The apostle Peter wrote, “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16). False teachers can be cunning. Some have vivid imaginations that they use to fabricate elaborate tales. But the imaginations of men are not the source of the account of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. His advent, life, teaching, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension are not fables. They were not made up, but were witnessed by honest men.
The coming in 2 Peter 1:16 is the Lord’s first coming of which the apostles, including Peter, were eyewitnesses. Peter was one of the privileged three (the other two being James and John) to ascend the mountain where Jesus was transfigured, his face shining as the sun, and his clothing becoming white as light (Matthew 17:1-5). Peter goes on to mention the testimony God gave of His Son on that occasion, “For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain” (2 Peter 1:17-18). Peter saw the transfiguration with his own eyes. He heard the words of the Father with his own ears.

The conclusion Peter draws from witnessing these supernatural events is, “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed,” (2 Peter 1:19). What the Old Testament prophets said concerning Jesus Christ was confirmed by events such as the Transfiguration which the apostles witnessed while accompanying the Lord during His earthly ministry.
Peter goes on to tell us how the Old Testament, and the whole Bible for that matter, was written. He reiterates what he had declared in verse 16 by writing, “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,” (2 Peter 1:20). The subject of this verse is not what one does with Scripture in interpreting, but rather how Scripture came about. The words “is of” in 2 Peter 1:10 come from the Greek word ginomai, which means “comes from.” The Scriptures did not come from man’s imagination or private interpretation; the Scriptures are not “cunningly devised fables.” This is even more evident when we read on to the next verse. Peter shows how prophecy, God’s revelation to man in the Scriptures, came about when he writes in verse 21, “for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” Peter himself was writing this epistle because he was guided by the Holy Spirit, whose coming Jesus promised (John 16:13).
This confirmed word from God ought to get our attention. Peter noted the proper response to this confirmed word, writing, “which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19). Just as we would notice a bright light if we were in the dark, so God’s confirmed word ought to arrest our attention in a world of darkness. As we grow in our appreciation of God’s word, light will fill our minds. The day will dawn and the morning star will arise in our hearts. Take some time this week to appreciate God’s word and let the light in (Psalm 119:130).

–Mark Day

In his primary book on premillennial theology, The Millennial Kingdom, John F. Walvoord wrote, “According to the Scripture, Israel will also be…regathered from all over the earth and brought back to her ancient land, and there blessed spiritually and materially” (p. 182).

The Old Testament indeed does mention God giving Israel land and even bringing them back to that land after their exile, but the clear teaching of the Scriptures is these promises have been fulfilled.  God promised Abram that his descendants would, after being oppressed 400 years by the Egyptians, receive the land of Canaan in which he sojourned (Genesis 15:13-21).  When Israel was on the verge of receiving this land, Moses, who was instrumental in leading them from Egypt, gave God’s warning that if they disobeyed then they would be “plucked from off the land” (Deuteronomy 28:63).  The regathering of Israel to this land is prophesied in Deuteronomy 30:1-10.  This was fulfilled in Nehemiah’s day as he says in his prayer:

Remember, I unbeseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.  Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. (Nehemiah 1:8-10).

The Bible teaches that God’s promise to regather fleshly Israel to the land of Canaan was fulfilled over two and half millennia ago, not an event for which we ought to be looking today.

While Premillennialists often claim that the land promise was never completely fulfilled, the book of Joshua clearly teaches otherwise.  Joshua is a book about Israel going in and possessing the land that God promised to give them (Joshua 1:1-4).  Joshua 21:43-45 shows God made good on His promise:

And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.  And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.  There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

Though many religious people are taught this will happen again, God driving out other nations so that fleshly Israel can possess the land of Canaan, Joshua 23:13-16 shows that God had not failed to fulfill His promise and if Israel disobeyed He would “no more drive out any of these nations from before you.”

God is no respecter of persons in regard to physical nations (Acts 10:34-35).  God does not hold physical lineage above what is in one’s heart (Romans 2:28-29).  Physical Jews are no better than Gentiles (Romans 3:9).  There is no difference between the two in God’s eyes (Romans 10:12).  God keeps His promises both for blessing and for wrath.  He has driven wicked people off their land and removed their blessings in the past. We should be thankful for what He has given us and not pursue wickedness, lest we also have the blessings of our land revoked.  Not even Old-Testament Israel could keep their land perpetually if they disobeyed God.

 

-Mark Day

The various religious sects peppered Jesus with controversial questions to trip Him up, but He masterfully responded to each, driving home the truth and foiling His enemies’ schemes (Matthew 22).  Then Jesus asked, “What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?” (Matthew 22:42).  When Jesus went on the offensive, they were not prepared to answer His questions.  They thought Jesus was the son of David, but Jesus’ follow up question revealed more.

He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?  If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?  And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. (Matthew 22:43-46.)

Jesus quotes Psalm 110, saying “David in spirit” to indicate that David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote this prophecy of Christ (cf. 2 Peter 1:21).  In regard to the Psalms, David asserted that the Holy Spirit spoke by him, giving words to his tongue (2 Samuel 23:1-2).

Unlike the attitude of many today, the first-century Jews held the conviction that one who came earlier in a genealogy was thought to be greater.  On one occasion Jesus was asked, “Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? (John 8:53).  Even the Samaritans held this ideal.  The Samaritan woman at the well asked Jesus, “Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?” (John 4:12).  Jesus correctly interprets the prophecy of Psalm 110 and applies it to Himself.  David, by inspiration, called Jesus “Lord” when “the Lord” (God the Father) “said to my Lord” (the Son) “Sit thou on my right hand…” (Psalm 110:1).  Jesus was the physical descendant of David (Matthew 1:1).  But He was David’s Lord because He is divine.  He is the Son of God.

This truth is the foundation of the church (Matthew 16:16-19).  It is the basis of salvation (John 8:24; 20:31).  By Jesus’ question, the Pharisees, Sadducees and Herodians were brought face to face with this truth.  They would not answer the question because they rejected anything that would not give them power.  When we answer this question rightly, we lose all power.  If Jesus really is Lord, as David, by inspiration, wrote, then His word reigns supreme in my life.  It does no good to call Him Lord and not do His will (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46).  You are confronted with this question every day.  You may push it from your mind or refuse to answer it, but by doing that you actually have given your answer.  By how you live your life you answer this question.  Will you proclaim Jesus as Lord by doing His will?  Will you follow the Son of God?

-Mark Day

Can we know God exists? If so, can we know what He expects of us and how to be pleasing to Him?  To know is to “be aware of through observation, inquiry, or information; have knowledge or information concerning; be absolutely certain or sure about something” (Online Dictionary).  We can “know” something by either or both of two ways.

One way is by “Empirical Knowledge”. To know in this way is to “know” something by the five senses. For example: I know my neighbor (I can see, touch, hear them); I know that is a skunk (see, smell). God has given us empirical evidence that we can know He exists. Psalm 19:1-6, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.” Looking into the sky and at the world around us, they are delivering a message to mankind – God Is! Cf. Romans 1:20. The world and the universe show remarkable design. It is an established truth that a poem demands a poet, a painting demands a painter, and design demands a Designer. See Hebrews 3:4. Clearly, God does exist.

The second way we can “know” is knowledge based on the Truthfulness of the one giving the information. This can be affected by the character of the individual (are they deceitful) and the accuracy of the information being given to one (misdiagnosed illness). We do not have to be concerned about these when it comes to God because God cannot lie, Titus 1:2. Because of the character of God, it is in fact “impossible for God to lie”, Hebrews 6:18. God is also omniscient, that is, all knowing. Psalm 147:5, “Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.” This being the case, we need never be concerned with God lying to us or being wrong.

Based on the character of God, we can know what sin is and its consequences. God has told us sin separates man from Him, Isaiah 59:2, and God has identified sin in Scripture so we can know if an action is sin or not. We can know whether we have been saved, by the things God has revealed in His Word. 1 John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” We can know the reality of Heaven, Hell, or Judgment. Why? Because God has told us they exist and will occur. Matthew 25:31-34, 41, 46, “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:…Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels… And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”

Now that you know, what will you do about it? Matthew 7:21.

– Jerry D. Sturgill