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| 2 Peter 1:19 |
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1:19 And we have the prophetic word made more sure. You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Some time back, I wrote next to this verse in the margin of my Amplified bible,... "more sure than what we heard." Peter is referring to what he, James, and John saw and heard on the Mount of Transfiguration, when God said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." He means that prophecy is more sure than an eye- or ear-witness account.
From the very next verse (20), we learn the principle that "the Bible interprets itself". This means that somewhere within the pages of Scripture, the timing, the location, the characters, and the symbols within the texts like parables and prophecies, that truths from God support other truths from Him. It is our job, under the leading of The Holy Spirit, to search them out in prayer.
When we add the following three vital verses to our understanding of this principle, however, we end up with a practical consequence that follows naturally :
For I am the LORD, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. (Malachi 3:6)
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. (James 1:17)
Each of these verses proclaims God as constant, consistent, unchanging. It is this quality of God—that He is faithful to what He is—that allows us to trust Him. We can have confidence in God and His Word because He never changes!
Could we rely upon a double-minded God (see James 1:6-8)? Could we have faith in a Being who constantly blew hot and cold? No! But, with our God, we need not fear inconsistency.
So, if God is constant and His Word interprets itself, the practical consequence is that the Bible's interpretation of its symbols is consistent. This must be true! If the Bible gave us two contradictory interpretations of a symbol, how could we ever feel confident that we understood its meaning? This practical consequence underscores II Peter 1:19, where the apostle informs us that "the prophetic word [is] more sure" than even eyewitness accounts!
We 'can' have confidence in our understanding of the prophecies and parables if the symbols we interpret match what we understand in other areas of Scripture. Otherwise, we could never be sure!
This means that every symbol from Genesis to Revelation is consistent in its interpretation. If a earthen vessel means something in one part of the Bible, it will mean the same elsewhere, though the context may modify it slightly. If God is consistent, His Word—His revelation of Himself to us—must also therefore be consistent.
This conclusion may raise some questions. How can that be? How can, for instance, a lion represent Satan in I Peter 5:8 and Jesus Christ in Revelation 5:5? Is that not contradictory? Not at all! Our understanding is correct, but the meaning we give to the symbol is wrong. We must sometimes widen our focus. Like a CSI, we zoom out for a greater understanding of the evidence.
A study of the symbol of the lion brings out several characteristics the Bible emphasizes: It represents strength, predatory ferocity, majesty, and leadership. The lion is the symbol of a ruler, a king, and often a very fierce and powerful one. These are the general meanings of the symbol based on a lion's traits. They help us to comprehend what God wants us to focus on in the context. Thus, a lion can represent both Satan and Jesus because they both have a lion's characteristics.
God, through Peter, then urges us to press forward in faith knowing that the guarantee of the prophecies in God's Word is that they originated in God, not in men. The prophets spoke or wrote as God motivated them by His Holy Spirit. God's very words came through them to us.
The Scriptures are not the invention of creative and imaginative men, like traditions, folk-lore, or fairy tales, and we can trust them right on up to the return of Christ and our resurrection. Because the reputation and power of God are our security. Amen?
I love you. |
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| To add a comment to "2 Peter 1:19" |
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| May 30, 2009 |
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| May 30, 2009 |
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| May 30, 2009 |
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glad I popped by before going to mulch, :) Like a CSI, we zoom out for a greater understanding of the evidence.
Got my magnifying lens out and thinking cap on and of course invited the Holy Spirit on my word study journey. The verse in Peter above speaks of prophecy. I was looking through an old journal and found where I had placed on one page the verse below, which was given to me by the Lord after a minister laid hands on me and quoted the other verse Jesus said to Peter about satan desiring to have him. He told me to stand strong in the Lord after that and to allow myself and my talents to be utilized in God's kingdom. That is why I was given them. I went home and right after that this verse leapt from the pages of the bible as I was reading. I was a NEW believer, so was not familiar with them. 4:14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophetic utterance when the council of elders laid their hands upon you. Funny, another minister told me that God would reveal an open door to me within 3 weeks from that hour. I waited and nothing. It was twenty minutes from being that hour and I told the friend who had invited me to that church that if that man spoke a prophecy then it had only twenty minutes to come to pass. I got off the phone and began reading somewhere in Revelations, think in the 2nd or 3rd chapter...that God opens a door that no man can shut. I never understood the significance for me beyond that fact that I didn't know it was in there and I opened my bible at random to read until the 20 minutes passed. It was within a few minutes that I read the verse. Ok, out to mulch, thank you for the word study, brother, you are very loved, juanita |
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| May 30, 2009 |
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Amen & amen. |
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| May 30, 2009 |
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Hey Craig, My good friend,... I hope you caught that, 'earthen vessel' part,... hehe. Love ya, Thanks.
Thanks, Juanita, That is sooo awesome. These referrences to Peter, this morning are so reflective and then I think of HOW CONVINCED GOD HAD MADE HIM THAT HE WOULD:
Surrender himself to be crucified upside-down on an x-shaped cross in Rome in fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy. (John 21:18) Hallelujah!
I Love you, Juanita. |
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| May 30, 2009 |
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| Oops, I missed My Pandabear. I love you too! |
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| May 30, 2009 |
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| Thank you for such a blessed blog. I too love the scripture that says we are to study to show ourselves as workman of God...His revelatioins are all around but central in the personhood of Chirist who is the bottom standard and rule of thumb for all understanding!!Love in Christ Pc |
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| May 30, 2009 |
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WoW!!! WOW indeed!! |
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| May 30, 2009 |
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| June 01, 2009 |
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| June 03, 2009 |
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| June 04, 2009 |
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Jimmie, Chuck, Yahschild, Mike and Laura,... all of you, Thank you for your love and encouragement.
Philippians 1:9 And this I pray: that your love may abound yet more and more and extend to its fullest development in knowledge and all keen insight [that your love may display itself in greater depth of acquaintance and more comprehensive discernment]. I love you. |
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| June 04, 2009 |
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