12 ¶ Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you
always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established
in the present truth. 13 Yea, I think it
meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in
remembrance; 14 Knowing that shortly I
must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.
15 Moreover I will endeavour that ye may
be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.
Peter says that he will constantly remind them of these
fundamentals so that they will be established in the truth which he calls the present truth. He feels an urgency
in doing this as he knows that he will eventually be martyred for Christ, as
Christ warned him.
John 21:18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou
wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when
thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird
thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. 19 This spake he, signifying by what death he
should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
Peter knows that his death will bring the things he has said
to mind for those who follow Christ and are influenced by Peter.
16 ¶
For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known
unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. 17 For he received from
God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the
excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 18 And this voice which came from heaven we
heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
Peter asserts that they are not following myth and fable but
his eyewitness testimony and that of others. John underscores this as well.
1John 1:1 ¶ That which was from the beginning, which we
have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and
our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2
(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and
shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested
unto us;) 3 That which we have seen and
heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly
our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things write we unto you, that your
joy may be full.
Others, such as Luke, were taught by the eyewitnesses and
researched the facts of Christ’s life and mission on their own. Luke was the
first Christian historian and wrote to an acquaintance named Theophilus.
Luke 1:1 ¶ Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set
forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed
among us, 2 Even as they delivered them
unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;
3 It seemed good to me also, having had
perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in
order, most excellent Theophilus, 4 That
thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been
instructed.
Acts 1:1 ¶ The former treatise have I made, O
Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after
that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he
had chosen: 3 To whom also he shewed
himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them
forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: 4 And, being assembled together with them,
commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the
promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
Peter makes reference to the events, what he personally saw,
on the Mount of Transfiguration.
Matthew 16:28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing
here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in
his kingdom.
17:1 ¶
And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and
bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2
And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and
his raiment was white as the light. 3
And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
4 Then answered Peter, and said unto
Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three
tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud
overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. 6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on
their face, and were sore afraid. 7 And
Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. 8 And when they had lifted up their eyes, they
saw no man, save Jesus only. 9 And as
they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision
to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.
[Note: Some authorities say that Mark wrote his gospel based
on teachings by Peter, but here Peter quotes from Matthew’s account while Mark’s
account does not include in whom I am
well pleased.
Mark 9:7 And there was a cloud that overshadowed them:
and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.]
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: 20
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation. 21 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.
Here, Peter makes what is an astounding statement, if you
think about it clearly. This is something all Christians should consider. In
the context Peter is talking about the written word, the Scripture. The written
word of God is more sure, more reliable, and more trustworthy than our
experience as Peter places it above his own experience with Christ
transfigured. This sure word of prophecy in
verse 19 is linked with prophecy of the
scripture in verse 20 by its association in context. The Bible is a light
that shines in a dark place until that day dawns. There are a number of things
here to consider.
First, let’s talk about the day dawning. In this age we live
in a spiritual night until Christ returns.
John 13:26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall
give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it
to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27
And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That
thou doest, do quickly. 28 Now no man at
the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. 29 For some of them thought, because Judas had
the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of
against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. 30 He then having received the sop went
immediately out: and it was night.
Paul wrote;
Romans 13:12 The
night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works
of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
1Thessalonians
5:5 Ye are all the children of light,
and the children of the day: we are not
of the night, nor of darkness.
Peter wrote;
2Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which
the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt
with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be
burned up.
As Christ’s resurrection was revealed in the morning, we are
waiting for Christ’s return for us, for the morning light to peek over the
horizon;
Genesis 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the
darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Psalm 30:4 Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and
give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his
favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Psalm 130:6 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they
that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
Remember that Jesus is the light of the world.
John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I
am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but
shall have the light of life.
John 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light
of the world.
Christians are light inasmuch as the light of Christ shines
through them. But, so much of the dogma put out by established churches is so
worldly the light doesn’t shine through very often.
Another point to note is the importance of Scripture, of the
Bible. God places His written word above even His name.
Psalm 138:2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and
praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast
magnified thy word above all thy name.
It is the principle means by which God, as per Jesus’ own
statement, sanctifies His people.
John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is
truth.
In the Bible, interpretation
is used like we, today, use the word translation.
John 1:42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus
beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called
Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
John 9:7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of
Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and
washed, and came seeing.
Acts 9:36 Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple
named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of
good works and almsdeeds which she did.
Acts 13:8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name
by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the
faith.
It can also refer to interpreting events, explaining
phenomenon, as in, what does it mean.
Genesis 40:5 And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man
his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream,
the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison.
But, in the context of this passage in 2Peter it appears to
be referring to both the understanding as in there is no private revelation of
what it means and also the transmission of God’s word from God to us through
the Prophets and those writers which were the secretaries of those who did not
write themselves, translators and copyists, who, if their work was given by
inspiration, faithfully conveyed the word. The translation of words from one
language to another impacts the meaning of the passage in many profound ways as
the difference between Bibles translated before and after The Enlightenment painfully
show. The worldview and Godview of the translators also impacts the meaning.
One argument against modern versions is that they represent the private
interpretation of a select group of scholars who do not believe that God’s
inspiration applied to anyone but the original authors of the original
autographs thus taking God out of the picture and reducing His activity to one
action in the distant past.
Sometimes a Bible writer uses someone else to do the actual
writing, as in Paul’s letter to the Romans.
Romans 16:22 I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you
in the Lord.
Sometimes the original autographs were changed to suit God’s
plan.
Jeremiah 36:32 Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it
to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of
Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in
the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.
God’s inspiration was not necessarily word for word
dictation but wisdom and understanding.
Job 32:8 But there is a spirit in man: and the
inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
2Timothy 3:16a All scripture is given by inspiration of God…
As Peter will say of Paul in a few verses.
2Peter 3:15 And account that the longsuffering of our
Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the
wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
But, it started with God’s inspiration given to men.
21 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.
Which, the written result God promised to preserve, insomuch
as that written word was given by
inspiration.
Psalm 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as
silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt
preserve them from this generation for ever.
Psalm 119:89 LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled
in heaven.
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