2 Peter 1:19-21

[clark thompson]

2 Peter 1:19-21King James Version (KJV)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.

New European Version
19 And we have the word of prophecy made yet more sure; to which you do well that you take heed, as a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the day-star arises in your hearts.
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation. 21 For no prophecy ever came by the will of man, but men spoke from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.

Text and commentary © 2010 Duncan Heaster dh[at]heaster.org


These are my thoughts, please share yours.

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19 The word of God is something we as believers accept evenif it does not get fulfilled in our life time. We should keep the word of Godthe scripture close to our hearts this way we know what God wants from us so wecan serve Him to the ability He has given us. The word of God gives us what weneed; this does not mean it gives us what we want.

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20 There are no scripture that just applies to one a groupof people it applies to all. This does not mean we may get something out ofscripture, personally conviction to do something that someone else may not, itmeans that all scripture is given for everyone to live by those who have faithwill be the only ones that do though.

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21 This is why scripture is still relevant today and stillmoves us today. Scripture is living because it was breathed by the only trueLiving God.

 

[Chad]

Here's an easier translation to understand.

2 Peter 1:19-21 ESV

19 And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Commentary / exposition by Grant Richison

“For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

For prophecy never came by the will of man

Note that this verse begins with a word of explanation – "for." The previous verse explained that Scriptures did not come from a human source but a divine source.

Scripture does not originate with man. Man does not originate the Bible. The human author received God's ideas. Scripture comes by divine inspiration. The Bible is not man's idea. The Bible originates with God. Revelation comes from God to man.

Religion is man's ideas about God. That is why religion does not have the answer.

but holy men of God

If the Bible did not come by man's will, how did it come? By "holy men of God." Approximately thirty different men wrote the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament. About eight men wrote the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. God used holy [set apart] men to write Scripture.

These men were not automatons or robots. They used their own personality and vocabulary to write Scripture. The Holy Spirit, however, guarded them from error as they wrote Scripture. He superintended each word they wrote. Therefore, the authors of Scripture made no mistakes. We have the Bible exactly as God intended for us to have it. We can place our confidence in Scripture.

"Holy men of God" are Old and New Testament authors like Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, John and Paul. God picked certain men to communicate the Bible.

spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit

"But" implies strong contrast. In contrast to human beings originating Scripture, the Holy Spirit superintended the writing of Scripture.

"Moved" means to carry. The book of Acts uses "moved" for wind carrying a ship (27:15, 17). The Holy Spirit so guided the human author that he wrote without error. That is why Scripture is certain. Therefore, we can trust Scripture because it is the very words of God.

This word "moved" translates "upholds" and "bearing" in the book of Hebrews:

"Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:3).

"Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach" (Hebrews 13:13).

The idea is to carry. The Holy Spirit upholds or bears the writers of Scripture as they write Scripture. The writers of Scripture wrote better than they knew. That is why the Bible is not full of fables.

The Holy Spirit governed the human author as he was in the process of writing Scripture (2 Peter 3:16). The human author was aware of the content that he wrote, but the Holy Spirit "carried" him. The Holy Spirit originates Scripture.

The Holy Spirit so supernaturally superintended Scripture writers that without circumventing their intelligence, their personal literary style or personality, He enabled them to record Scripture with perfect accuracy. Human authors were not automatons or robots who acted like a computer when they wrote Scripture.

PRINCIPLE: We have a trustworthy Bible because the Holy Spirit superintended the writing of Scripture.

APPLICATION: The Bible is the unabridged revelation of the thoughts of an omniscient God.

God put everything that we need to know about Him in writing. Scripture is the only inspired book on earth. Other books may be profound and insightful but God did not inspire these writings. Only the Bible is inspired because the Holy Spirit wrote Scripture.

No single church has the exclusive right to interpret the Bible. If a single church had this right, then no single individual would have responsibility to understand Scripture for himself. If we blindly accept what a given church teaches we place ourselves at risk. Each of us must take responsibility to understand the Word for ourselves.

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