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Luke 20:17-18: Don’t mock the Rock: The standards of God’s Chief Cornerstone

Before delving into Yeshua’s battles with the leadership of the Temple recorded in Luke 20-21, let’s explore the quote from the Hebrew Scriptures in Luke 20:17-18, that God’s true Temple would have at its foundation a Chief Cornerstone that the leadership would reject. A cryptic “hearing but not hearing” message from God in Isaiah 28 about this Stone holds a key to these arguments between Yeshua and the leadership.

In Luke 20:17–18 (and parallel passages in ), Yeshua quoted Psa. 118:22–23. This same text is also quoted by the apostle Peter in 1st Peter 2:1–10. He also quoted from Isa. 28:16, but the entire message of Isaiah 28 is very important, we will not be proof-texting here.

Some cite “precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little” (Isa. 28:10, 13 KJV) as proof-texts for careful study of the Bible by comparing one Scripture with another and learning God’s message by combining a number of instructions. While that is sound practice, the New American Standard Bible margin note suggests the Hebrew phrases in verses 10 and 13 are more prophesy than hermeneutic:

“These Hebrew monosyllables, imitating the babbling of a child, mock the prophet’s preaching.”

The sing-song nature of Isa. 28:10, 13 is clear in Hebrew:

צַו לָצָו צַו לָצָו
tsa’av la-tsa’av, tsa’av la-tsa’av
(tsa’aou la-tsa’aou, tsa’aou la-tsa’aou)

קַו לָקָו קַו לָקָו
kav la-kav, kav la-kav
(kaou la-kaou, kaou la-kaou)

זְעֵיר שָׁם זְעֵיר שָׁם
ze’eyr sham, ze’eyr sham

The Hebrew word צַו tsav/tsau (Strong’s lexicon H6680) means judgment. In Isa. 28:17, God said he would make מִשְׁפָּט mishpat (H4941, judgment) be the צַו disregarded as baby-talk in verses 10 and 13.

Also, צְדָקָה tzedaqa (H6666, righteousness) would be the מִשְׁקֶלֶת mishqelet (H4949, standard measure, level), coming off God’s Cornerstone (Isa. 28:16-17).

The Hebrew word קַו qav/qaw/qaou (H6957b, line or circumference) comes from the verb קָוָה qavah (H6960, to wait for or to collect). How does line come from hope? A line is defined by points on that line. If you know the starting point and the desired ending point are on the line, you can follow the line to the destination. In other words, one trusts that the destination is on the line, and waits for — hopes — the arrival at that destination.

One oft-cited Biblical definition of faith in God is in Heb. 11:1:

“Now faith [πίστις pistis, G4102, faith, belief, trust] is the assurance [ὑπόστασις hupostasis, G5287, support, foundation, confidence] of things hoped for [ἐλπίζω elpizō, G1679, to hope], the conviction [ἔλεγχος elegchos, G1650, reproof, conviction] of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1)

A form of ἐλπίζω is used to translate קַו in the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures) for Isa. 28:10, 13:

“To whom did we declare evil things, and to whom did we declare a message? Those who are weaned from milk, those pulled away from the breast? [10] Expect affliction upon affliction, hope upon hope, yet a little, yet a little, [11] because of contempt from lips, through a different tongue, because they will speak to this people, [12] saying to them, ‘This is the rest for the hungry, and this is the destruction’; yet they would not hear. [13] And the oracle of the Lord God will be to them, ‘affliction upon affliction, hope upon hope, yet a little, yet a little,’ in order that they may go and fall backward, and they will be in danger and crushed and taken.” (Isa. 28:9–13 New English Translation of the Septuagint)

You might see judgment in God’s word, but amid the commands and judgment God provides hope. If we gloss over the judgments because they are uncomfortable, we gloss over the hope too.

God’s words to Israel were not a fairy tale but a warning that God was going to unravel what He had planted in the promised land. The messages of prophet Yeshayahu (Isaiah) relate to the period between the exiles of Israel. The Northern Kingdom had already gone into exile into Assyria and beyond, and Babylon was knocking on the door.

It seems hards that god was purposefully making his words sound like baby talk so the people would stumble but they had make a covenant with death by changing God’s standard while pretending they were followings God’s laws and worth of God’s favor and protection.

We also see this in some of Yeshua’s discourses too. Yeshua said in Matt. 13:10–15 that His teaching in parables was common among prophets when speaking to people who didn’t want to listen. This is the same story and second, third and fourth verse.

The leadership of Israel in the first century, like those in Yeshayahu’s day, claimed to know exactly what God said. But much of what they actually heard was, “blah, blah, blah.” Their response was, “Yada, yada, yada” (“I know, I know, I know” in Hebrew). To be sure, there were a number of the leaders who did hear — Nicodemus, Yosef of Arimathea, a number of Pharisees and priests among early believers — and others such as Gamaliel pondered what God was doing.

The apostle Paul also talked about God’s tough love for humanity, that God would use those not native born of Israel to show Israel what it really means to have a relationship with God through the Messiah. The “native-born” of Israel would become jealous and angry against newcomers who were being brought closer to God.

God doesn’t try to trick or mislead those who truly trust. Those who understand God’s words don’t hear them as baby talk. They hear “judgment upon judgement, hope upon hope,” but they have to go through the judgment along with those who don’t care to hear. It’s not fun, but it is encouraging to know the end of the story, even though we might not see the end in our lifetimes.

We see this in 2nd Chron. 36:15–21. God explained that mocking the message brought by God’s prophets and despising His words was reason for the exiles. This all points towards the cornerstone. When the Hose of God is built again, the chief cornerstone will be its cornerstone. This building will never be torn down because it was not physical. God didn’t want to bring down His physical houses down but He had to.

Judgment, righteousness and hope are all measurements set by God’s Cornerstone. The Messiah is the standard measure of righteousness and hope. The people of God are “put together” like “living stones” to “build” the House of God. The path that God has for us may have a lot of points along the way, but at the other end is the hope of the full arrival of the Kingdom of God and the restoration of the Earth.

After the exiles of the Southern kingdom of Yehudah returned from Persia and Babylon, there was a great outpouring of repentance after the celebration of Sukkot in Neh. 9:28–31.

When people move the line off of God’s line, you create a works-based religion and you carry a load to appease a god who doesn’t exist because you didn’t want to listen to the simple words of the Creator. The line God puts in place has hope at the end of it. The line that leads away from God only ends in judgement. What Paul called “dead works” leads to nowhere.

You know you are guided by the correct cornerstone if you can look back and see the cornerstone behind you.

When Yeshua locked horns with the Temple leadership, He didn’t pull His teachings out of the air. He got them straight from the Word. Yeshua reminded the leaders what the prophets before them had said about how the true, lasting House of God would be built, and Who would be the starting point for its foundation.

When Yeshua drops references from the Prophets and the Law, those who were supposed to be experts of the Law should have known what Yeshua was saying but they were willfully ignorant.

God used spiritually discerned words against those form in their beliefs of something other than the God of Israel. The Stoics and Epicurean philosophers in Athens called Paul a “babbler,” literally “a scavenger of ideas.” He pointed them to their altar “to an unknown god.” He told them about the Son of the Creator, Yeshua, who came in human flesh, took upon Himself in death the wrath of the creator against mankind’s destruction of the creation then was revived to live as the Advocate for mankind and the example of God’s restoration of the creation. This kind of thought was an abomination to the Greeks and very confusing to them.

Yet, this is our only hope.

Summary: Tammy.

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