He will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel, he will be a stumbling stone and a rock that makes them fall. For the people of Jerusalem, he will be a trap and a snare.
Parallel Translations
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He will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel, he will be a stumbling stone and a rock that makes them fall. For the people of Jerusalem, he will be a trap and a snare.
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And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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And He shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Isaiah 8:14 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Peter 2:8 and, “a stumbling stone and a rock of offense.” For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed.
- Romans 9:32-33 Why? Because they didn’t seek it by faith, but as it were by works of the law. They stumbled over the stumbling stone; even as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense; and no one who believes in him will be disappointed.”
- Isaiah 28:16 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone of a sure foundation. He who believes shall not act hastily.
- Luke 2:34 and Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against.
- Ezekiel 11:16 “Therefore say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Whereas I have removed them far off among the nations, and whereas I have scattered them among the countries, yet I will be to them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they have come.” ’
- Psalms 46:1-2 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we won’t be afraid, though the earth changes, though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas;
- Psalms 11:6 On the wicked he will rain blazing coals; fire, sulfur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
- Psalms 69:22 Let their table before them become a snare. May it become a retribution and a trap.
- Proverbs 18:10 Yahweh’s name is a strong tower: the righteous run to him, and are safe.
- Isaiah 24:17-18 Fear, the pit, and the snare, are on you who inhabit the earth. It will happen that he who flees from the noise of the fear will fall into the pit; and he who comes up out of the middle of the pit will be taken in the snare; for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.
- Isaiah 26:20 Come, my people, enter into your rooms, and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourself for a little moment, until the indignation is past.
- Matthew 13:57 They were offended by him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and in his own house.”
- Luke 21:35 For it will come like a snare on all those who dwell on the surface of all the earth.
- Romans 11:9-11 David says, “Let their table be made a snare, a trap, a stumbling block, and a retribution to them. Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see. Always keep their backs bent.” I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy.
- Romans 11:35 “Or who has first given to him, and it will be repaid to him again?”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He will defend you which are his elect, and…
He will defend you which are his elect, and reject all the rest, which is meant of Christ, against whom the Jews should stumble and fall, Luke 2:34; Rom. 9:33; 1 Pet. 2:7, 8.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 8:14 And he shall be for a sanctuary;…
Isa 8:14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Ver. 14. And he shall be for a sanctuary.] In quo serventur, et in lapidem, in quo firmiter stent pit: impii vero impingant, ruant et conterantur, a sanctuary of safety, a stone of stability, though to the wicked he prove otherwise - even a stone of offence to stumble them, and a snare to take them in for their hurt. Christ, as he is Piorum rupes, a rock of refuge to the godly; so he is reorum scopulas, a rock of revenge to dash in pieces the impenitent, as Valerius Maximus once said the tribunal of Lucius Cassius was. This was chiefly fulfilled in the time of the gospel. See Rom 9:23 1Pe 2:6 Mat 21:42 Act 4:11.
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But for a stone of stumbling.] Petra perditionis, to all that refuse to be ruled by him and to rely upon him; with these froward ones he will show himself froward. {Psa 18:26}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Your sanctuary; a sure refuge to all that truly…
Your sanctuary; a sure refuge to all that truly fear him, and rely upon him.
For a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence; an occasion of sin and ruin, at whom they will take offence and stumble, so as to fall and be broken, as it is expressed, Isa 8:15.
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To both the houses of Israel; to the two royal families of Israel, largely so called; that of Judah, to wit, the house of David; and that of Ephraim: or, to the two kingdoms, that of the ten tribes, and that of the two tribes.
For a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; which are distinctly mentioned, as a very observable and wonderful thing, because Jerusalem was the seat of the temple, and of God’s solemn worship, where all the means of knowledge and grace were in greatest power and plenty, where the thrones of civil and ecclesiastical judicature were established, where the most wise and learned doctors had their constant or frequent abode. And that such a place and people should reject Immanuel, or their Messiah, when he should appear, was so great and strange an occurrent, that the prediction of it was highly necessary, lest otherwise, when it came to pass, it should shake the faith of all who did believe on him; whereas now the accomplishment hereof was a notable confirmation of their faith, and an evidence that Christ was the true Messiah.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And he shall be for a sanctuary,.... Not the…
And he shall be for a sanctuary,.... Not the king of Assyria, as Aben Ezra, but the Lord of hosts: the Targum rightly interprets it of the word of the Lord, the essential Word; of the Messiah, who is for a sanctuary, or asylum, a place of refuge for his people in all times of distress, and who is their dwelling place in all generations; he dwells in them, and they dwell in him; and where they dwell safely and securely, peaceably and quietly, comfortably and pleasantly, and that always; he is a sanctuary to worship in, in whom they draw nigh to the Father, and offer up the sacrifices of prayer and praise, and where the glory of God is seen by them, and they have communion with him; or "for sanctification", as the Septuagint version; this Christ is to his people, Co1 1:30,
but for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence, to both the houses of Israel: which Jarchi interprets of Pekah, the son of Remaliah, and his company, and of Shebna and his company; but Aben Ezra much better of the kingdoms of Israel and of Judah, especially when the twelve tribes were under one form of government in Christ's time. In the Talmud (u) it is explained of the two houses of the fathers of Israel; and these are they, the head of the captivity in Babylon, and the prince in the land of Israel; and the Nazarenes, as Jerom (w) reports, apply the words to the two houses or families of Hillel and Shammai, who were two heads of schools in Jerusalem, a little before the times of Christ, and were of the sect of the Pharisees; and to whom indeed Christ was a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, as he was to the Jews in common; who were offended and stumbled at his birth and parentage, he descending from poor parents; at his education and place of bringing up; at the mean appearance of himself and his followers; at the obscurity of his kingdom, it not being of this world, nor coming with observation; at the company he kept, and the audience that attended on him; at his doctrines and miracles; and at his death, and the manner of it; see Rom 9:32.
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For a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; even the principal inhabitants of it, such as the elders of the people, priests, Scribes, and Pharisees, who sought to entangle Christ in his talk, and to ensnare him by questions they put unto him; but were themselves snared and taken, convicted, confounded, and silenced. See Mat 22:15.
(u) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 38. 1. (w) In loc.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Sanctuary - A sure refuge to all that truly…
Sanctuary - A sure refuge to all that truly fear him, and rely upon him. A stone - An occasion of sin and ruin, at whom they will take offense and stumble, so as to fall and be broken. To both - To the two kingdoms, that of the ten tribes, and that of the two tribes. Jerusalem - Which are distinctly mentioned, as a wonderful thing, because Jerusalem was the seat of the temple, and of God's solemn worship, where all the means of knowledge and grace were in greatest plenty, where the thrones of civil and ecclesiastical judicature were established, where the most wise and learned doctors had their constant abode. And that such a place and people should reject Immanuel when he should appear, was so strange an occurrence, that the prediction of it was highly necessary, lest otherwise, when it came to pass, it should shake the faith of all who did believe on him; whereas now the accomplishment hereof was a notable confirmation of their faith.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 14. And he shall be for a sanctuary…
Verse 14. And he shall be for a sanctuary - "And he shall be unto you a sanctuary"] The word לכם lachem, unto you, absolutely necessary, as I conceive, to the sense, is lost in this place: it is preserved by the Vulgate, "et erit vobis in sanctificationem." The Septuagint have it in the singular number: εσται σοι εις ἁγιασμον, it shall be to THEE. Or else, instead of מקדש mikdash, a sanctuary, we must read מוקש mokesh, a snare, which would then be repeated without any propriety or elegance, at the end of the verse. The Chaldee reads instead of it משפט mishpat, judgment; for he renders it by פורען purean, which word frequently answers to משפט mishpat in his paraphrase. One MS. has in stead of מקדש ולאבן mikdash uleeben, להם לאבן lahem leeben, which clears the sense and construction. But the reading of the Vulgate is, I think, the best remedy to this difficulty; and is in some degree authorized by להם lahem, the reading of the MS. above mentioned.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And he shall be for a sanctuary - The…
And he shall be for a sanctuary - The word translated sanctuary means, literally, a holy place, a consecrated place, and is usually applied to the tabernacle, or to the temple; Exo 25:8; Lev 12:4; Lev 21:12; Jer 51:51. It also means an asylum, or a refuge, to which one might flee in case of danger, and be safe; see Eze 11:16. Among all ancient nations, temples were regarded as safe places to which people might flee when pursued, and when in danger. It was deemed sacrilege to tear a man away from a temple or an altar. That the temple was so regarded among the Jews is manifest; see 1Ki 1:50; 1Ki 2:28. In allusion to this, the prophet says, that Yahweh would be a sanctuary; that is, an asylum, or refuge, to whom they should flee in times of danger, and be safe; see Psa 46:1 : ‘God is our refuge and strength;’ Pro 18:10 : ‘The name of the Loan is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.’ It is also well known that temples and altars were regarded as asyla among the Greeks and Romans. The reference here is rather to an altar, as the asylum, than to a city or temple; as, in the other member of the sentence, the same object is said to be a stone of stumbling - a figure which would not be applicable to a temple or a city.
A stone of stumbling - A stone against which one should impinge, or over which he should fall. The idea is, that none could run against a hard, rough, fixed stone, or rock, without injuring himself. So the Jews would oppose the counsels of God; instead of making him their refuge and strength, they would resist his claims and appeals, and the consequence would be their destruction. It is also to be remembered, that God is often represented in the Scriptures as a rock, a firm defense, or place of safety, to those who trust in him. But instead of their thus taking refuge in him, they would oppose themselves to this firm rock, and ruin themselves; see Deu 32:4, Deu 32:15, Deu 32:18, Deu 32:30-31, Deu 32:37; Psa 19:14; Psa 28:1; Psa 31:2, Psa 31:8; Psa 41:2; Psa 42:9. Many of the ancient Jewish commentators applied this to the Messiah. - Gesenius in loc. It is also applied to Christ in the New Testament, 1Pe 2:8.
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A rock of offence - A rock over which they should fall. The English word offence, had that meaning formerly, and retains it in our translation of the Bible.
To both the houses of Israel - To the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel; that is, to the wicked portion of them, not to those who were truly pious.
For a gin - A net, or snare, to take birds. The idea is the same as in the former part of the verse. By rejecting the counsel of God; by despising his protection, and by resisting his laws, they would be unexpectedly involved in difficulties, as birds which are caught in a snare.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Two. The wicked of both kingdoms, (Haydock) who choose…
Two. The wicked of both kingdoms, (Haydock) who choose to revolt from God. Many of Israel were led into captivity, and the territory of Juda was laid waste. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain sanctuary--inviolable asylum, like the altar of the temple (Kg1…
sanctuary--inviolable asylum, like the altar of the temple (Kg1 1:50; Kg1 2:28; Eze 11:16; compare Pro 18:10); namely, to those who fear and trust in Him.
but . . . offence--that is, a rock over which they should fall to their hurt; namely those who would not believe.
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both . . . houses--Israel and Judah. Here again the prophecy expands beyond the temporary application in Ahaz' time. The very stone, Immanuel, which would have been a sanctuary on belief, becomes a fatal stumbling-block through unbelief. Jesus Christ refers to this in Mat 21:44. (Compare Deu 32:4, Deu 32:15, Deu 32:18, Deu 32:30-31, Deu 32:37; Dan 2:34; Rom 9:33; Pe1 2:8).
gin--trap, in which birds are unexpectedly caught (Luk 21:35; Th1 5:2). So at the destruction of Jerusalem under Titus.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 14, 15. He shall be for a sanctuary —…
14, 15. He shall be for a sanctuary — The context and its scope require this word to mean here, refuge, place of safety — a figure for the MESSIAH himself.
Stone of stumbling — A stone against which one dangerously strikes; over which, too, it is perilous for one to fall. Similar is the meaning of the next phrase.
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A gin — The figure is changed — a trap — to express another side to the peril of Israel and Judah in neglecting to make Jehovah their absolute trust.
Many among them — Many, by the invasion which the Assyrian shall make. The repetition, here, of figures synonymous as to meaning is to be regarded as a strong poetic emphasis, and by such emphasis certainty of peril to unbelieving Israel and Judah is intended.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 14. To those who obey this admonition, Jehovah shall…
14. To those who obey this admonition, Jehovah shall be for a sanctuary; to all others a stumbling-stone. This contrast would certainly be clearer if (with the Targ. and Vulg.) we might insert “to you” after “shall be.” But the want of these words hardly justifies us in changing the text, or even in translating “He will shew Himself a holy object,” in the sense explained by the remainder of the verse. Although it is doubtful if the word is ever used for “asylum,” yet the sanctuary was in fact an asylum (Exo_21:14; 1Ki_1:50; 1Ki_2:28; 1Ki_2:30), and there is no great improbability in supposing that that idea is expressed here.
Two figures are used to set forth the threatening side of Jehovah’s relation to both the houses of Israel: the stone against which one heedlessly stumbles to one’s own destruction; and the snare in which a wild animal is caught unawares. Jehovah is a secret and sudden danger to those who walk in blind unbelief. Cf. Psa_18:26.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (14) And he shall be for a sanctuary .…
(14) And he shall be for a sanctuary . . .—Literally, he shall become a hallowed thing, with the implied thought as in Eze_11:16, that the sanctuary is also an asylum (1Ki_1:50; 1Ki_2:28). In that sanctuary, in the presence of Jehovah, there was a refuge from all terror, the answer to all misgivings (Psa_73:17).
But for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence . . .—The words have become so familiar to us through their Christian application (Mat_21:44; Rom_9:33; 1Pe_2:8) that we find it hard to measure their force and meaning as they came from Isaiah’s lips. Are the contrasted clauses connected by any common link of imagery? To enter into fellowship with Jehovah, is to enter into the sanctuary. He who stands on the stone which forms the threshold of that sanctuary, has gained an asylum. But to do that requires the clear vision of faith. He who walks blindly (Isa_6:10; Joh_11:10), without faith, may stumble on that very stone of the threshold, and what was safety and life for others, might for him bring pain and shame. He might be there sorely bruised (Mat_21:44) like the wild animals taken in a trap (synonyms are heaped one upon another to increase the force of the imagery), till a helper came to release him. So, Isaiah says, was Jehovah “to both the houses of Israel” (the phrase is peculiar, and implies a hope of the restored unity of the nation’s life) in their self-chosen blindness. So St. Peter says, even the head corner-stone is to those who “stumble at the word, being disobedient” a “stone of stumbling and a rock of offence” (1Pe_2:8). It lies in the nature of the case that the fall is not necessarily final and irretrievable. Men may be braised, but not “ground to powder;” may “stumble” so that they may rise again (Mat_21:44; Luk_2:34; Rom_11:11).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain He shall be for a Sanctuary. (comp. Eze_11:16, "Yet…
He shall be for a Sanctuary. (comp. Eze_11:16, "Yet will I be to them as a little Sanctuary A sanctuary is "a refuge", (Psa_90:1 Psa_91:9) and something more. It is a holy refuge, a place which is a refuge because of its holiness. Its material counterpart in the Mosaic system is, not "the city of refuge," but the altar. (1Ki_1:50 1Ki_2:28) Both the houses of Israel; i.e. "the two reigning houses of Samaria and Judaea," both of which were Israelite. Both the "houses" would ultimately forsake Jehovah, and find in him a "Snare" and a "Rock of offense.
God"s twofold relations with men.
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To some, a "Sanctuary;" to others. a "Rock of offense." For the Christian form of the same truth, comp. 2Co_2:1, 2Co_2:6. "To the one we are the savor of death unto death, and to the other the savor of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?" God is to men as men are to him, (Psa_18:25, Psa_18:26) But is this saying anything strange? Surely it is the secret of good motherhood and fatherhood. They who order their households well are wisely responsive to the various states of the children, adapting and adjusting conduct to the dispositions and circumstances of each member of the home. No skillful parent treats all the children alike, and differing modes of treatment are no indications of varying degrees of love. He who loves us all must deal with each upon his perfect understanding of each one. He must be, he had better be, a "Rock of offense" to some. To the trustful child he can be a "Sanctuary;" but to the willful child he must be a Severity. His dealings will, at first, cause offense. There is a very deep and searching truth indicated here, which may be illustrated from God"s dealings with his people, and with individuals from among his people, through all the ages. It is that a man may compel God to be otherwise towards him than he would be. The passage which clearly states this, and will be a key to many other passages and illustrations, is the following: "Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God". (Eze_18:23) It is difficult to realize, but it is not beyond belief, that the same infinite goodness makes God both a "Sanctuary" and a "Rock of offence." In very grave measures sometimes we feel in overwhelming measures the responsibilities of our life-issues, and even the character of Divine relations with us, rests upon ourselves. After the willful ones, hurrying to their doom, God, hastening, pleads thus: "Why will ye die? O house of Israel, why will ye die? R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain And He shall be for a sanctuary
Isa_8:14
And He shall be for a sanctuary
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Sanctuary in God
I suppose that what all of us mourn over most in a bustling age, is a loss of sacredness in life.
We have no wish to secure the false-sacred--that which is merely ascetic; nor that which is merely solemn-sacred--the dull monotony of darkened church or gloomy retreat. We naturally say, if this is Gods world; if civil and civic duties, social and relative responsibilities, are all God-ordained ones, it is likely, at least, that here, we may be able to secure a heavenly citizenship amid earthly cares and customs. God will not call us to the wear and worry, the strain and temptation, of a life in the world, and leave our souls without sacred home and spiritual retreat in Himself. How often this idea recurs in the sacred writings. God is our refuge and rest--our hiding place, our dwelling place.
I. THE SACREDNESS THAT A REVERENT HEART DESIRES. Our Lord lived and worked amongst men, dined with the Pharisee, dwelt with the quiet family at Bethany, consecrated the marriage feast, and went to the publicans home. We, too, may secure sacredness for our lives.
II. THE SACREDNESS THAT MAKES SANCTUARY IN GOD HIMSELF. This is so beautiful: He shall be for a sanctuary. He whom wicked men dread and flee from--flee from, indeed, because He is a sanctuary; for, as of old, darkness cannot dwell with light, nor irreverence with reverence, nor mammon worship with devotion to God. We may carry very bad hearts into very beautiful places. Place is easily made unsacred. But the Divine nature must be spiritual Into fellowship with God there can enter nothing that is false or worldly or vile.
1. Sanctuary in a person. Yes; for even here, in this dim sphere of earthly friendship, our best sanctuaries, apart from our Saviour Himself, have been those who bear His likeness, and who do His will. If asked where the fountains of our reverence have been best nourished, and where the noble thoughts that make us men indeed, have been most wondrously fed, we should think of friends that have received us into the sanctuary of their love and friendship, and helped to diminish the dross of our character and to brighten the gold of our faith.
2. We abide in Him who says, I am He that liveth, and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore. And if by His own Divine nature He is a sanctuary, He is so by experience too. He has been tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. He suffered, being tempted.
III. THE SACREDNESS OF ALL THE FUTURE DAYS. He shall be. Names vary concerning what God is to suit need and experience. We translate the want, and then Gods name is translated to meet it. I am hungry, He is Bread; I am thirsty, He is Water; I am faint, He is Wine; I am heated in the way, He is a Rock Shadow in the weary land. We can suppose, therefore, that the word sanctuary meets special wants. Life is not always a seeking for a refuge, but it is so especially at certain times and in strange and desolate experiences. In 1 ooking forward, therefore, ourselves to lifes future seasons, we see what the soul within us cannot do in itself, and what nature can never perfectly be to any of us. Christ, and He alone, will be now and forever--a sanctuary.
IV. THE SACREDNESS OF PERSONAL LIFE IN GOD. We cannot say, as mediaevalism said, Enter the Church and be saved. We want to obey Gods sweet will--to seek more and more for union with Himself through Christ Jesus. (W. M. Statham.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Isa_8:14. And He shall be for a sanctuary; but…
GOD OUR REFUGE, OR OUR RUIN
Isa_8:14. And He shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling, &c.
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In God “we live, and move, and have our being.” We cannot be independent of, or indifferent to, Him, as we can in regard to some of our fellow-men. There can be no neutrality between Him and us. We must be obedient or disobedient to Him, and therefore we must find in Him our refuge or our ruin—our helper or our destroyer. That this vast truth may be received into our minds, let us take it somewhat in detail.
I. We have to do with God in Nature. It is His world we live in; and all its substances and forces are things which He hath made, and intends to be used according to His plans. Nay, He acts in them [857] and in them He is willing to be our ally, but not our slave. We cannot use Him to carry into effect our whims and fancies, as the old magicians were said to use the genii supposed to be under their control. God is of one mind, He changeth not; what is called “the uniformity of the laws of nature” is one manifestation of His unchangeableness; and that unchangeableness is most merciful (H. E. I. 3156, 3157, 3173–3177). If we fall in with His laws of nature, all nature is on our side; wind and tide then combine to bear us into our desired haven; but if we will not do so, the very stones of the field will be in league against us (Job_5:23; H. E. I. 3172, 4612) [860] E.g., gravitation. If a builder comply with the demands of this great law, it will give stability to his structure; but if not, from the very moment they are departed from, it will begin to pull down the hut or the palace he has builded. So with all the other substances and forces by which we are surrounded; they are for us or against us: there is no neutrality possible.
[857] “He this flowery carpet made,
[860] Man, as the minister and interpreter of nature, does and understands as much as his observations on the order of nature, either with regard to things or the mind, permit him, and neither knows nor is capable of more.… Nature is only subdued by submission.—Bacon.
Made this earth on which we tread.
God refreshes in the air,
Covers with the clothes we wear,
Feeds us with the food we eat,
Cheers us by His light and heat,
Makes His sun on us to shine:
All our blessings are divine!”
—C. Wesley.
II. We have to do with God in Providence. Not only are we in this world, but, whether we like or not, we are under His government. He has laid down laws for our guidance, as communities and as individuals. These laws are vast and comprehensive; they cover every realm of activity and relationship of life; it is impossible for us to find ourselves in any place or circumstances in which some of them are not in force. If we obey them, they will be our helpers; if we disobey them, they will be our destroyers: obey one, and all others stand ready to befriend us; disobey one, and more manifestly all others become hostile to us. Illustrate—
1. Communities. The law of frugality. The law of freedom of exchange. The supreme law for every nation is, that God shall be acknowledged as the supreme ruler, His will done, His protection sought and trusted in. It was this law that Ahaz and his people were setting at defiance (chap. 7), and God forewarned them that He would not stand idly by and see it broken (chap. Isa_7:17-20). If any nation commit itself to a godless policy, it may achieve a transient triumph thereby (Isa_8:6), but disaster is inevitable (Isa_8:7). It may be delayed, but it is only that it may come in more awful form. United States of America: their maintenance of slavery when England abolished it, and their civil war.
2. Individuals. The comprehensive law (Mat_7:12): if a man obey it, the very constitution of society fights for him; if he disobey it, that same constitution fights against him. From God, as the God of Providence, we cannot escape; we must have to do with Him as friend or foe. Those men who deliberately put Him out of their thoughts and plans find it so: just when they seem to themselves to be triumphing in their godless courses, they stumble against Him unawares. They are snared and taken in the great retributive laws of His universe.
III. We have to do with God in Redemption. In Christ, God is revealed, and therefore we are not to be surprised when we see this great Old Testament truth conspicuously illustrated in Him. In the New Testament we are distinctly taught that neutrality in regard to Christ is impossible (Mat_12:30; 2Co_2:16; Mat_22:37-44). Not to accept His salvation, is to reject it; not to submit to His authority, is to rebel against it. We cannot choose whether we will have to do with Christ or not! All that we can decide is the nature of the relationship that shall subsist between us. We can make Him our sanctuary, and then all blessing is ours; or we can refuse to do this, and then He becomes to us a stumbling-block and a snare. Not as the result of any vindictive action on His part, but as the inevitable result of the working of our own nature and of the constitution of the universe.
1. The phrase, “Gospel-hardened,” represents a terrible reality (H. E. I. 2439–2442).
2. By our rejection of Christ, and consequent rebellion against His authority, we put ourselves on the side of those powers of evil which He is pledged to destroy, and then His very Almightiness, which would have insured our salvation, becomes our ruin, just as the very same force of wind and wave, which would carry a vessel rightly steered into the desired haven, hurls it when wrongly steered as a miserable wreck on the rocks outside.
Thus, in all the realms of life, we must have God with us or against us; and if God be against us, we have cause to lament that He is God—a being whom we cannot resist, from whom we cannot escape. Therefore,
1. Let us recognise what the realities of our position are. Let us not go on to eternal ruin through ignorance or heedlessness.
2. Let us make God our “sanctuary.” We may do this. He invites us to do it. Having done it, everything in Him that otherwise would terrify us will be to us a cause of joy (Rom_5:11).
THE STONE OF STUMBLING
Isa_8:14. And He shall be for … a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel.
This prophecy refers to our Lord Jesus Christ, and it has had a threefold fulfilment. It was fulfilled—
1. In His own personal history. When He was made manifest to Israel He was so contrary to their conceptions of what the Messiah would be—in the lowliness of His condition, in the spirituality of the kingdom He set up, and, above all, in the ignominiousness of the death He accomplished at Jerusalem,—that they “stumbled at” and rejected Him.
2. In the experience of His disciples in all ages. In them He has been again despised and rejected. This He foresaw and predicted (Joh_15:18-21, &c.). In the world there is an irreconcilable hatred of Christ as He reappears in His people (Gal_4:28-29).
3. In the hostility which faithful preaching has always created. The preaching of the Gospel is the preaching of Christ (Act_5:42; 1Co_1:23; 2Co_4:5). The great evangelical doctrines all centre in and flow from “Christ and Him crucified,” and can never be clearly and faithfully proclaimed without awakening the dis gust and enmity of the carnal heart. They necessarily humble sinful men, and they hate to be humbled. The offence of the cross is not yet ceased; multitudes still stumble at the truth, being disobedient.
1. How sad that Christ should be an offence and a stumbling-stone to a single soul! That His Word, which is sufficient for all the purposes of salvation, should become to any “the savour of death unto death”!
2. How terrible, and earnestly to be shunned, is that unbelief which thus reverses the design of God’s greatest mercies!
3. Whatever others may do, let us, with penitent and thankful hearts, make Christ our “sanctuary.”—Manuscript Sermon.
SANCTUARY IN GOD
Isa_8:14. And He shall be for a sanctuary.
Not a few mourn, in the midst of a busy, bustling age, a loss of sacredness in life. Not the false “sacred”—that which is merely ascetic separation from life and duty; nor that which is merely solemn “sacred”—the dull heavy monotony of gloominess.
We naturally say that if this is God’s world, if civil and civic duties, social responsibilities, are God-ordained, it is likely, at least, that here we may be able to secure a heavenly citizenship amid earthly cares and customs. This is exactly what God reveals in the text. Sanctuary, He says, is not in mere place; not in separation from manly duty: I open up my very nature to you. How often this idea recurs in the Scriptures! God is our refuge and rest, our hiding-place, our dwelling-place.
I. THE SACREDNESS THAT A REVERENT HEARTDESIRES. Something within us asserts its dignity when society is frivolous and gay, and when the routine of life brings us into association with lives where the light even of conscience burns low, when the reverent wonder that filled even Pagan hearts has given place to scientific explanations of every spiritual function. When we are brought into contact with all this, then it is that we find how the high tides of the world cover the little green knolls of devotion, and sweep away alike the altar of prayer and the harp of praise. In all earnest natures there comes, at times, resentment at all this. We believe the divinity within us. We believe the high call of seer and prophet to nobler ends; we believe, above all, that Lord of life and light who tells us that the life is more than meat, and who fed His own life by the mountain prayer and the garden solitude. We should seek to secure the sacredness we feel we need, not in morbid methods, but in ways that are human, and ways that are Divine because they are human. Christ lived and worked amongst men. We, too, may secure sacredness for our lives; we may carry in our mien and breathe in our converse the springs of hope and faith and love which flow still from Zion’s sacred hill.
II. THE SACREDNESS THAT MAKES SANCTUARY IN GOD HIMSELF. “He shall be for a sanctuary.” He whom wicked men dread and flee from; for, as of old, darkness cannot dwell with light, nor irreverence with reverence, nor mammon-worship with devotion to God. We may carry very bad hearts into very beautiful places. Place is easily made unsacred, but into fellowship with God there can enter nothing that is false, or worldly, or vile. “Sanctuary in a person?” Yes; for even here, in this dim sphere of earthly friendship, our best sanctuaries, apart from Christ, have been men and women,—those who bear His likeness, and who do His will. “Sanctuaries?” Yes; for with them we are ashamed of unworthy motive, of impure thought, of unsacred aim. Take Christ with you, and every place is sacred. This is our living sanctuary; we abide in Him who says, “I am He that liveth, and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore.” And if by His own Divine nature He is a sanctuary, He is also by experience too. How much the human sanctuary of friendship is beautified when there is oneness of feeling about the battle and burden of life! Is it nothing, then, that when we speak of sanctuary in Christ we should mean “sympathy,” all that belongs to a brother born for adversity—to Him who, as a “Man of Sorrows,” was “acquainted with grief” (Isa_63:9)? We know indeed but little of the realities of religion unless we have found such a living sanctuary in Christ Jesus the Lord (H. E. I. 968–975).
III. THE SACREDNESS OF ALL THE FUTURE DAYS. “He shall be.” Names vary in interpreting what God is to suit need and experience. We translate the want, and then God’s name is translated to meet it. I am hungry—He is Bread; thirsty—He is water, &c. The word “sanctuary” meets special wants. Life is not always a seeking for a refuge, but it is so especially at certain times and in strange and desolate experiences. We are alone in a strange city. The child must leave home to teach, to toil, to live; the weakness will come which presages decline and death; the soul does feel that some lights are lost to faith and that others are growing dim. He shall be for a sanctuary. Let the hours come: He will come too. Who can make retreat into his own heart and find perfect sanctuary there? Christ alone could do that. We cannot. Nature cannot afford us the sanctuary we need; she has healthy anodynes of atmosphere that afford us deep and quiet retreats, but sanctuary, in the highest sense, she has not. Christ, and He alone, will be now and for ever a sanctuary (H. E. I. 2378–2387).
IV. THE SACREDNESS OF PERSONAL LIFE IN GOD. We can have no safety or rest in Churches as such. They are helpful; they are houses of fellowship and centres of usefulness. But we cannot say, as Mediævalism said, “Enter the Church and be saved.” The soul’s relation to God is personal and individual. Whether the relation of faith is real, vital, each soul can attest for itself; and that living relationship is all that can ever make life sacred to any man. When the life is hid with Christ in God, all is well, for all is sacred; and nothing that He has created us to do or to enjoy is common or unclean. So may God help us to keep a sacred life which finds sanctuary in the Saviour, until we find it where there is no temple, but where there is sanctuary in God (Rev_21:22-23).—W. M. Statham: Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvii. pp. 131–133.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Isaiah continues the indirect quote of Yahweh that began in Isaiah 8:11-13. It can be translated as a direct quote with Yahweh speaking in the first person. (See: Direct and Indirect Quotations and Pronouns)
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He will become a sanctuary
The word "sanctuary" is a metaphor for Yahweh keeping his people safe and protecting them. AT: "He will protect them when they go to him" (See: Metaphor)
he will be a stone of striking, and a rock of stumbling
The words "stone of striking" and "rock of stumbling" are both metaphors for Yahweh harming his people. Some translate "striking" and "stumbling" as "stumbling" and "falling"; others translate as "offense" and "stumbling." AT: "he will harm his people, like a stone against which people strike their feet and stumble, and like a rock that causes people to fall down" (See: Doublet and Metaphor)
he will be a trap and a snare to the people of Jerusalem
The words "trap" and "snare" mean almost the same thing and emphasize that when Yahweh decides to punish the people of Jerusalem they will not be able to escape. AT: "he will trap the people of Jerusalem so they cannot escape him" (See: Doublet)
trap
a device that catches a bird in a net or basket
snare
a trap that catches and holds an animal's leg or nose
Many will stumble over it and fall and be broken, and be ensnared and captured
This can be stated in active form. AT: "Many people will stumble over the stone, and when they fall they will not get up. And many people will step into the trap, and they will not be able to get out" (See: Active or Passive)
ensnared and captured
These two words mean basically the same thing and emphasize that they will be caught in the trap. (See: Doublet)
translationWords
sanctuary
house
Israel
Jerusalem
stumble
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 8:14 He will keep you safe (literally he will…
8:14 He will keep you safe (literally he will be a sanctuary): God is a place of refuge. • stone . . . stumble . . . rock . . . fall: By trusting Assyria rather than God, the people of Jerusalem would find themselves in a trap and a snare as the Assyrians turned against them. For those who trust in the Lord, however, he is faithful and strong (28:16; see Ps 118:22-23; Luke 2:34; Rom 9:32-33; 1 Pet 2:6-8).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.