting wickedness and essentially criminalizing the laws of God. It would be no surprise to many believers if wicked leaders eventually declared the entire Bible a hate crime, banning it as we see across the world in many communist countries.

Our only real protection comes from the Father Yahuah, which is only available to believers who walk in righteousness and follow God’s laws and not man’s laws, not yoked with evil but yoked to Messiah. We must remember that scripture teaches us that we are not of this world but sojourners in it. We belong to another kingdom, the kingdom of Yahuah the Father.

However, we as believers do not fear wicked men, but we have a respectful fear of Yah and faith in the promises written in His word.

Be encouraged and be courageous in these turbulent times. Remember that it is written, “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.” (1 John 4:4 NLT). It is also written that “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them.” (Psalm 34:7).

Brothers and sisters, the enemy is at the gates of our spiritual and physical temples. We are always in a state of spiritual warfare against the powers of darkness. Be encouraged brothers and sisters and always remember that Elohim Yahuah’s protection exists in both the physical and spiritual realm and we are only to fear Father Yahuah, keep his commands, trust in him, keep our faith in Messiah Yahusha, and find refuge in His promises. I will close with this passage of encouragement from the Apostle James (James 1:12):

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.

Blessing and Shalom.

FOOTNOTES

¹ Proverbs 8:13, Psalm 97:10, Amos 5:15, Psalm 119:104, and Psalm 119:128.