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Makestraightpaths.com examines the teachings of the religious
group variously known as “the Family,” “The Family International,” the “Children
of God,” or the “Family of Love,” and evaluates these teachings from a Christian
perspective.
This page is one of a
series on prophecy in the Family.
The Sure Word of Prophecy
2 Peter 1:19 We have
also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take
heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn,
and the day star arise in your hearts KJV
If we rephrase the King James
translation of this verse, it says “you do well when you take heed to
the more sure word of prophecy.” This verse seems to indicate that
prophecy is like a light shining in a dark place, and that believers
would be wise to pay attention to it.
Indeed, this is
how the Family understands this verse. As such it is a handy ‘proof
text’ admonishing Family members to obey the ‘prophecies’
printed in their own publications, giving direction and instruction on
almost every aspect of life.
But is this what
the verse really means? Does it really advocate the surety of prophecies
and the necessity of following them? To answer these questions, we will
need to take a closer look at the book of Second Peter.
2 Peter
The book of 2 Peter is:
A “farewell speech” sent as a letter,
urging Christian growth and perseverance in light of some false teachers
who both deny the second coming of Christ and live boldly in sin… It is
in four parts that focus on godly living in light of the certainty of
the Lord’s coming, against the backdrop of those who deny the latter,
with its concomitant judgments, and who thus live like pagans (Fee &
Stuart).
The second epistle of Peter
addresses the problem of some false prophets, whose denial of Christ’s
return led them into all kinds of evil. These false teachers, their
doctrines and their actions are described vividly in chapter two.
2 Peter 2:1 But false prophets also
arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among
you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the
Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. NASU
However, before Peter confronts the
false teachers, he grounds the believers in the foundations of their
belief.
2 Peter 1:3-4
3 His divine power has given us
everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him
who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has
given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you
may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the
world caused by evil desires.
NIV
In an amazingly comprehensive
statement, Peter says that God’s power has “given us everything we
need.” The NET Bible says “his divine power has bestowed on us
everything necessary for life and godliness.” The RSV says “His divine
power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.”
Christians already have everything they need in order to live a godly
life! They have the truth of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments.
They have the revelation of God in Jesus Christ His Son. They have
forgiveness of sin and regeneration through the Holy Spirit. Christians
actually don’t need anything else in order to be godly people.
However, notwithstanding the fact
that God has already given us all that we need, He also gave us His
promises for the future, and in 2 Peter a couple are mentioned, namely
Christ’s return, the judgement of the wicked, and the salvation of the
righteous (see 2 Peter 3:7-13). The result of these priceless gifts
should be our participation in the divine nature. In other words, the
fact that God gave us His word and promised to return places upon us the
obligation to live godly lives.
Next, Peter describes what it means
to “participate in the divine nature.”
2 Peter 1:5-9
5 For this very reason, make every
effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and
to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to
perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to
brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in
increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and
unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone
does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that
he has been cleansed from his past sins.
NIV
He continues his exhortation for a
couple more verses then digresses to explain that he is aware that his
readers already knew these things, but it is still appropriate for him
to ‘refresh their memories’ (vs.13 NIV).
Then, he refers to his own
experience.
2 Peter 1:16 For we did not follow
cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. NASU
In contrast to the false teachers,
Peter and the other Apostles did not invent stories about God; they had
all actually seen Him. They did not make up their message but they were
“eyewitnesses” to the truth. They had known Jesus Christ Himself and had
seen Him in His glory.
2 Peter 1:17-18
17 For when He received honor and glory
from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the
Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased” —
18 and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were
with Him on the holy mountain.
NASU
Peter had heard the voice of God on
the mount of transfiguration (Matt 17, Mark 9, Luke 9) and had seen
Christ’s face shining like the sun and his clothes as white as the light
(Matt 17:2). He knew it was the truth because he had seen Christ
glorified.
However, that was not all. Peter did
not urge his readers to hang their faith on his own testimony alone. He
reminded them that all Scripture had its origin in God, and therefore
should be trusted implicitly.
2 Peter 1:19-21
19 So we have the prophetic word made
more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in
a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your
hearts. 20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is
a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made
by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from
God.
NASU
In verse 19, the “prophetic word”
refers to the “word of the prophets” (NIV), the word both of the Old
Testament, and of the apostles.
2 Peter 1:19 Moreover, we possess the
prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing. You do well if you pay
attention to this as you would to a light shining in a murky
place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
NET
“The meaning, as construed in the
translation, is that the Bible (in this case, the OT) that these
believers had in their hands was a thoroughly reliable guide” (NET Bible
footnote).
2 Peter 1:19 And we have the word of the
prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it,
as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the
morning star rises in your hearts. NIV
The words of the Old Testament
prophets are sure, as are the words of Christ’s Apostles, Peter and his
contemporaries. Christians “will do well to pay attention” to them.
Verse 20 does not refer to the way
that people are to interpret prophecy (“no prophecy of Scripture is a
matter of one’s own interpretation”), but instead is concerned with its
origin. “No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the
prophet’s own imagination” (NET). In short, it says that true prophecy
does not originate with the prophet. In fact, an NKJV footnote comments
that the word “interpretation” may also be rendered “origin.”
The connection that makes the most
satisfactory sense is that prophets did not invent their own prophecies
(v. 20), for their impulse for prophesying came from God (v.21) (NET
Bible footnote).
So, verse 21 elucidates verse 20:
“prophecy never had its origin in the will of man” (NIV), “prophecy
never came by the will of man” (NKJV), “no prophecy ever came by the
impulse of man” (RSV).
Summing up this section, the
recipients of Second Peter were urged to trust the Gospel. Peter knew it
was true as he had seen and heard the voice of God on the mount of
transfiguration. However, even without this personal experience,
Christians could absolutely trust the writings of Old Testament
prophecy, as well as those of the New Testament apostles.
This passage does not discuss the
‘gift of prophecy’ but rather the absolute truthfulness of Scripture as
recorded in both the Old and New Testaments.
However, the question still arises:
Could this passage be applied to other Christian ‘prophets?’ If so,
wouldn’t this mean that there is some kind of obligation to obey these
prophets, as their message would therefore originate from God?
It appears that Peter anticipated
this question, for he immediately addresses the topic of false prophets
and teachers.
2 Peter 2:1-3
1 But false prophets also arose among
the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who
will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master
who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Many will
follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will
be maligned; 3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false
words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction
is not asleep.
NASU
These false teachers will “introduce
destructive heresies,” they will lead people into “sensuality” (vs.2),
or “licentiousness” (RSV), “debauched lifestyles” (NET). Their words are
“false,” “deceptive” (NKJV, NET), and they will surely reap a terrible
punishment.
So, how would Peter’s readers be
able to distinguish between a “sure word of prophecy” (1:19 KJV) and a
“damnable heresy” (2:1 KJV)? How would they be able to tell the
difference between a true and false prophet? Peter leaves his readers in
no doubt. After condemning the false teachers in the strongest possible
terms (chapter two), he explains exactly how to tell the difference,
while repeating the reason why he wrote the epistle.
2 Peter 3:1-2
1 This is now, beloved, the second
letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind
by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the words spoken
beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and
Savior spoken by your apostles.
NASU
His readers were to remember that
there were two absolutely reliable sources of God’s truth. First, there
was the Old Testament (“the words spoken in the past by the holy
prophets” NIV), and second, there were the commands that Jesus Christ
issued through the apostles who had given them the message. Any teacher
or prophet whose message did not measure up to these two sources should
be rejected.
Application
The modern application is much the
same as it was to the readers of Peter’s epistle: there are two reliable
sources of God’s truth, against which all prophecy or revelation should
be measured: the Old Testament and the New Testament. Anything that does
not stand after being examined by the Bible should be rejected as
untruth.
The application for the Family is
not that their ‘prophecies’ are “sure” (2 Pet 1:19), but rather that all
their teaching must be measured by the standard of truth, that is the
words of the prophets who recorded God’s message in the Bible. Family
‘prophecies’ that do not measure up to the words of Peter or Paul, or
Jesus must be rejected as false teaching. There are severe warnings for
those who propagate false teachings, so it would be wise to ensure that
there is not the slightest hint of a deviation.
Many Family teachings, of course,
have little in common with the “prophetic word” of the New Testament
Apostles.
See also
Prophecy
References
How to Read the Bible Book by Book by Fee & Stuart
© 2008 Make Straight Paths
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