2 Peter - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

compared to the light of the NT, they are like darkness. The morning star is, of course, a
reference to Christ. The kardia, or right lobe of the soul, is where epignosis doctrine is
stored. Some of the false teachers taught that the idea of the Second Coming was a
subjective experience in the heart rather than an objective historical experience, an
obvious heresy that arose from an allegorical confusion of eschatology.
RELEVANT OPINIONS
In the preceding section Peter focused on the spoken word of God the Father. In this
verse he concentrates on the written Word of prophecy, namely, the OT Scriptures ...
Peter urges his readers to pay close attention to the context of this prophetic word. (S.
Kistemaker) God’s Word is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path; the word of
prophecy guides us to Christ ... The world is a dark dreary place; we could not find the
strait path and narrow way that leads unto life without the guiding light of the holy Word
of God. The heart is a dark place, gloomy, dry, and squalid, when it is illumined by the
Holy Spirit of God. (B. Caffin) The way to possess Christ is by giving heed to the Divine
Word. Scripture is the revelation of Christ. He is not to be found in nature, though He is
there, and gleams of His glory appear therein on every side; but they are only gleams, not
Himself … We cannot know Christ till we come to Scripture. To “give heed” to Scripture
is to obey and trust Him who is revealed therein. But before we can trust ourselves to
Scripture, we must have reasonable evidence that it is trustworthy. (C. New) “Prophecy”
seems in fact to be interchangeable with the term “Scripture.” (Fornberg)
Our inner transformation, deepened continually by the Spirit as we study the Scriptures,
will be completed on the great day when we shall see Him as He is, and be made like
Him. (M. Green) Peter knew a sounder basis for faith than that of signs and wonders. He
had seen our Lord Jesus Christ receive honor and glory from God the Father in the holy
mount; he had been dazzled and carried out of himself by visions and voices from
heaven; but, nevertheless, even when his memory and heart are throbbing with
recollections of that sublime scene, he says, “we have something surer still in the
prophetic word …” It was not the miracles of Christ by which he came to know Jesus,
but the word of Christ as interpreted by the spirit of Christ. (M. Vincent) The newly
converted still walk in a murky light, and are to progress in study of the Scriptures until
they arrive at the light of day, where mature knowledge of Christ (or illumination by the
indwelling Spirit) has imparted to them Christian truth in its fullness ... The whole course
of our lives ought to be governed by the Word of God. (M. Green) The equivalence of
prophecy and Scripture came about because in the current Jewish understanding all
inspired Scripture was prophecy. (R. Bauckham)
The reference seems to be to the second coming of Christ as the Morning Star of the
eternal day to come. (R. Earle) In an exhortation Peter told how to derive meaning from
God’s Word – pay attention to it. As a Light, God’s written Word has validity and
authority. In today’s experience-oriented societies many people, including some
Christians, seek to determine or assess truth by the particular way God has worked in
their own lives. But for Peter the splendor of his experience (with Christ at His
transfiguration) faded as he spoke of the surety of the written revelation of the prophets.