A Stone of Stumbling, a Rock of Offense
We’re looking at Yahweh Tsur, The Lord is My Rock, this week. A whole host of images and references have been tumbling around in my brain. Tsur means cliff, boulder, big rock – a place of shelter, refuge.
But what other rock or stone references do we see in the Bible? Today we’re looking at some uncomfortable ones.
Did you know our phrase “stumbling block” originated with the Bible? It’s up there with “handwriting on the wall” or “casting pearls before swine” or “fly in the ointment” – phrases you’re familiar with but may not realize they’re in the Bible.
You shall not curse a person who is deaf, nor put a stumbling block before a person who is blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the LORD. – Leviticus 19:14
The Law says not to put a stumbling block before a blind person, yet Jesus became a stumbling block for his own people – because they blinded themselves to the truth. Take a look at the stumbling stone above. There’s no caution tape drawing attention to it. It’s inconspicuous and easy to stumble over because it’s not what you’re expecting.
Jesus wasn’t the Messiah anyone expected. But he was the one prophesied.
Isaiah warned God’s people.
Then He will become a sanctuary;
But to both houses of Israel, He will be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,
And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Isaiah 8:14
Paul warns us:
As Scripture says,
“I am placing a rock in Zion that people trip over,
a large rock that people find offensive.
Whoever believes in him will not be ashamed.” Romans 9:33
And Peter says this:
This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for unbelievers,
“A STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,
THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE,”
and, “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”;
for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this they were also appointed. – 1 Peter 2:7-8
Jesus is the precious cornerstone of Isaiah 28, the firm foundation the builders rejected.
I’ll mention just one more stone. This is merely a blog post, not a thesis, after all.
Jesus is the stone that will destroy the kingdoms of this world.
When King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, Daniel told him what it meant. The stone cut without hands, Jesus, would destroy the kingdoms on the earth and establish his everlasting kingdom. Come, Lord Jesus!
You continued watching until a stone was broken off without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.
Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed to pieces all at the same time, and they were like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the entire earth. Daniel 2:34-35(Photo credit apostolosmakrakis.com)
Fall on us and hide us from the sight of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;for the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?
