1721. The Sure Stone

The Sure Stone

"Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste" (Isa_28:16).

The 28th chapter of Isaiah is prophetic. It foretells the time when the Rock that was smitten, the Stone that was set, the Stone as the head of the corner, the Stone that became the Stone of stumbling and the Stone of smiting shall be laid in Zion, as a "sure and safe foundation stone."

1. We have in Isaiah 28, the vision of Israel's league with the antichrist. This scene immediately precedes the laying of the sure Stone.

Against the Word of the Lord, with its "precept upon precept, precept upon precept;" "line upon line, line upon line; here a little and there a little;" the children of Israel have gone and fallen backward, they have been broken, snared, and taken (see Isa_28:13). The children of Israel are ruled by scornful men. They have said: "We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement" (Isa_28:15).

They have said: "When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves" (Isa_28:13).

2. We have also the vision of the sure Stone. This vision offsets the first vision. Israel was building upon falsehoods and lies, but God said:

"Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste" (Isa_28:16).

When this Stone is laid, Israel will be saved from the heel of Antichrist. Her refuge of lies will be swept away; her covenant with death will be disannulled; her league with hell shall not stand.

Israel will waken to the fact that her "bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it" (Isa_28:20).

Israel will be left shelterless, homeless, and hopeless, with but one place to look–toward her coming Deliverer. Then will the tried Stone, the precious corner Stone, the sure foundation be laid.

3. We have a vision of the New Testament corroboration. In Mat_7:26, Christ gave the picture of His people building upon the sand. He said: "Every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand."

This is in accord with Isaiah 28, where the Word of God, "precept upon precept," and "line upon line," is rejected.

In Isaiah 28, the question is asked: "Whom shall He teach knowledge? and whom shall He make to understand doctrine?" (Isa_28:9).

Israel rejected the Word,–built upon the sand, then–"The rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it" (Mat_7:27).

Thus, Matthew and Isaiah are one in message. Both describe the overthrow of Israel's covenant with death, and her trust in lies and in falsehoods.

What then of Israel's return to the sure foundation Stone, the tried and precious Stone?

Isaiah says: "He that believeth shall not make haste" (Isa_28:16). Matthew says: "Whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a Rock" (Mat_7:24-25, \1911 Bible).

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR