Context: Continuation from yesterday when the text talked about Peter and others being eyewitnesses to the transfiguration.
Text:
19And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, 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. 20Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. 21For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (NIV)
taken from www.biblegateway.com
This passage really needs to be linked to the one from yesterday to show that the personal witness of Biblical things has to be linked to prophecies of scripture (word of prophets) for either to be valid. For instance, if someone today says that he is the Christ or that he has seen the Christ, we know it can't be true because scripture tells us that all will witness His second coming.
Peter does not use many word pictures in his writing, but in this passage his analogy to light and the dawn paint a clear picture. A light (the word used refers to a candle) can brighten up a dark place, but when the sun rises it eliminates the darkness so that all is bright. Now we have the scripture and faith to help brighten up the darkness (and the word Peter used here means 'squalid and dirty'), bringing some sin into the open. But when Jesus returns (the morning star), all will be revealed and he will get rid of the evil darkness forever!
In the meantime, we still need to hold up our candles to light the way.
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