Peter was one of the most God-blessed of all the children of Adam. No, he wasn’t wealthy, but money is not necessarily a blessing from the Lord. And he wasn’t a powerful political figure. He didn’t become famous in secular history. He didn’t die peacefully in the arms of his grandchildren. And he didn’t become the first pontiff of the Roman Catholic religion. But – he was there with the Lord Jesus Christ throughout His earthly ministry. I doubt that we can begin to imagine what that was like. He was blessed by Christ. He was rebuked by Christ. He was taught directly by Christ. And some of the Lord’s miracles fell on him.
It is Peter who applies the word “eyewitness” to his relationship to Jesus’ life. The word “eyewitness” is found no where else in the scripture but right here. And that highlights the fact that there were few other observers to what Peter saw. He was an eyewitness to nearly the entirety of Jesus’ earthly ministry, being chosen to become one of Jesus’ first disciples. So, as he has just told us, he was an eyewitness to “the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He was a witness to the “parousia” – the appearing of the Son of God. He saw first hand the “dunamis” – the dynamic creative and recreative power of Christ. And then there was that very special occasion, when on the top of the holy mount, he, along with James and John, witnessed the majesty, honor and glory of Christ in the transfiguration. He saw the Lord talking with Moses and Elijah, and he heard some of that conversation about Jesus’ death. And by the way, since the word is “exodus” and not “crucifixion…” It makes me wonder if the discussion was theological, focusing on the effects of Christ’s death, rather than on the details of the crucifixion itself. And then there was the voice of God the Father, speaking from the excellent glory, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
These things were a tremendous blessing, but at this point in this letter, Peter pushes them into the background. He says, despite the importance of the things which I have experienced. And even though I can share with you what I have seen of our Saviour. We both have something even more important than this. “We (all) 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: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” Peter emphasizes and magnifies the importance of the written Word of God – the Bible.
I plan to consider the Word, its creation and inspiration in our next lesson, if the Lord should bless. But this evening I just want to take a few minutes to look at verse 19, asking three quick “why” questions. “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.”
WHY is it that the Word of God is MORE SURE than what Peter saw and knew?
For example, he was sure that he had heard the voice of God. Wow! Think about that. That voice was probably something burned into his memory and even into his soul. But how could he convey that voice, the sound and depth of that voice, so that others could hear it? Sometimes the voice of God is described as thunder, and whose ears can withstand that sound? Sometimes it is like rushing water as perhaps in a waterfall. Again that can be deafening. And even if God’s voice was possible to reproduce in some fashion, few would have believed it. There would have been other explanations other than the voice of God. But then, when it comes down to it, the actual voice is not really important – whether God’s or Peter’s. Peter had also heard at least part of the discussion about Jesus’ decease. But that was so unbelievable at the time, that Christ told him to keep it under his hat. Even if he did eventually tell people, “I heard a conversation about the crucifixion months before it took place,” many would have replied, “But why didn’t you share it earlier?” You are like the prophet who says, “I knew that,” after the fact. What kind of prophet is that? Oh, but what details Peter could have shared about the miracles he witnessed and participated in. He could have filled in the blanks in a hundred different ways. But all that boiled down to nothing more than “hearsay” – “He said, she said.”
Someone might say, but Peter HAS given us his thoughts on the life and theology of Christ. And so has John, Matthew and all the others. We have the words of the Lord’s disciples, and we study them, even as we are this evening. But there are words, and there are words which have been notarized by a lawful registrar. Peter, other gospel writers and even the prophets, knew when they were just talking or writing and when they were actually being “moved by the Holy Ghost.” The Book of Isaiah, for example, is a large Old Testament book, but it doesn’t contain all that Isaiah ever said. The same can be said of Jeremiah or any other book of the Bible. We will come back to this in our next lesson, but only when the “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,” were those words the inspired Word of God. And very often, those men knew when their words were “God breathed,” and when they weren’t.
When WE read the Bible, we have a far more sure word from God than if we could sit down to listen to Peter’s reflections on the transfiguration or anything else he witnessed in Jesus’ life. The same is true of Moses, David and Jeremiah. In Galatians we are told that Paul spent months in Arabia with the Saviour, learning God’s eternal truth. There is a reason that we know nothing about the details of that time in his life. The Lord didn’t want us to know. If we had the opportunity to talk with Paul about his early training, we might learn many things, but they would not be as important as what we have in II Peter 1:19-21 or elsewhere in the Bible.
The point is: we can trust what God has recorded for us in His word. It is more sure than what science might tell us; that what history might tells us; what an angel from God might tell us. Genesis 1 doesn’t give us all that took place in the creation, but we can be SURE that what it does tell us is what God wants us to know.
And by the way don’t get hung up on the word “prophecy.” “We have also a more sure word of prophecy…” Peter is not referring to the books at the end of the Old Testament; books we call the “major” and “minor prophets.” Remember that “prophecy” refers to more than just declarations about future events. Many men in the Bible were called “prophets,” such as Samuel, but he said next to nothing about the future. Generally speaking, a “prophet” is someone who speaks on behalf of the Lord.
The Word of God is a more sure word of prophecy than anything any self-proclaimed prophet has to say.
WHY is this more sure word of prophecy SO IMPORTANT?
“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.” You and I need to “take heed” unto the more sure word of prophecy. It always does us well to take heed to the written word. It is healthy for us to hear it – and learn it – and to apply what it is saying. And it is because it is so sure that we would do well to know it.
Consider the theory of evolution… There is such a thing as “evolution.” It is seen in the way that false theory has evolved over the last 150 years. What Charles Darwin believed is said to be the foundation of the modern evolutionary ideas. But the details and application of those ideas today are not what that man wrote in his books. Today’s evolutionary principles are vastly different and more complicated than Darwin’s opinions. Similarly, there is no branch of science which hasn’t moved, shifted, grown and expanded over the years. And that is true of the science of theology as well. But the Word of God has not changed, because the God of the Word has not changed. The Author of the Bible is “the same yesterday, today and forever.” And this is one reason why the more sure word of prophecy is so important.
But what about all the new versions of the Bible we have today? I can see an argument against using any of them right here in this verse. When the ASV changes the RSV, and the NIV changes the ASV, and NKJV and the ESV changes words again, thinking people will ask, “Okay, do we really have a more sure word of prophecy?” The answer is: Yes, we do, but not in all those confusing versions with their differing messages. Throw away all the new stuff which claims to improve on the sure word of prophecy. If it was sure 400 years ago, then it is still sure.
But if we have a more sure word of prophecy WHY does Peter seem to tell us that it is TEMPORARY?
Well, it only “seems” that he speaks that way. “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.” Are we supposed to take heed to the word of God only until the day dawn? Not only “until” that day, but we need to make sure that we do take heed until that day.
There is a day coming when the darkness that sin has brought upon the earth, will be turned into day. The dawn is coming. The sure word of prophecy which Isaiah was inspired to say in chapter 60 reads: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” There is a day in the relatively near future, when the Lord Jesus, in His glory, will reign over His world. There is a coming day, when He who is the light, shall shine across His creation and there will be no shadow or darkness. It is the sure word of prophecy which comforts us and carries us, bringing us to that day. The sure word of prophecy should be received and heeded until that time.
In regard to this reference to the dawning of that day, Peter speaks of “the day star arising in your hearts.” That “day star” is the Lord Jesus Christ, the anointed Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus, Himself said in Revelation 22:16 – “I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.” The sure word of the prophet Malachi says, “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.”
It is interesting that we are told both John the Baptist and his father are described as a “prophets” in Luke 1. “And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David…” “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
The Lord Jesus is returning to His creation soon. Every verse and every prophecy in the sure word of God points a finger to that bright day of light and glory. We do well to cling to the sure word of prophecy until that day. It is not just a good idea, it is imperative to our spiritual well-being. Don’t listen to the words of any self-proclaimed “prophet,” about visions of this or that – heaven or hell. Our faith must stand on a substantial foundation. And that foundation is the written Word of God – inspired – God-breathed – by the Holy Spirit.