A Testimony of Experience and the Word

This morning I opened up my Bible to Peter's second letter.

2 Peter 1:16-21 NIV:
[16] "For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. [17] He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” [18] We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain."

[19]" We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. [20] Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. [21] For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

As I read these verse a few things stand out to me. First, the experience Peter had on the Mount of Transfiguration was an absolute truth that was an anchor for Peter later in life. This experience was one of the unshakable rocks of Peter's faith. It is good for us to have experiences with God that are art of our unshakable testimony in our life of who God is.

Second Peter uses a strange description of God the Father speaking, he says the voice came from the Majestic Glory. In the gospels this is described as a cloud, but it was clearly something much more than just a cloud. The Greek Words Peter used are Megaloprepes Doxa which can be translated Majestic Glory, or more simply - full of power, authority, dignity and awesome presence that stood out beyond every other thing he had ever experienced. It's clear it was an overwhelming experience and one that words cannot properly describe. Even after years of meditating and being guided and taught by the Holy Spirit, Peter was still unsure how to describe it except that it was more majestic than anything he had ever encountered.

Finally, after describing this fantastic experience, Peter shift gears and starts speaking about the sure foundation we have in the words of the Prophets - namely the old testament prophesies concerning Jesus. Peter says that these are completely reliable, and clearly had life experience to back this up. Christian commentator David Guzick comments on this verse 19-21 - in the section titled "The evidence of fulfilled prophecy"'

a. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed: Peter's experience at the transfiguration was amazing. But even more sure than Peter's personal experience is the testimony of God's word about who Jesus is. The fulfillment of the prophetic word confirmed is a certain, reliable testimony of the truth of the Scriptures.

b. Which you do well to heed: When we consider the prophetic testimony to Jesus, we do well to heed it. There are at least 332 distinct Old Testament predictions regarding the Messiah that Jesus fulfilled perfectly. The combination of this evidence together, from a simple statistical perspective, is absolutely overwhelming.

c. Professor Peter Stoner has calculated that the probability of any one man fulfilling eight of these prophesies is one in 100,000,000,000,000,000 (10 to the 17th power). That number of silver dollars would cover the state of Texas two feet deep. Stoner says that if you consider 48 of the prophecies, the odds become one in 10 to the 157th power.

Peter's faith and witness was based on two unshakable foundations, his own experience, and the unerringly accurate testimony of prophecy concerning Jesus. It would be good to follow Peter's encouragements and remember those times we have experienced the presence of God, and come to know the written Word as it pertains to Jesus.