2 Peter 1:19 We also have the reliable prophetic message, and you will do well by paying attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Peter offers a third witness to support his charge to the readers to know the true gospel. The prophetic message could refer to the Old Testament Scripture and the prophecies contained in it (3:2). It is difficult to pinpoint what prophecies Peter has in mind here. Minimally, these could be from Israel’s prophets who looked forward to the Messiah. Peter, like all early Christians, believed that the Hebrew Scriptures prophesied about Jesus and the salvation he brought. The subject we could include both Peter and his readers. Peter urges them to pay attention to this message. The participle used here (prosechontes) implies more than a mental process but can have a sense of deep devotion followed by the application of what has been studied (1 Timothy 4:13).
The readers can trust the prophecies in Scripture as reliable and certain because they have been proven true with the test of time and experience. The new heresies from the false teachers failed this test. Peter’s own testimony about Jesus confirms the fulfillment of Scripture. Likewise, the prophecies prove the truth of Peter’s testimony. The message is consistent between the two. Anything outside this testimony is false. Peter will add another reason for believing the prophetic message in verse 21—that they were inspired by God.
This message is compared to a light shining in a dark place. The word for dark (auchmērō) is rare in Greek literature and has the sense of being murky and cloudy. Scripture provides the light of understanding that shines away the fog of ignorance. The image of the last phrase of this verse implies a process of enlightenment. Until the day dawns refers to the coming of light when darkness must flee. The morning star is the first hint that the dawn is coming. Christ is called the Morning Star in Revelation 22:16. Numbers 24:17 is a messianic prophecy of the rise of a Star. It is impossible to know if Peter knew or made this connection between prophecy and its fulfillment.
Just as the morning star ushers in the light of a new day, faith in Christ, the Light of the World (John 8:12), removes the dark cloud of doubt. It took faith to trust that Peter’s message was the fulfillment of Scripture because the readers were getting this message secondhand. They had to keep trusting until faith and conviction grew in their hearts. Scripture is reliable because it is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16) and points to Jesus. If we keep trusting and reading the Bible, 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.