2 Peter 1:19 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.
In the previous verses Peter provides a solid foundation through his eye-witness experience of Jesus. In this verse, he points to the witness of the prophets. These would be the prophets of the Jewish Scriptures. Peter, like all early Christians, believed that the Scriptures prophesied about Jesus and the salvation he brought. He will mention this idea several times in this letter (1:21, 2:1, 3:2). The word of the prophets is certain because they were inspired by God. They did not speak their own idea and words but what God commanded them and led them to speak. We can trust in the reliability of their words. There are two challenges related to their words. One is simply trying to understand their meaning. Since many of their prophecies look forward to Jesus, we can look to the New Testament for the meaning of many of them. A second is paying attention to them and putting our faith in them. We must trust what the prophets said. This will require faith. Faith has been Peter’s central theme since verse 3. We can trust these words because they provide light that will not fade with time. These words are part of the Bible. The whole Bible is inspired. It is difficult to pinpoint what prophecies Peter has in mind here, but minimally, those from Israel’s prophets who looked forward to the Messiah. We can expand this idea and say with Paul that “all Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). We can put our trust in Scripture because it is reliable. It is inspired by God and points to Jesus. We keep trusting and reading, and conviction and faith will grow in our hearts, like the morning star in the night guarantees that the full brightness of day is coming.
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