“knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21).
If God wished to convey a message to His creation through the written word, how could He authenticate that message to prove His authorship? One way He could do so involves an act that transcends the limits of human capability: foretelling future events with 100% accuracy before they occur. By examining the fulfillment of predictive prophecy, we can establish the Bible’s credibility as the Word of God.
The Apostle Peter thus affirmed the fact that these prophetic statements were not of human origin. These Biblical declarations were not the product of human thinking or imagination, nor did they emerge from the prophet’s own volition. Instead, these Scriptural prophecies found their origin in a message from God to each Biblical author, and He assumes responsibility for every word that appears in their original writings. This serves to explain the cautionary message given to us in Proverbs 30:6: “Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.”
Next, we have a reference to “holy men of God.” This does not mean that the Biblical prophets were superior to other men and women of God. In fact, the New Testament book of James reveals that the great prophet Elijah was a man with a nature like ours (James 5:17). As such, he was susceptible to the same vulnerabilities and weaknesses as anyone else. In this context, the word “holy” conveys the idea of someone who is set apart for a specific office (like the role of a Biblical prophet).
The Biblical book of 2 Timothy offers further insight into this concept when it tells us, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV). The idea is that God “breathed-out” the Scriptures using the Biblical writers as His agents. God is responsible for that content, and each Biblical author wrote what he received from Him.
Finally, one source concludes our look at 2 Peter chapter one with a recap of what we’ve discussed so far, as well as a look at the path that lies ahead…
“In these verses then Peter has made it possible… for his readers to recognize a false prophet when they see one. Now in chapter two he will become more blunt.” (1)
(1) Edward E. Hindson and Woodrow Michael Kroll, eds., KJV Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1994), 2622.