“For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendour with our own eyes when he received honour and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts.”
2 Peter 1:16-19 NLT
The Jewish nation was well supplied with prophetic messages. The great prophets such as Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Jeremiah and others were all well known in Peter’s day through the accounts recorded in their Bible called the Tanakh. This included three main sections – the Law, the Prophets and the Writings. Jesus referred to the Hebrew Bible in verses such as Matthew 7:12, “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets“. Jesus extensively quoted from the Tanakh, at times very effectively as we can read in the account of His temptation from the devil. We pilgrim believers are very blessed in that we not only have access to the Hebrew Bible – we call it the Old Testament – but we also have another set of writings from men who had had a personal encounter with Jesus and which form the New Testament. And in 2 Peter 1:19, Peter wrote, referring to the Mount of Transfiguration event, “Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts“. Peter made the connection between Jesus and the “message proclaimed by the prophets”.
According to Bible scholars, there were 450 or so prophecies about the coming Messiah made in the Old Testament and Jesus fulfilled over 300 of them at His first advent. The rest are still to come. But the Bible doesn’t say when this will be and even Jesus Himself, when asked by His disciples, confessed that He didn’t know. After laying out a list of End Time signs, Jesus said, as recorded in Matthew 24:36, “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows“. Then in Matthew 25:31, we find out the manner of Jesus’ return, “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne”. There are many prophecies about the End Times, but they are all focused around the person of Jesus. It is all about Him.
Peter wrote that because of his mountain experience he had great confidence in the prophetic messages that were woven into the warp and weft of Jewish society. The accuracy of some of those writings looking forward to the first Advent, and given many years before Jesus’ birth, is astounding. We look at Isaiah 9, for example, which builds until verses 6-7, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!” Only part of this prophecy has been fulfilled, and we have confidence that the remainder will one day come to pass. In another example of Old Testament prophecy, we read the poignant words of Psalm 22, foretelling Jesus’ death experience.
In other places the prophets of old warned the Jewish nation that there would be consequences for their bad behaviour. For example, Hosea prophesied that one day the people of Israel would be taken into captivity because of their unfaithfulness. We read in Hose 9:1-3, “O people of Israel, do not rejoice as other nations do. For you have been unfaithful to your God, hiring yourselves out like prostitutes, worshiping other gods on every threshing floor. So now your harvests will be too small to feed you. There will be no grapes for making new wine. You may no longer stay here in the Lord’s land. Instead, you will return to Egypt, and in Assyria you will eat food that is ceremonially unclean“. In Hosea 9:7-9 we read some more depressing details, “The time of Israel’s punishment has come; the day of payment is here. Soon Israel will know this all too well. Because of your great sin and hostility, you say, “The prophets are crazy and the inspired men are fools!” The prophet is a watchman over Israel for my God, yet traps are laid for him wherever he goes. He faces hostility even in the house of God. The things my people do are as depraved as what they did in Gibeah long ago. God will not forget. He will surely punish them for their sins“. Historical events vindicated prophets who were often punished and even killed because of their faithfulness in declaring God’s message.
Of course, prophetic messages were not all doom and gloom. One of my favourite chapters is Isaiah 40. There we read, “Yes, the Sovereign Lord is coming in power. He will rule with a powerful arm. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes. He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young” (Isaiah 40:10-11).
So we pilgrims should take note of Peter’s words and the prophetic messages we find in the Bible. Through them we get a wonderful picture of our loving Heavenly Father, and His desire to work out His love in His children, those who believe in Him. Where do we stand with Biblical prophecy? We will be spiritually impoverished by avoiding it. Peter wrote, “You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts”. We too have words that shine in this dark and sad society in which we live. It will be even darker without our presence standing as a prophetic message to those around us.
Dear Father God. Thank You for the faithful men and women who have prophetically declared Your messages in their generation. May we, Your people, do the same in ours. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 