STRIVING FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS
It is not a mystery that the Bible is difficult to understand. God confirms the difficulties of understanding The Law in these scriptures:
Isaiah 8:11-18 For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people call conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the LORD of hosts, him you shall regard as holy; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a sanctuary, and a stone of offense, and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many shall stumble thereon; they shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.” 16 Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples. 17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
COMMENTARY: Beginning with the “strong hand” of God being on Isaiah, we find the messiahs very much in play regarding The Law as a stumbling block. We know this because references to “strong hand,” “strong right arm,” “outstretched arm” and “Right hand of God” all refer to messiahs who are God’s messengers who speak God’s words to his people.
With this symbolism in mind, we can interpret this verse to mean that a messiah warned Isaiah against doing the things that Israel did. This causes us to wonder what grievous thing Israel did that inspired this exhortation. But it also gives us a clue that Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant, figures in to the stumbling block issue in some way.
Continuing with the definition of the Hebrew word “qesher” translated as “conspiracy,” we find that it can also mean “unlawful alliance.” What God means in this statement, therefore, is that Isaiah should not think that conspiracies or unlawful alliances should include only those examples that the people recognize. God sees another kind of unlawful alliance that neither the people nor Isaiah see. That is the mystery that needs to be uncovered in order to understand how The Law can be a stumbling block. God also says that Isaiah should not fear only those things that the people fear. He should also fear God. Obviously this also has something to do with the mystery of the stumbling block.
God says further that not only will he be a sanctuary, he will also be a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling for all of Israel. He says that he will be a snare and a trap to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. So now we are getting down to the issue. With these statements we can see, as if we did not see before, that the stumbling block warning is for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord — regardless of ethnicity. In other words, it applies to both Jews and Christians.
Some will wonder why this should apply to Christians because this prophecy was written to Jews — not to gentiles. Here is why we should pay attention: Christians are grafted into Israel. Therefore everything God said to Israel and Jews applies to Christians because, in God’s eyes, Israel and Jews are spiritual communities of believers. Thus, if he was/is a rock of stumbling, a snare and a trap in the time of Isaiah, he is still a rock of stumbling, a snare and a trap for us in these modern times. But what does that all mean?
It suggests that God has set up circumstances that will cause both Jews and Christians to stumble and be trapped in the snare he has set for them. But what does that mean? Why would God want to cause his people to stumble into a trap. Why would he want many (not all, but many) to fall, be broken, snared and taken? And what can he possibly mean by those statements? They are shocking words for God to say, as is his statement that he is hiding his face from Israel (i.e. Jews and Christians). This does not sound like the God of grace, mercy and peace that is preached and written about. But he has said it, and we trust that he has said it for our benefit, so it is our challenge to understand what he means.
MORE COMMENTARY: Before leaving this Isaiah passage, we must not neglect verse 16 about binding up the testimony and sealing the teaching among God’s disciples. This seems vague and out of context to us because we do not understand what God means by “stumbling block.” But God is not random or nonsensical in what he does, so we must assume that it applies to the stumbling block theme.
To understand verse 16, we must first recognize what God means by “binding up the testimony.” Looking at the Hebrew word “tsarar” which is translated as “bind up”, we find that it is a circumstance that puts the hearer of the testimony (i.e. Isaiah’s prophecy) in distress. That suggests that the prophecy will be troubling to both Isaiah and Israel and gives special weight to its importance.
As he often (perhaps always) does, God does not simply come out with what he wants to say. Rather he gives a little bit of information here and a little bit more in another place (i.e. scripture) to get his point across. This means, of course, that it is necessary to keep searching (i.e. digging) to get to the full meaning of what he is trying to tell us.
Read on to get to that understanding.
Romans 9:30-33: What then are we to say? Gentiles, who did not strive for righteousness, have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith; 31 but Israel, who did strive for the righteousness that is based on the law, did not succeed in fulfilling that law. 32 Why not? Because they did not strive for it on the basis of faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written, “See, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make people stumble, a rock that will make them fall, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
COMMENTARY: While Isaiah hinted at the mystery of the stumbling block, these verses in Romans begin to open our eyes to what God meant. We see first that the Gentiles attained righteousness through faith, and that Israel, which strove for righteousness based on The Law did not succeed in fulfilling The Law. Finally, what God means by the stumbling block begins to come clear.
First, righteousness through faith is more than just trusting in Jesus as your Lord and Savior. That is a deceptively simple bit of theology that has led many sincere people astray. Faith, in God’s vocabulary, is more than something that goes on in your mind. Faith is actively connected to the New Covenant which provides that The Law is written on the hearts of believers.
1-Peter 2:4-8 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in scripture: “See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7 To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner,” 8 and “A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
COMMENTARY:
Before moving on, it seems important to balance what seems to be a negative view of the law with its virtues. There are many scriptures that affirm the value of the law, and we have identified many of them in The Law. We strongly recommend that readers check them out before continuing this series of pages.