And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; …
Sometimes a verse or thought from the Scriptures sticks in our mind, and we wonder where it came from. Some (materialists or atheists) would tell us that there will be a purely mechanical reason for this phenomenon; but over the last few weeks I have been unable to discover any purely coincidental fact that has made a part of the verse quoted above (from Peter’s epistle) stick so tenaciously in my mind.
Gael and I were on vacation for 10 days, and being a bit of a reader, I had taken my iPad Mini with me; with its Kindle app, and its iBook app; full of good books to read. I re-read the Chronicles of Narnia and Mere Christianity, as well as a number of other books. Of course, the Scriptures also.
Peter seems to be saying that the prophetic scriptures are like a miner’s lamp that allows us to see in this dark place in which we find ourselves at the present time; but that there is a time coming when the day will dawn, and the morning star will rise in our heart.
The thought that has been a puzzle in my mind over the last while is the clause; and the morning star rises in your hearts. Historically, my thought had been that this was a reference to the appearing of our Saviour; that we will be encouraged to look forward to His appearing as the Morning Star. However, Peter writes that this rising will be in our hearts.
I have been doing some studying in the epistle to the Hebrews, and when we come to chapter 11, we find this account of many of God’s choice pilgrims who walked by faith; even though they did not (in this life) receive the promise. Could it be that Peter’s thought is similar in that the promise rose in their hearts; and that the Morning Star will rise in our hearts as we allow the wonder of the prophetic scriptures to fashion our thinking and walking.
