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Are we trusting in the Stone of Israel, Alcatraz or bananas?
Alcatraz was a secure unit for inmates off the coast of San Francisco. It is currently a tourist attraction a bit like Robbin Island near Cape Town and films have been made about it and it is commonly referred to as 'THE ROCK'. I've been there with my brother and four friends and I can assure you the chances of escaping are pretty bleak. I think even our local triathletes such as Pete Rowat and Peter Robinson would have a hard time escaping as the swimming part is shark infested!
Alcatraz is pretty secure but I wouldn't want to spend my days there! One person who I do want to trust in and spend my days in His courts though is God the Rock, Jesus the Stone of Israel, the Chief Cornerstone, the Stone cut without hands and the Stone whom the builders rejected! If Jesus is not the Capstone of your life and at the zenith of your priorities then you will be building with foundations made of sand and you might as well be building with bananas!
The first mention of stones in the above context relating to the Almighty is contained in Jacob's prophecy in Genesis 49 v24 'By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel.'
Moses continues the theme in his song in Deuteronomy 32 v3-4.
'For I proclaim the name of the Lord: Ascribe greatness to our God the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.'
Generally speaking we think of rocks as a hard substance that endures and that doesn't change and if you were escaping from Alcatraz you would probably want to cling to the rock on the other side of the shore. With respect of Yahweh's covenant promises Malachi 3v6 tells us 'I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.' Also Hebrews 13v8 says that 'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.' Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone and He said to Philip 'He who has seen Me has seen the Father.' (John 14V9) So if we are trusting and praising Jesus the Stone of Israel, then we will ascribe greatness to God the Rock also.
God the Rock never has an off day, He neither sleeps or slumbers, He never makes mistakes nor has shortcomings, He is never late, nothing slips past His heavenly net and neither do our obedient acts toward Him go unnoticed. His judicial system is superior to ours and He is entirely just to the minutest detail. He doesn't do injustice or compromise and Titus 1v2 tells us that we believe in a God who cannot lie. He is better than good as He is righteous, which means right standing with Himself. He deals in absolutes and He is the author of true justice and Micah 6 tells us that He has shown us what is good.
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter and Psalm 118 is exactly in the middle of scripture and Psalm 118v8 is exactly in the centre and we would do well to heed the advice 'It is better to trust in the lord than to put confidence in man.' We need to forget our self assurance in our sandy foundations and start building our lives on God the Rock. In verse 22 of the same Chapter it is written 'The Stone which the builders rejected has become the Chief Cornerstone.' What does that mean? During Jesus thirty three year earthly ministry most of the Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes and teachers of the law rejected Jesus the Chief Cornerstone for the two stone tablets that were given to them by God the Rock, plus the rest of the 613 commandments and the rest of the Old Testament. The problem was that they added to the existing commandments - traditional laws, to ensure that they enforced the original ones and thereby added to the word of God. We are warned in five places in Scripture not to add or take away from the word of God (Deut 4v2,12v32, Prov 30v6, Matt 5v17-18 & Rev22 v18) The same is true today and we need to take great care to allow the Bible to speak for itself rather than forcing it to try and make it say what we want to in an effort to make it serve our agenda. Also we can't edit the bits we don't like although liberal and textual critics do this today and we don't need any more extra non-canonical books either!
In Daniel 2 Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a metallic statue made of gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay representing the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek and Roman Empires that would follow. Nebuchadnezzar watched while 'a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.' (v34) Jesus is the Stone cut without hands and 'the Stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.' Jesus the Messiah, the Stone cut without hands shall obliterate the ungodly, Gentile power systems and will reign in His millenial, Messianic kingdom for one thousand years. Therefore 'It is better to put trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes' (Psalm 118v9) Kingdoms and empires rise and fall but the Stone of Israel remains!
More controversy has arisen out of interpreting Matthew 16 v18 concerning the identity of the rock than most verses in scripture. Jesus said to Peter 'And also I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.' Jesus is not saying that He is building the church on Peter. Peter does mean loose stone of rock but the Rock Jesus is speaking of is concerning Himself. How do we know this? Well, firstly in the Greek the words in this verse Peter and Rock are similar but slightly different. But the main argument though is that the rest of scripture supports this view. Nowhere in the Old Testament is anyone other than God referred to as the Rock or Stone and in 1 Peter 2 Jesus quotes the Old Testament concerning Jesus the Messiah as 'A chief cornerstone, elect, precious' and 'the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.'
IF YOU ARE STILL NOT CONVINCED EPHESIANS 2V20-22 STATES 'JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF BEING THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE, IN WHOM THE WHOLE BUILDING, BEING FITTED TOGETHER, GROWS INTO A HOLY TEMPLE IN THE LORD, IN WHOM YOU ARE ALSO BEING BUILT TOGETHER FOR A DWELLING PLACE OF GOD IN THE SPIRIT.' The church is not built on Peter, it is clearly built on Jesus the Chief Cornerstone. The golden rule is never interpret scripture in isolation, but compare scripture with scripture, as scripture is the best commentary on scripture and will help us understand the true meaning. We also need the Holy Spirit to reveal it to us as Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit never contradicts scripture!
What shall we do in the light of this? Choose to make Jesus the Chief Cornerstone in our lives, rearrange our agendas that we think are so important and make Him the pivotal, central reason for our existence and tell others also. Amen |
