²⁰But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, ²¹for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, anticipates the skepticism that so easily creeps in. How can we know we are interpreting the prophecies rightly? Or that Peter and the apostles got it right, concerning the prophecies about Jesus? For us, two thousand years later, the interpretation of the Bible in general and prophecy in particular can be challenging. The confusion expands with the plethora of theological persuasions both within orthodox Christianity and among sects and heretical groups. With the rise of social media, innumerable armchair would-be theologians spout every conceivable interpretation of any given passage of Scripture. How can we be sure of anything in the Bible?

Peter asserts that the starting point comes from the nature of prophecy itself. It originates with God. A prophecy will stand or fall based on its fulfillment, and thus prophecy will prove itself. If a particular prophecy is from God, it will happen as God says it will. If not, then it would prove not to be from Him. Faith in God and Scripture presupposes believers’ accepting the Word as inspired. The in-depth study of these matters comprises the theological field of Bibliology. We must let the Bible speak for itself, for it is God’s Word.

So we begin with Scripture, not with experience. Even apostolic experience is translated to us today through the written Scripture. Peter’s point is that he relates his experience as an apostle in conveying what he heard and saw of the Lord Jesus, but this only ratifies what Scripture had previously said, and that is the more sure thing. But whether the truth comes through prophetic ministry or apostolic experience, the truth is not contrived by mere human beings, but comes by the movement of the third person of the Trinity, the Spirit of God.

Therefore, interpretation of these things, whether the prophetic pronouncements of Scripture or the record of the apostles’ experience, is not a matter of the clever twisting of the Bible to mean something different from what God means by the text. Since the apostolic witness was foundation to the church (Eph. 2:20), we have their witness preserved through the biblical text; we do not rely on our present-day personal experiences to prove the truth of God. That has already been done, and the eyewitness testimony dovetails with prophecy seamlessly to reveal to us today God’s truth. We now have the witness of the Holy Spirit, personally enlightening us through the Scripture.

Lord, thank You for personally and irrefutably revealing Your truth to me. I am convinced beyond doubt!