How Does the Prophetic Word in 2 Peter 1:19 Prepare Us For the Lord's Coming?

    During the time that Peter wrote his Epistles, there were ones who mocked the Lord’s second coming.  Especially in his second letter I've noticed that Peter talks repeatedly about the Lord’s coming. He points out strongly in 2 Peter 1:16 that the Lord's coming is not a "cleverly devised myth."   After saying that, he reminds the believers that they need to take heed to the prophetic word of God  because it’s like a lamp shining in this dark age  full of spiritual degradation:

I took this picture while walking on the
 boardwalk with my grandkids.

And we have the prophetic word made more firm, to which you do well to give heed as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hears.  2  Peter 1:19

     Not only is the word of God  a shining lamp, but it’s also the very thing that  prepares us for the Lord’s second coming.  This is brought out clearly on page 71 of chapter 8 of the Life-Study of 2 Peter:

….It is correct to say that the dawning of the day in 1:19 refers to the time of the Lord's coming back. On that day, the Lord will shine as the Sun of righteousness. The time that is is very close to the Lord's appearing may be likened to the early morning, at which time the Lord Jesus will be the morning star to His watchful believers….Actually, in 1:19 Peter covers two matters at the same time. He is saying that the entire world is a dark place and that this present age is a dark night. If we did not have the prophecies of the Bible, we also would be in darkness, for we would not have a lamp.  But the prophetic word is our lamp shining in the darkness. As we give heed to this prophetic word, we receive the shining light. Eventually, this light will shine until a spiritual day dawns within us, and a morning star rises in our hears. Therefore, Peter first is speaking of a spiritual day, a day that dawns within us. He also speaks of a future day, the day of the Lord's coming back (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of 2 Peter. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1982, Print).

       This last week I listened to Programs 37-39 on Life-Study of the Bible with Witness Lee. One of the brothers highlighted a point from chapter 11 in Program #38 that touched me: Our growth in life will not only prepare us for the Lord's coming but actually hasten it.  And  1 Peter 2:2 makes it clear that we spiritually grow by drinking the milk of the word.  So this fellowship encouraged me to keep coming to the word each morning.

I like to listen to the Life-Study of the Bible with Witness Lee while I'm cooking or typing. You can listen to live excerpts of these messages that were given in 1982 along with some outstanding commentary. 

What is the Sanctification of the Spirit in 1 Peter 1:2?
What is Obedience to the Truth in 1 Peter 1:22?
How Do Believers Grow According to 1 Peter 2:2?
How Does God Get the Living Stones in 1 Peter 2:5?
What Does 1 Peter 4:1-2 Say About Sufferings?
Why Does 1 Peter 4:17 Talk About God's Judgment?
What Does Partaking of the Divine Nature Mean in 2 Peter 1:4?

What Does Partaking of the Divine Nature Mean in 2 Peter 1:4?

     Where would we be without God’s promises? Verses like He who has begun a good work in you will also complete it unto the day of Christ Jesus have strengthened my faith many times. For several years I have  been adding to my own personal list of promises.  2 Peter 1:4 lets us know that not only are God’s promises anchors for our faith, but they’re also the means by which we partake of God’s nature.

I took this on a walk around a nearby lake in December.

Through which He has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world by lust. 2 Peter 1:4

     Now partaking of the divine nature may sound a bit strange because normally when we think about partaking, we think about eating food. Actually that's the thought here. God's word is spiritual food. The Lord Himself told us this in John 6 when he told the people who had gathered that He was the true Bread that came down out of heaven (John 6:32-35). 

    Then He said something that many of them could not figure out, "As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me (John 6:57). The Bible tells us that many of them got stumbled by this and stopped following him.  Later on in verse 63 the Lord clarified to His disciples that He didn’t expect them to eat His physical flesh but to receive His word as spiritual food! 

     When I was in college I learned that coming to the word in a prayerful way (See Ephesians 6:17-18) is how to receive God's word as spiritual food.  And I liked the parallel on physical and spiritual eating on pages 44-44 of chapter  5 of the Life-Study of 2 Peter:

Just as we are constituted physically of the food we eat, so the disciples were constituted of the God of which they partook. This should also be our experience today. If we enjoy God and partake of Him, we shall be constituted of Him.  Of course, we shall never become God in the sense of attaining to the Godhead or becoming an object of worship. However, we may be thoroughly constituted of God's nature. We all are constituted physically of the food we eat. For example, someone may eat so much fish and be constituted of fish to such an extent that he even smells of fish. In like manner, we may become so constituted of God that we express God in all that we are and do. We may even give off a divine fragrance.... When others contact us, they will see in us the expression of the Triune God (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of 2 Peter. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1982, Print).

       Once more I am reminded that in a spiritual sense I am really what I eat! 

I like to listen to the Life-Study of the Bible with Witness Lee while I'm cooking or typing. You can listen to live excerpts of these messages that were given in 1982 along with some outstanding commentary. 

What is the Sanctification of the Spirit in 1 Peter 1:2?
What is Obedience to the Truth in 1 Peter 1:22?
How Do Believers Grow According to 1 Peter 2:2?
How Does God Get the Living Stones in 1 Peter 2:5?
What Does 1 Peter 4:1-2 Say About Sufferings?
Why Does 1 Peter 4:17 Talk About God's Judgment?
What Does Partaking of the Divine Nature Mean in 2 Peter 1:4?
How Does the Prophetic Word in 2 Peter 1:19 Prepare Us For the Lord's Coming?