Totally agree, we should read scripture and let scripture influence us and it should form our views and we all we need to change how we think and what we think as our understanding of Gods word should be increasing as we mature on to the meat of the Word.
What I do when I have two views presented to me in scripture that appear to be contradictory is to apply this rule, for one will have a literal understanding and one a metaphoric so they will line up and compliment each other, the rule is if it appears to be literal in sense apply a literal understanding and if it appears metaphoric in sense apply a metaphoric understanding, anyway the verse you quoted is an obvious metaphor I dont even have to present the literal verse, but I will anyway.
John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
It cant appear any more straight forward than that, and as you said we have to let scripture form our views not press our views into scripture. And its not surprising at all God communicates to us in this way and there are hundreds of examples of where we do this in our communication with each other, however God is the creator of relationships and communication and he talks to us in the same way or I could say that’s where we get this ability from.
Hos 12:10 I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.
The lord has spoken the word through the prophets, and uses similitudes which means compared things to, or likened things to.
Yes he uses metaphors, similes, symbols, types, parables, allegories, antitypes, emblems etc
Take baptism it’s a literal dunking in water, and the similtude of being saved is in this act, yet most of professing Christendom, ignore the picture or all the counsel of the bible and apply the literal water baptism as necessary for salvation.
Take the I am the bread of heaven, whoever eats of My flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, most of professing Christendom takes this is literal (I know its absurd) and performs rites to turn the bread into flesh and blood of Christ (yes cannibalism)
If 1 Pet 5:8 is Literal then it becomes an absurdity, Yes absurd which means wildly unreasonable, illogical, or inappropriate. synonyms: preposterous, ridiculous, ludicrous, farcical, laughable, if I apply a literal translation then in my head I have Satan as an actual Lion sneaking around in the Savannah, waiting for a person to come along and actually literally devouring or eating them.
Yet we apply a spiritual application to this verse, and make Satan like sin (since he is an example of sin) so when we lust or desire after worldly affections sin can indeed devour us. Peter would be absolutely horrified at a literal interpretation of this, as the Lord would be horrified of a literal translation of being eaten.
Yet, at the end of the day I wonder if its to let us know who has spiritual maturity, and who takes the whole counsel of God into consideration and who rests upon their own understanding?
The other way to prove my point is I could give an actual real life example of someone Satan has devoured and you could give me an actual real life example, and we will probably see that we see it the same way, we will be talking about someone who has given into temptation/sin. Not Actually Satan and we both actually will see 1Pet 5:8 as a metaphor with good practical application.
Thanks an interesting take, I guess I see that the war occured a couple of decades earlier, just because in rev 12:2 Then being in child she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth, then the dragon appeared in heaven, then His tail cast a third of the stars to earth and the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth.
To me when the war in heaven happened the Lord was not there, thats why it was Michael and his angels who fought.
Fair enough I understand your stance. Well at least from the point of view I view myself in the same spiritual battlefield, just because I dont see the enemy as demons, does not mean I dont think the world is not in a spiritual battle for the very souls of men, we have the world and its trappings of money and greed, power and world dominion, its not a flesh and blood battle, its new age theologies, its political propaganda to make it alright to kill babies, I have to put on the full armor of God, I have to gird my waist with truth, put on the helmet of salvation, weild the sword and the shield etc, its madness out there bro, And people are choosing the world over God, we have to make them see the truth, Yet the fiery darts of the wicked one like evolution are taking their toll