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.” It 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
Content: 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 mind 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
he 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 2
References
How to Read the Bible Book by Book by Fee & Stuart
© 2008 Make Straight Paths
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