Charles Spurgeon Commentary 2 Peter 1:19-20
Charles Spurgeon Commentary
2 Peter 1:19-20
Charles Spurgeon Commentary
2 Peter 1:19-20
SCRIPTURE
"And we have the word of prophecy [made] more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts: knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation." — 2 Peter 1:19-20 (ASV)
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.
It is not to be kept by anyone for himself alone. God spoke to Jacob at Bethel, and we read concerning it in Hosea 12:4, there he spake with us. With regard to the children of Israel rejoicing at the Red Sea, we read in Psalm 66, There did we rejoice in him. The promises God made to one believer or another, He makes to all believers. You remember that text, He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. That promise was first of all spoken to Joshua, yet Paul quoted it in writing the Epistle to the Hebrews, as if it was spoken to every believer, and so indeed it is.
No apostle, no prophet, could restrict a promise and say, "This was mine and no one else's." It is a common heritage of all the saints. Every promise is within the boundary of the covenant of grace, and all who are in that covenant are heirs of all the promises, to whomever they were made.
We have also a more sure 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.
Even the prophets themselves did not always know the full meaning of their own prophecies. Many prophecies have never been completely understood until they have been fulfilled. This passage also appears to me to mean that no prophecy is to be restricted to any one event, so as to say, "This prophecy has been entirely fulfilled."