Eyewitness Testimony
2 Peter 1:16-21
In 2 Peter 1:16-21, Peter talks about an amazing event in his life, the Transfiguration of the Lord. He and two other men were privy to a spectacular scene. Peter saw the glory of Christ and heard the voice of God the Father. When we read Peter, we are reading eyewitness testimony, not fables and stories (Mark 9:3; cf. Matt. 17:2; Luke 9:29).
In verse 19, Peter says we have a more sure word. But don’t miss Peter’s point. We ought to pay attention to the Word of prophecy. He’s pointing us to the Scriptures (vs20) and says we would do well to pay attention to it. We don’t have an inferior faith, but “like precious” 1:1. We have the same Old Testament as Peter and are blessed with the New Testament written by the Apostles. We have their eyewitness testimony, see the fulfillment of promises of the first coming of Christ, and we have more light as to the second coming of Christ, so we would do well to take heed to what God is telling us. You and I would do well to head the voice of God in the Scriptures.
In verses 20-21, he says, “Know this first” or “This is very important.” No prophecy of Scripture is of “private interpretation.” That doesn’t mean that individuals can’t interpret the Scriptures because Peter just told us to “heed” the Scriptures. Prophesy is not a private interpretation. I think this is talking about the prophets. Their prophecy didn’t come from their own untying interpretations of what was happening around them at the time. Jeremiah didn’t look about and write some sermons and give his opinion on the politics of the day. Ezekiel didn’t have some bad dreams and wrote them and gave his spin on what he thought they meant. The meaning of the Scriptures is not up for grabs. The prophets were speaking the Words of the Living God. So, if it wasn’t by their imaginations, how did we end up with it?
The Old Testament was not written by man’s will. It was penned by holy men of God. Men of God’s choosing as He ordained it. They spake. It wasn’t that God gave them impressions, but it was through the WORDS (How would God give the prophets the prophecies apart from communicating it through Words?) “as they were moved” or as God carried them along. As they were borne, like being borne on a ship at sea. Their speaking was by the Spirit carrying them. They were not merely guided or directed by the Holy Spirit. They were carried along by the Holy Spirit and moved by the Spirit’s power to accomplish the Holy Spirit’s purpose. Just as the Word came from Heaven, the Holy men of God spake as the Word came to them by the Holy Ghost
Take heed to the Scriptures. God gave us a book. And the book can be read understood, and discerned. You have the Holy Spirit, who, in His glorious way, illuminates what it says.