The Prophetic Word Made More Sure

"And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" (2 Peter 1:19). As good as the eyewitness accounts of the apostles were, God did not rely on their word alone. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord God superintended the writing down of those experiences and the related thoughts in the inspired Word of God.

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Tim. 3:16a). "Inspiration," in the Greek, is theopneustos, which is a compound word combining theo, which means God, and pneustos, which means breath or wind, and is also the word for spirit, as in the Holy Spirit (Greek hagios pneustos: hagios/Holy-pneustos/Spirit; or Holy Spirit).

To those who questioned whether his testimony was valid, whether his experiences were reliable, Peter had an answer: you don’t have to rely on my testimony, because there is an even better source—the prophetic word made more sure—the Word of God.

The opening phrase of 2 Peter 1:19, "And so we have the prophetic word confirmed" (NKJV), causes some to misinterpret this verse. They take it to indicate that Peter's experience validated the Scriptures, or somehow, when he witnessed the Transfiguration of Christ, it confirmed the truth of God's Word.

It could mean that, but there is more to it. Literally, the phrase "we have the prophetic word confirmed," reads, "we have more sure the prophetic word." What it means is that, as reliable and helpful as Peter's experience is, the prophetic word of Scripture is more sure because it is inspired or God-breathed. God's Word is without error, it never fails, and it is the all-sufficient source of truth.

In 2 Peter 1:18a, when it says, "And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain," "we" is emphatic in the Greek, and is literally translated in the NIV as "we ourselves." Here in verse 19a, "we" is not an emphatic pronoun. Instead, it is generic, referring to all believers. Believer's everywhere have the Word of God. It is the most reliable source of God's truth. It is far more reliable than all our experiences taken together.

Because the Bible is the most reliable source of truth, you would do well to "heed (it) as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" (v. 19b). If you are to stand firm against false teaching, you need to know the Word well and walk close by the Lord's side, obeying the Word every day.

"A lamp that shines in a dark place" (v. 19b) is a metaphor that reminds me of the words of the Psalmist: "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105). When you know and do God's Word, it will light your way.

"Until the day dawns" (v. 19b) is a reference to the day of Christ's return. In keeping with that theme, "morning star" (phōsphoros in Greek), literally means "light bringer." It was the name for the planet Venus, which rises ahead of the morning sun in the sky. Here it is used for Christ. At His Second Coming, He will be the "light bringer," and He will usher in the millennial kingdom and ultimately establish His Eternal Kingdom. On that day, when "the morning star rises in your hearts," you will all be transformed into a perfect reflection of Jesus Christ.

In verse 20, Peter returns to the topic of the inspiration of Scripture: "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation." Paul said, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Tim. 3:16a). Therefore, it follows that "no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation" (2 Peter 1:20), or "no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation" (NASB).

"Is of any" (v. 20), or "is a matter of" (NASB), translates a single Greek word which means "to come into being, to originate, or to arise." The Scriptures did not originate with men. False teaching was dreamed up by men, but not God's Word. His Word came directly from Him, not from Man. You can't write Scripture by way of how you interpret it. It doesn't work that way. The interpretation of God's Word must also come from God.

It is not up to you. God's Word means what God meant it to mean, not what you want it to mean. Let the Spirit within you do His work. He is the one who intercedes with your spirit to teach you the things of God, including the meaning of the Word of God. That's why unbelievers can't understand the Word of God. It is spiritually discerned, and they do not have the Holy Spirit: "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14).

"For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (v. 21). That is how the Bible came about. The Greek word trasnslated "moved," is a present passive participle that means "continually carried" or "borne along." The Holy Spirit moved on the hearts of men and guided the process, so that what they wrote was God's Word. They, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, wrote what God wanted, not what they wanted.

Paul explained it like this: "These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual" (1 Cor. 2:13). The NASB supplies a word at the end of that verse for clarity: "which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words."

If we are going to take a stand against false teachers, we must know the Scriptures well, and we must obey God's Word and live by it every day. There is no better source for life and eternity than the Holy Spirit-inspired, God-breathed Word. Amen.