2 Peter – Week 3 – Day 1

A Prophet's Understanding 

READ 

2 Peter 1:20-21 

20 Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, 21 or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God. 

This is a key passage about the inspiration of the Scriptures. It is often misused by telling readers they are not to privately decide what the Scriptures say. As the text reveals, it is really describing those God used to write the Scriptures. It was not up to human conjecture what they would write; God mysteriously moved in guiding them to write exactly what He wanted in the original manuscripts. The personality of the human writers showed through, but the words were from God. 

REFLECT 

Consider how important it is to realize the Scriptures ultimately came from God, not man. 

RESPOND 

Visit with a friend about another passage that has to do with the inspiration of the Scriptures (see 2 Timothy 3:16-17). Notice what this passage says about what the Scriptures do in the lives of believers. Is it doing this in your life? Share some examples with each other.