Peter Warns All Believers Against False Teachers Within and Exhorts Us to be Steadfast Volume 15

The Trustworthy Prophetic Word of God Declared and Affirmed by the Apostle Peter Part 2 2 Peter 1:20-21 Knowing this first, that no Prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. 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. KJV Note: NKJV=New King 👑James Version The Apostle Peter in concluding his discourse on the Prophetic Word of God that was declared through God's Prophets long ago concerning the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and also concerning His second coming when He judges this world in righteousness (that being His own righteousness) and ends time forever, declares to us that what the Prophets spoke was not from their own intellect or intelligence, that is, not from the mind of man. Peter uses the phrase 'private interpretation' in 2 Peter 1:20 and we understand what he means here by private, but the English word 'interpretation' is translated by the Greek word epilusis which is used this one time only in the entire New Testament and means explanation, that is, application: - interpretation. In other words, these men like Moses and Isaiah and Zechariah and Hosea and Amos and so on were not using their intelligence or wisdom or knowledge to foretell when and where the Messiah would come or how He would live and suffer and die for the sins of the world 🗺. But on the contrary they were listening 👂and hearing from the Lord Jehovah/Yahweh and then speaking or writing what He declared to them, for example here is what Ezekiel said and then wrote in his book, "And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "'Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, 'Hear the Word of the LORD!' Thus says the Lord GOD: 'Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts. You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the LORD. They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, 'Thus says the LORD!' But the LORD has not sent them; yet they hope that the word may be confirmed. Have you not seen a futile vision, and have you not spoken false divination? You say, 'The LORD says,' but I have not spoken.' Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you,' says the Lord GOD. 'My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD." (Ezekiel 13:1-9) (NKJV). You see the One true God is Omnipotent (all Powerful) and Omniscient (all Knowing), therefore, nothing that He does not want recorded as His Eternal Words will not be so declared. The Old Testament Prophets as well as the New Testament writers declared the true Word of the Lord because He God gave His Word to them. The Bible is the Word of God and not the Word of Men 🚹 and there is the very Power of God in His Holy Words. No other book ever written by men does any of the words contain in any of those many books have any power in them at all. God's Word (the Bible) comes with His Divine Power in every Word from Genesis Chapter 1 to Revelation Chapter 22. Here is what the Expositor's Bible Commentary has to say of 2 Peter 1:20, "The Greek words need to be taken account of before we can gather the true meaning of this clause. That which is translated 'is' is much more frequently rendered 'comes to pass,' and bears the sense of 'arises,' 'has its origin.' 'Interpretation' is the translation of a word which occurs here only in the-New Testament, and implies the 'loosing' of what is complicated, the 'clearing' of what is obscure. The lesson which the Apostle would give relates to the right appreciation of the Old Testament Scriptures, which contain the prophecy which he has called above 'the lamp in a dark place.' He intends to say something which may incline men to follow its guidance. The prophetic writings furnish us with illustrations how the problems which arose in the lives of the men of old time, both about events around them and also about the dispensations of Divine providence, found their solution. Thus they furnish rules and principles for time to come; and that men may be induced to confide in their guidance is the object of St. Peter's words. He bids the converts know that these unravellings and clearings of the ways of God are not men's private interpretation of what they beheld. This was not the manner in which they came to be known. They are not evolved out of human consciousness, pondering on the facts of life and the ways of God, nor are they the individual exposition of those whom God employed as His prophets. They are messages and lessons which came from One and the same Impelling Power, from One and the same Illuminating Influence, even from God Himself, and so are uniform in spirit and teaching from first to last; and He from whom and through whom they are given can say by the mouth of the last of the prophetic body, 'I am Jehovah; I change not.' (Malachi 3:6)." The Apostle Peter now wants to put a period and exclamation point on this very long entertained but very wrong entertained fallacy or fiction or foolishness that the Prophets of old declared or decided or determined what they would speak or write concerning the will of God. Peter says here in 2 Peter 1:21 that 'the Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man' and that little English word 'will' is translated by the Greek word thelēma which means a determination that is, (actively) choice (specifically purpose, decree; abstractly volition) or (passively) inclination: - desire, pleasure, will. In other words, they didn't know anything about the times and places of the coming of the Messiah Jesus Christ our Lord nor did they know of any future events in human history that they wrote about, for it was all given to them by the Spirit of God who is the true author of the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. This entire 1st Chapter of 2nd Peter is all about what he and we have been given by God, not about what he or we have determined about God or decreed about God or declared about God from our own knowing or knowledge, but all about what God has shown him and given to him that he might declare the truth of God to all of us who are of the truth and love the truth, remember what the Apostle John wrote, "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth." (1 John 2:20-21) (NKJV). The anointing from the Holy One is what every true born again son or daughter has from God and so was it with those men of old who spoke and wrote for God His very Words and now we see Peter writing this very truth here in 2 Peter 1:21, "but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" and so is the Apostle Peter in his writing these two letters. The little English phrase 'were moved' is translated by the Greek word pherō̄ a primary verb which means to 'bear' or carry (in a very wide application, literally and figuratively: - be driven, move along. Like a sail boat with no engine cannot move forward through the water without the wind 🍃going through the sails, so could not those Prophets of old 🧓speak or write 📝for God without the Holy Ghost giving them the words to speak and write 📝. This is why we read in the Old Testament 'Thus saith the Lord God' or 'The Word of the Lord came to me saying' or 'Then the Lord said to Noah' or 'And the Lord said to Moses', for this is the pattern throughout the Old Testament. However, we now read these words written to us by the writer of the Book of Hebrews, "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the Prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;" (Hebrews 1:1-2) (NKJV). Peter and Paul and John and the other writers of the New Testament are all likewise moved along by the Holy Spirit and we must recall these words our Lord Jesus spoke to them not long before He ascended back to Heaven, "'I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you." (John 16:12-15) (NKJV). These are all the things that Peter and Paul and John have written in their letters Amen! Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of 2 Peter 1:21, "Seeing it is so absolutely necessary that persons be fully persuaded of the Scripture's Divine origin, the Apostle tells us how the Old Testament came to be compiled, and that, 1. Negatively: It came not by the will of man. Neither the things themselves that are recorded, and make up the several parts of the Old Testament, are the opinions of men, nor was the will of any of the Prophets or penmen of the Scriptures the rule or reason why any of those things were written which make up the canon of the Scripture. 2. Affirmatively: Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Observe, (1.) They were holy men of God who were employed about that book which we receive as the Word of God. If Balaam and Caiaphas, and others who were destitute of holiness, had any thing of the spirit of prophecy, upon occasion, yet such persons were not employed to write any part of the Scriptures for the use of the Church of God. All the penmen of the Scriptures were holy men of God. (2.) These holy men were moved by the Holy Ghost in what they delivered as the mind and will of God. The Holy Ghost is the supreme agent, the holy men are but instruments. [1.] The Holy Ghost inspired and dictated to them what they were to deliver of the Mind of God. [2.] He powerfully excited and effectually engaged them to speak (and write) what he had put into their mouths. [3.] He so wisely and carefully assisted and directed them in the delivery of what they had received from Him that they were effectually secured from any the least mistake in expressing what they revealed; so that the very Words of Scripture are to be accounted the Words of the Holy Ghost, and all the plainness and simplicity, all the power and virtue, all the elegance and propriety, of the very words and expressions are to be regarded by us as proceeding from God. Mix faith therefore with what you find in the Scriptures; esteem and reverence your Bible as a book written by holy men, inspired, influenced, and assisted by the Holy Ghost." If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...