The Cornerstone

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Isaiah 28:14-22 (3/11-3/24) Reading at Sixth Hour, Thursday, Fourth Week of Great Lent​

The Cornerstone: Isaiah 28:14-22 SAAS, especially vs. 16: “Behold, I lay for the foundation of Zion a costly stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone for its foundations, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.” The present passage from Isaiah is yet another image portraying our Lord Jesus and His Kingdom. Written in prophetic style rather than with an iconographer’s palette and brush, the verses reveal our Savior as a Cornerstone - the precious foundation stone of the Church. As Saint Nikolai of Zica declares: “This wonderful stone, my brothers, is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. For if the Prophet had thought it an ordinary stone, he would not have spoken of belief in it.” Therefore, in this verse is another instance of the Holy Spirit providing to the People of God, through His Holy Prophet, a glimpse forward in time to our eternal legacy now revealed to us fully in Christ Jesus our Lord (Col. 1:26).

Here Isaiah offers a contrastive prophecy set against a background of scathing reproof toward His own People. He reveals a dual declaration from God: 1) “...deeds in anger, a work of bitterness” (Is. 28:21), and 2) the laying of a precious foundation stone (vs. 16). The disparate images highlight the significance of Him Who is the precious Cornerstone.

When reading this prophecy, hold in mind the immediate historical conditions that prompted Isaiah to rebuke the men and princes of his day (vs. 14). In the Prophet’s day, the tiny kingdom of Judah lay between two powerful empires, Assyria to the north, and Egypt to the south. In his youth, Isaiah and all Judah watched as their sister state, Israel, was plundered and its people deported and enslaved by the Assyrians. In an earlier passage (Is. 10:5-14), Isaiah reported how Judah itself was pauperized by heavy payments in tribute to the Assyrians. Still, in a manifestly Divine intervention, the nation was spared utter destruction (see 4 Kings 17).

Today’s prophecy, written later in Isaiah’s life, follows upon a period of national resurgence. During this later period, Assyria was having problems at home and left Judah to her own devices. However, the Assyrian threat loomed again under new Imperialist leadership. In response, the leaders of Judah were drawn to joining in a protective alliance with Egypt - what Isaiah called “a covenant with Hades...in agreement with death” (Is. 28:15). God immediately revealed that their plan was a false hope against the “rushing storm” of Assyria (vs. 15).

The Lord of all history consistently warns His People against reliance upon human power and empires. His Kingdom is not of this world (Jn. 18:36). The Church is to trust in Him alone for hope and salvation. God is very direct about this - under both the Old and New Covenants.

In the present prophecy, the Lord says, it “...will be an evil hope” to depend upon human power (Is. 28:19). Pleading against alliances, He clearly warns: “I will also cause judgment to be for hope, and My mercy to be for a standard. The sudden blast of wind will not pass by you who trust vainly in falsehood, except it also take away your covenant with death. Your hope in Hades will also not stand” (vss. 17,18). We do best never to be tempted into an alliance with evil.

What God offers in place of human alliances is “...a chosen and precious cornerstone for...foundations” (vs. 16). This is now clearly seen, illumined for us by the revelation of Christ Jesus our Savior. He is the impregnable, true foundation of Zion - of the Church - of God’s People. Christ our God, at His first coming, asked: “Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone?” (Mt. 21:42). The Church, illumined by the Holy Spirit, continues to proclaim Jesus Christ as the true Cornerstone, “And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame” (1 Pet. 2:6).

Be Thou our sure foundation to keep us safe from the man-destroying enemy, O Lord!

DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
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