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For He received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to
Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. And
this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy
mount" (1: 16-18).
Here was one of the twelve witnesses who had been with our Lord during His 3½
years public ministry. They had seen His miracles, they had heard His words and
moreover Peter with two others had seen the Lord Jesus in a glorified form talking with
Moses and Elijah. They had heard the voice of God the Father witnessing to His beloved
Son and confirming His pleasure in the work of the Christ of God. What greater witness
do men require as to this divine personal link between God and men? Our Lord when He
was leaving this realm said that He would send the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth.
The N.T. writers were all led in this way to record the words and deeds of the Son of
God. Others, especially the Apostle Paul were inspired to reveal to us God's
interpretation of these events and how they were intended to condition our lives and
determine our future in resurrection.
What of the Old Testament?
"We have also a more sure (firmly established) word of prophecy; whereunto ye do
well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and
the Day Star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is
of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man:
but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (1: 19-21).
Peter beautifully describes the record as a light placed in the darkness of the world's
thoughts, beliefs and superstitions. Even as the written Word so is the Living Word
"Jesus said I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life" (John 8: 12). Peter uses our Lord's title "Day Star" in
his imagery. The Greek for Day Star is phosphorus a name given to the "morning star"
of the heavens and also to a chemical that glows in the dark. What happy and apt
associations!
So much could be written in support of the inerrancy of the Bible but let us confine
ourselves like Peter as to the aspect of how it originated. Verse 20 makes the negative
point--it did not originate in the mind of man. Popular comment on the Scriptures both
in and out of church circles refers to the record "according to the writer of", sometimes
they even hedge and doubt even the name of the stated amanuensis. Seldom do they
imply that it was God speaking. Peter points to the Holy Spirit as the driving force
behind the writers of the O.T. A prophet is a spokesman for deity and may not
necessarily be speaking of the future. The word `moved' in verse 21 is from the same
Greek word as `driven' in Acts 27: 17 the involuntary movement of Paul's ship that
was wrecked at Malta. We do not know how each prophet was activated but we are
asked to accept that they were controlled by God. All communication by God to us
depends on faith and we have to recognize that nothing of this can be proved by human
senses. If however we let the Day Star arise in our hearts the brilliance of truth will also
shine there and illumine every dark corner of our earthly path.