Evidence for the truth
We also have the prophetic word strongly confirmed, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:19-21 CSB
In order to disprove the myths the false teachers were disseminating, Peter continued to build up his case for the truth about Christ. “We also have the prophetic word strongly confirmed.” Throughout Jesus’ ministry on earth, Christ fulfilled multiple prophecies, such as the virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14), born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), John the Baptist being sent ahead to prepare the way (Isaiah 40:3), Christ reading the scroll of Isaiah (Isaiah 61:1-2, Luke 4:18-21), His garments being divided to cast lots at the crucifixion (Psalm 22:13-18, John 20:25), and many more written five hundred to a thousand years before Christ was ever born. Peter, the disciples, and the crowds around Jesus saw Him fulfill prophecy after prophecy. If Peter’s eyewitness account was not enough for the reader, then the Scriptures would assure what is true, acting as a “lamp shining in a dark place” (Psalm 119:105) in the present day and will be shown true when “the day dawns (Malachi 4:2) and the morning star rises in your hearts,” when Christ returns (Revelation 22:16). Peter then shows how the prophets were even able to do this task of writing. In order for these prophecies to be fulfilled, the only possible way these writers in the past were able to see a glimpse into the future was only by the leading of God, and not of themselves, “no prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation…men spoke from God.” The prophets were God’s messengers, writing, being “carried along by the Holy Spirit” to fill them to speak truth. The idea here is that the message was ferried along, each prophet writing with their unique personality and style, yet “carried” by the Holy Spirit to reach the same destination: speaking of the Messiah and what He would accomplish. Although Peter was nearing the end of his life on earth, he wanted to make sure to show that what he believed in was absolute truth, shown through his own eyewitness account on the Mount of Transfiguration to the plethora of Christ’s fulfilling the word of the prophets.
Blessings,
Isaac De Guzman
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