Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, July 8, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Ooh. Careful there. I realize the writer of 2 Peter is teeing up to call out false prophets in the next passage, but I can’t let this go without taking issue with his condemnation of interpretation. Absolutely every single piece of scripture can and must be interpreted in light of cultural context, present happenings, and a host of other variables. This is what makes scripture dynamic and alive, relevant to us in the here and now, and draws us into the narrative. The words of the prophets in the Bible would be incomprehensible taken at face value and forced to fit into our modern context.
Still, that is exactly what so many people try to do and that, I believe, is where the true danger of false prophecy comes in. Not in simply making up terrible things to say and attributing them to God (though there’s an awful lot of that going around) but in taking what’s written and twisting it—interpreting it, dare I say—in a way that condemns anyone who deviates from the sociocultural norms of a society that no longer exists, and which have led and continue to lead to oppression on a global scale. It is trying to force us to adhere to the letter of the (culturally irrelevant) law, rather than to the spirit of the law, which is the gospel of liberation, justice, and equity for all people whether or not you think they’re worthy.
Let me leave you with this (perhaps irreverent) thought. If we are the salt of the earth, let us be the “grain of salt” with which ancient law and prophecy need to be taken in light of God’s vital and active presence in the here and now.
How do I understand the role of interpretation in reading Biblical prophecy?
