Hebrew Highlights 146 – Rosh Pina

Shalom, this is Yuval Shomron, coming to you from the Jerusalem Studios of the High Adventure Global Radio Network.

PSA 118:22, ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone. This is the Lord's doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

I think most of our listeners are aware of the New Testament fulfillment of this scripture, but just to make sure, let’s read it. MAT 21:42-26, “Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, 'The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone; This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes'? "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it. "And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust." And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. And when they sought to seize Him, they feared the multitudes, because they held Him to be a prophet.”

Obviously, Yeshua himself is the chief corner stone. This passage in Matthew, which shows up almost verbatim in 3 of the gospels, is often used to show that God has rejected Israel. And I do not deny that it is true. For a time, God rejected Israel, so that the gospel would be preached to the whole world. This was God’s original intention for the Jewish people, and they failed to recognize the “good news” when it looked them in the face.

However, we must balance these scriptures with the many others which prove that God’s dismissal of Israel was meant to be only temporary, and that their role as preachers and prophets would ultimately return in a big way.

Those who want to limit this rejection to the Jewish people are missing a dangerous point in a big way, and subjecting themselves to arrogance.

For some unknown reason the church seems to think that she is impervious to the same discipline God dispensed to Israel. For the sake of argument, let’s name the reason “the flesh”.

You may have noticed that the words “Israel” or “Jew” are not used, either in the original Psalm 118, nor in the gospel quotes, or in its later mention in the First Epistle of Peter. It was the “builders” who rejected the stone.

Okay, so what’s my point? First of all, what is a corner stone? It is the one stone that creates the balance, level, strength, and perspective of any building. It must be perfect. It is usually also the most expensive stone. In spite of this, builders will often reject a stone, which they feel may in some way weaken or skew the rest of the stones adjacent to it, and ultimately, the entire building.

God sent His Son as the perfect corner stone. Not one blemish or rough area could be found. Yet the “builders” rejected Him.

Who are these builders? Well, in the case of Israel, the religious leaders had decided that since the glory of God had left the temple, maybe a religious system could replace it. After all, the word “la’avod” in Hebrew, can mean both worship and work.

They had built a system based on discipline, but not on obedience to the Word. They replaced the Corner Stone with a committee, the Lamb of God with “mitzvoth” or good deeds, and the Living Word, with tradition.

This makes it easy for the church to say “shame on them”.

God made a decision, as we read in MAR 14:58, "We heard Him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.'"

Not only the Jews have been adapt at rejecting God’s ideas, and building by their own set of blueprints. Over, and over, the church has created systems of rule and worship in an attempt to replace to long-flown glory of God.

The modern church recognizes this, but blames the denominational churches for their liturgy and timed programs.

Unfortunately, many who began open to God’s spirit and plan, have taken over the management of the contract.

In a way, it is akin to what happens when a builder gets behind schedule, and over budget, and tries to cut corners.

The mortar of love is replaced with discipleship, the foundation of the Word of God is replaced with man-made doctrines and traditions, and the pillars of worship are replaced by the shaky poles of hype!

Let me just make a general observation here. HYPE is NEVER from God! It is especially dangerous when you falsely CALL it the Holy Spirit.

When God brings true revival into your building, you will see widows, orphans, poor people, and broken people, lifting their hands in worship.

The worse case scenario is when the chief corner stone is replaced by a man. Unfortunately this is often the pastor. If Yeshua himself is not the corner stone, the building will eventually fall.

So church, let’s learn from Israel’s mistakes, and not just point the finger at them. Never forget ROM 11:21, “for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you.”

Let’s pray for mercy on both Israel and the church. That we both would embrace the Chief Corner Stone, and let God do the building.

I don’t know about you, but when the storms and earthquakes of the end times increase, I don’t want to be left standing in the middle of something God neither ordained, nor planned, nor built.

Shalom, Shalom from Jerusalem