I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder,
Peter wants his hearers to remember what he has written to them earlier, so he is reminding them as long as he lives, for the rest of his life.
knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.
Peter is referring to his conversation with the Resurrected Christ on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias (or Lake Gennesaret) recorded in John 21:15-19.
And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind.
So Peter is writing these things down, so that even after he is dead they will still have the letter to read to keep these things in mind.
For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
Nobody made up these stories. Peter is saying that he, James and John are eyewitnesses of Jesus' Divinity on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17:1-8 and Mark 9:2-8.
For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, "This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased"--
Peter, James and John heard God the Father proclaiming the Sonship of Jesus and saw the honor and glory He received from the Father.
and we ourselves heard this utterance made from Heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
He's making sure they realize that this really happened, Jesus really did glow, and God the Father really did speak out loud. They were there.
So we have the prophetic Word made more sure,
Because of his faith and his personal experiences, Peter knows that the Word is trustworthy.
to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the Day dawns and the Morning Star arises in your hearts.
The Word of God is God's lamp to shine His Light in the darkness of the World and the evil in the Universe (various scriptures, check a concordance for "lamp" or "light").
And the Morning Star is Jesus Himself, as He told John in Revelation 22:16; as was prophesied by Balaam, who said,
"There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth" in Numbers 24:17.And Jesus promised to give the Morning Star to the believers in Thyatira who did not tolerate "Jezebel" and her dogma, and they would rule over the Nations,
with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received from My Father (Revelation 2:27-28).Believers who remain faithful to the body of Truth as revealed by God in Scripture will rule with King Jesus with His authority, just as King Jesus rules with His Father's authority.
But know this first of all, that no prophesy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation,
This is basic, fundamental. No part or portion of any of the Holy Scriptures we call the Bible is to be understood according to our own human reasoning only.
for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will,
Because none of it was written from the human writer's own ideas.
but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
God's Holy Spirit moved, or "carried them along" as He spoke, or "breathed into" these holy men who wrote *only* what God's breathing into them told them to write; even though God let them use their own vernacular and colloquialisms to express God's ideas. God is the Author, who used human men to write it down.
That is why we can fully trust every word, every story, every idea that is expressed in the Bible to be unconditionally True, with no error or fable about any of it. That's why it's all only one story, and has no contradiction anywhere. That's why we must use Scripture to interpret Scripture--whatever is not clear can be explained by what is clear.
This is what I am endeavoring to accomplish with this blog. I am depending on God's Holy Spirit in me to teach me what He means by what He has written. And I am doing my best to present it to you accurately.
I am only human, and still subject to error. If ever I write in this blog anything that does not seem right, or that you have a different view on, please let me know your thoughts. Tell me your sources of what you are saying, and I will investigate it further.
O my Father, please help us all to have an accurate understanding of what You want us to know. Protect us from the slippery deceptions of the enemy who twists Your beautiful Truth, even in the most subtle ways.
Enlighten our understanding with the Lamp of Your Word shining into all the dark recesses of our minds and hearts, so that we will know You and Your Son intimately and expect what He really did promise us that He did and will do in us and for us and through us.
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess Your Truth that Jesus is our Christ, and our Sovereign King and Judge, to the glory of God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
