Verse: 2 Peter 1:19–21 (NIV)
19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Devotion
This is an easy verse to gloss over (for me at least!) but after pausing on it and reading some about it, it’s actually significant! It is a powerful, shout it from the rooftops, declaration of the inspired and trustworthy nature of Scripture.
Leading up to this passage, Peter is sharing that people can trust the apostles’ writing and teaching because they were eye witnesses to amazing things such as God’s voice (which he says they heard!) spoken during Jesus’ baptism, and the incredible experience he had with James and John during the Transfiguration. However amazing those experiences were though, Peter argues that the accuracy of the prophecy of the Old Testament is also “something completely reliable.” In fact, some translations say “more fully confirmed,” insinuating that the OT is even more powerful evidence than eye witness testimony!
He then explains that the Old Testament did not come about by a person’s own ideas. But in one of the most amazing explanations of the divine mystery surrounding the writing of Scripture he says, “prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Maybe impossible to fully understand, we have this gem of a verse to help us wrap our heads (at least a little) around the concept of God speaking through human writers, but the writing nonetheless being fully inspired and not something the writers themselves are coming up with.
We may never fully grasp “how all that works,” just like I suspect we’ll never fully grasp God’s love, or grace, or the concept of the Trinity. That doesn’t make it any less true, however. And it also doesn’t make it any less encouraging.
The Word of God, and the Gospel message, is a rock we can build our lives upon for this very reason: it is not a human’s idea, it is God’s. It is not a human’s writing, it is God’s inspired word written through humans. God has given us the Scripture to guide us in life and to lead us to Jesus. What an incredible gift!
This morning can you take a moment to thank God for this amazing gift? Can you thank him for the Word that speaks to you daily, that is living and breathing and powerful? Can you ask him to increase your passion to know his Word more?
Author: Christian Dunn
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