God's Work with Planet Earth

The world-rocking event that God used to begin Stage 3 of His work with planet Earth was Christ being born as a human being. In the last post we explored Jesus as “The Good Shepherd” and what that means from across the whole Bible.

There are many names and symbols for Jesus Christ all through Bible, but a prominent one is “the Rock”. So we want to understand the multiple applications made in scripture.

King David’s Rock

“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Psalms 18:2

“In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.” Psalms 62:7

“Then they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer.” Psalms 78:35

In this last verse, David is referring to the Children of Israel being brought out of Egypt, and the Apostle Paul agrees that…

“…that Rock was Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:4

The other thing we should take a look at is the names David used.

• “The LORD” in Psalm 18:2 is “Jehovah” which at the root, means “self-existent” or “eternal”
• “God” in Psalms 62:7 is “elohiym” which is a plural form of “eloha” or “el”
• “God” in Psalms 78:35 : David described the “rock” as “elohiym” (plural), and “the High God” as “el” (singular)
• In Hebrew, “el” could be used for any deity, but in the Bible it is translated 213 times as God (the Almighty), and 16 times as “god” (as in a false god).

What’s with the plural “elohiym” usage? When God created the world in Genesis 1, it says:

“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; …” Genesis 1:26

Why is God speaking in plural about Himself? We should also note the second verse of the chapter:

“..And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Genesis 1:2

So let’s put a few things together:

• “elohiym” is basically a plural deity (in it’s most basic sense)
• the Spirit was present at Creation
• God is describing Himself as “Us”

Then we see this in the New Testament:

“For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.” 1 John 5:7

Humans will have a hard time understanding how three persons can still be One God, because that’s not how it is for us. But we either limit God in our own minds to our narrow understanding and perspective, or we believe His Word. God is not human, so He could be multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, multi-person. Denying this is the arrogance of claiming we know better than God, what His true nature is.

So back to the Rock… Paul said that the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night in the Sinai Desert with the Israelites was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:1-4). One more parallel which supports this idea:

“And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” Exodus 3:14

“Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” John 8:58

When Jesus said this, immediately the Jews tried to stone Him (John 8:59). Why? Because they knew full well that “I AM” meant the same thing as Jehovah (self-existent and eternal). They knew Jesus was saying He was Christ.

The Rejected Cornerstone

But God knew this would happen. 800 years earlier, Isaiah prophesied:

“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily.” Isaiah 28:16

“He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” Isaiah 8:14

And 300 years before Isaiah, David wrote:

“The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.” Psalms 118:22

The Apostle Peter quoted this verse referring to Jesus:

“let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.
“This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Acts 4:10-11

So what can we learn from these verses so far?

• God promised to place in Zion (Jerusalem) a precious cornerstone
• But this stone would cause stumbling and offense to the builders (the Jewish leaders, Sanhedrin, Pharisees)

Why did Jesus’ own people reject their own Messiah? In hindsight it’s easy to judge, and there’s more than one reason. But this is one reason: they were conflating prophecies about Jesus first coming and His second coming (which we’ll cover in the next section). Jesus came the first time as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) and the second time He will come “with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30).

They expected Jesus to come as a conquering King (which the Old Testament does prophesy that He will) instead of a humble son of a carpenter. The world we live in programs us to respect power rather than humility and God’s wisdom. So they made a horrible mistake and crucified the Messiah prophesied in the writings which they held from the prophets God had sent them all along.

“…to them were given the oracles of God” (Romans 3:2), but they misunderstood, and they got the timing wrong, just like many Christians today. Let’s carefully consider what we find in the Bible and “not act hastily” or jump to conclusions.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Vision

The pagan king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, had a vision from God revealing the future of world empires in Daniel 2, with different parts and metals of the statue representing different kingdoms. Then this happened:

“…a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces” Daniel 2:34

Without going through an entire history lesson and Bible study, the feet of iron and clay represent the state of nations at the end of the world – strong nations, weak nations (Daniel 2:42) “but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay” (Daniel 2:43)

This represents our time that we live in now. There’s no one country that controls the whole civilized world like Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome did. But the stone cut out without hands (this is not a product of human effort) struck the image on the feet of iron and clay (during the time of the end). And then what happens?

“Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” Daniel 2:35

God revealed the king’s dream to Daniel, but also the interpretation or the meaning. The stone striking the image and grinding the whole thing to powder meant this:

“And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Daniel 2:44

• In the days of which kings? Human leaders ruling nations of iron and clay.
• Who sets up the final kingdom? The God of Heaven.
• It won’t be left for any earthly leader to run (they’ve had their chance, creating war after war)
• Jesus will replace all earthly rulers and kingdoms

Whoa! That last bullet point is not explained in the verse, so where do I get the idea that the Rock which replaces the earthly kingdoms is Jesus? It’s all over the Bible.

“He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.”
“And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” Revelation 19:13, 16

Isaiah 9:6-7 and Matthew 28:18 also express this about Jesus.

“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11

The Chief Cornerstone

But when Jesus came the first time, born as a human, He didn’t come as a conquering king, but He did become the foundation of Christianity (Isaiah 28:16), which has expanded from 12, to 70, to hundreds, to around 2.4 billion people 2,000 years later.

In scripture, while Jesus is The Rock and the Chief Cornerstone, we are also called “living stones”:

“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:4-5

Paul wrote something very similar, and when you read this, think of him saying this to you.

“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, 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 also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:19-22

In this world, where sin and Satan dominate, Jesus became the Chief Cornerstone, the “apostles and prophets” were also part of the foundation for a spiritual house. And as Peter and Paul say, you and I have a chance to be part of God’s heavenly family, with Jesus and the Spirit-inspired writings of the Apostles and Prophets as our foundation. This is a physical symbol or metaphor for a spiritual reality, but just to help us visualize, here’s a diagram.