«　WEEK 7　DAY 1　»

　　Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord Jehovah will not do anything unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

　　2 Pet. 1:20-21 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of one’s own interpretation; for no prophecy was ever borne by the will of man, but men spoke from God while being borne by the Holy Spirit.

　　Prophets are God’s spokesmen. They speak for God and speak forth God; sometimes they also predict. According to the Bible, the main function of a prophet is not to predict the things to come but to speak for God. For example, in Exodus 3 and 4 when Moses was called by God, he told God that he was slow of speech and of a slow tongue (4:10). So God gave Aaron to Moses to be his prophet (4:14-16; 7:1). Aaron did not predict for Moses; rather, he spoke for him. In the whole Bible, to prophesy is mainly to speak for God and to speak forth God; sometimes it is also to predict. To predict, however, is secondary. This is the proper meaning of prophesying in the Bible. (Truth Lessons—Level One, vol. 2, p. 19)

　　[In 2 Peter 1:20] one’s refers to the prophet who spoke the prophecy or the writer who wrote the prophecy. Literally, the Greek word for interpretation means loosening, untying; hence, disclosure, exposition, solution. One’s own interpretation means the prophet’s or writer’s own exposition or solution, which is not inspired by God through the Holy Spirit. Peter’s thought here is that no prophecy of Scripture is of the prophet’s or writer’s own concept, idea, or understanding; that no prophecy comes from that source, the source of man; that no prophecy originates from the private and personal thought of any prophet or writer. This is confirmed and explained by the following verse.

　　For [in verse 21] gives the explanation of the preceding verse. No prophecy of Scripture is of the prophet’s or writer’s solution, for no prophecy was ever borne or carried along by the will of man, but men spoke from God, being borne by the Holy Spirit.

　　The Greek word translated “borne” also means carried along. The same word is used in verses 17 and 18. No prophecy was ever carried along by the will of man. Man’s will, desire, and wish, with his thought and solution, are not the source from which any prophecy came. The source is God, by whose Holy Spirit men were carried along, as a ship by the wind, to speak out the will, desire, and wish of God.

　　Because the prophets were carried along by the Holy Spirit, what they uttered was not of their own interpretation or will. On the contrary, what they spoke was the will of God, the concept of God uttered by a prophet who was carried along by the Holy Spirit.

　　Verses 20 and 21 prove that the prophetic word is altogether reliable and trustworthy. The prophecy in the Scriptures did not come from man’s opinion. This prophecy is God’s word, God’s speaking. For this reason, we should believe whatever is prophesied in the Old Testament. Peter seems to be saying here, “The prophecy in the Bible is genuinely of God. Therefore, it is trustworthy. Do not listen to the heretical teachings of the apostates, of those who have deviated from the track of divine truth. Instead, you should give heed to the prophecies of the Old Testament and also hold to our testimony.” (Life-study of 2 Peter, pp. 73-74)

　　Deuteronomy 18:20-22 concerns the false prophet. A false prophet was one who spoke a word presumptuously in God’s name which God did not command him to speak or who spoke in the name of other gods (v. 20a). Such a prophet was to be put to death (v. 20b). When a prophet spoke in the name of Jehovah and the thing did not happen, that was the thing which Jehovah had not spoken (v. 22). (Life-study of Deuteronomy, pp. 141-142)

　　Further Reading: Truth Lessons—Level One, vol. 2, lsn. 14; Life-study of 2 Peter, msg. 8