Rev. Don Campbell

Isaiah 28-30

THOUGHT FOR TODAY, July 22, 2019

“THE PRECIOUS CORNERSTONE”

Both Israel and Judah were corrupt from top to bottom. Priests and prophets alike were drunkards who erred in vision and stumbled in judgment—so much so that their tables were full of vomit and filth (Isaiah 28:1-8). Scorners ruled in Jerusalem, maintaining power by lies (Isaiah 28:14-15). Israel would soon be carried away into Assyrian captivity and Judah would continue—except for brief periods of reform—for another century and a half. She would then be carried away into Babylonian captivity.

In the midst of the bad news, Isaiah delivers some good news: “Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: “Whoever believes will not be in haste”’” (Isaiah 28:16). If they believed Isaiah at all, they were sure that the “whoever believes” referred to Jews and Jews alone. Three voices from the New Testament destroy this argument. Not only does it include Gentiles, it excludes all of them but a remnant.

First, hear Jesus: Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him” (Matthew 21:42-43)

Peter who was the first to believe on the promised stone (Matthew 16:13-20). He would later write: “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’ So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.’ They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do” (1 Peter 2:4-8).

Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles wrote: “What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame’” (Romans 9:30-33).

Again, Paul writes: “I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? ‘Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.’ But what is God’s reply to him? ‘I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’ So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, ‘God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day’” (Romans 11:1-8).

CONNECTIONS

1. It is popular among some to believe that the modern nation of Israel are God’s chosen people and that God is working in them to bring about an imagined millennial reign with Christ on an earthly throne. What did Jesus, Peter, and Paul say that refutes this idea?

2. What comfort is does Paul give in Romans 10:11-13 to all nations and ethnic groups?