2 Peter 1:19
“And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts”
Peter compares the Prophetic Word to a lamp. The prophetic word is confirmed by God’s voice from heaven, saying , “this is my beloved son, in who I am well pleased.” They heard this on the mountain, they were eyewitnesses. Peter uses the imagery of a lamp or a light illuminating the darkness to help us understand the value and importance of this prophetic word. Prophecy itself seems vague and yet he suggests we are to use to it as a lamp? How could this be? i would suggest that in this passage of scripture Peter is using a Lamp as a metaphor for God’s words which are in fact prophetic and illuminate our way, until Christ returns, at which time the substance, being Christ himself will replace every lamp, light and luminary in this dark world, for he himself is the light of the world from the beginning of time.
There are several places in scripture where the picture or image of a lamp and light is used to describe God’s words. Twice in Psalm 119 David refers to (the word of God) as a lamp unto his feet and a light unto his path. Proverbs 6:23 refers to the commandments as a lamp, ‘For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.’ In the tabernacle and later in the temple, the lamp stand was a significant piece of furniture which was to be kept burning at all times. The placement of the lamp stand illuminated the entrance to the most holy place where the ark of the covenant containing the word of God was kept. Matthew 5 Jesus tells us plain that Jesus is the light and his disciples are lights. John 1 :4 – In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. In the beginning Genesis 1, God created light. Light was the first thing God created. The moon, sun and stars were created later, on day four.
1 John 1 –God is light, Revelation 1- the churches are the lamp stands and Jesus walks among them. At the end of revelation 22 we are informed that there will be no more light of sun or moon because the lamb of God will be the light. Using these scriptures we can deduce that Peter may well have been speaking of the Lamp shining in the dark as the prophetic word or in other words, God’s voice, His word or the commandments of God, all of these are one in the same and they are as a lamp that shines in a dark place, not only the dark place of the earth but the temple and our very hearts and lives. The prophetic Word of God illuminates Christ, just as he was transformed on the mountain before Peter in Shining garments when God spoke the word and confirmed the truth, “this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased.” The prophetic word refers to the commandments of God. John 1:14 says, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. The only word that the disciples would have known would be the commandments of God, the Torah, the Laws, the prophets. These are lights and lamps dwelling in men, in the called out ones, in the temple at one point, pointing us, guiding us illuminating the darkness and we ought to pay attention, “until the light dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.”
Jesus is the light of the world, the light that God created in the beginning, he is the light that came into the world and gave life to men, John 1. Eventually, the Lord God will be the only light according to Revelation 22. Even the sun, stars and moon are temporary sources of light, since “there will be no need of them” Once the new heaven and earth appear.
We have an external and temporary source of light to help guide us in this dark world. There is the sun, the moon, the commandments, and the church. Anything which God can insert his word into, and utilize as a vessel, even so, these things are temporary, shadows of things to come, not the substance, only God himself and Christ as the word of God are the true eternal sources of light and life. Peter was an eyewitness to Jesus’ true nature which manifested on the mountain when Jesus was transformed before him. His garments and face shone like the light and the voice of God spoke from heaven, this confirmed the prophetic word, and all the promises that the disciples had been waiting for. In the end when judgment is realized, Jesus will once again be the true and only source of light. All the external and temporary sources of light will disappear including the commandments and the churches. This is why Peter says, until the light of dawn and the morning star arises in your hearts. Jesus Christ is the light of dawn, he is the Morning Star and when he arises every other light, lamp and illumination will cease to exist.
For now we need lights and lamps, commandments, prophecy, words, the sun and the churches. We need these things to illuminate the darkness in this earth, to guide us, we need God’s words like air and breathe and sunlight. Until that day we need to continue seeking God in the bible and paying attention to the commandments, not as a source of eternal life or salvation,but to illuminate the darkness until Christ rises within as an internal source of light and life. but hasn’t Christ already arisen in the hearts of believers? Peter tells us in his first letter there is a salvation that will be revealed in the last time, this is something that has not yet appeared. We cannot see him now , he says, but you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. but for now you will do well to pay attention to the Lamp shining in the darkness.
my faith place 