Reading: Peter quotes from the prophet Isaiah (verses 6 and 8) and Psalm 118 (verse 7, believed to be written by King David) in this portion of scripture, using them to separate people into two camps – the ones who don’t believe in this cornerstone and the ones who put their trust in the cornerstone. This stone, Jesus Christ, will either cause you to fall or will uphold you.

Isaiah and King David weren’t the only ones comparing the coming Christ to a stone. This was a major theme in biblical prophecy – expecially in the Book of Daniel.

Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon from about 605 – 562 BC during the infamous “Babylon Captivity” of Israel. His kingdom was the biggest and baddest of its day – but didn’t give honor to the One True God. 

In the Old Testament Book of Daniel, in chapter two, Nebuchadnezzar has a weird dream. He summoned his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to give him an interpretation of it. He was a pretty unforgiving king, and made a really crazy request. He said, “If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor.” 

Of course, they told him it was impossible, but because they told him that it was impossible, he was angry enough to order the execution of his prophets. But when the prophet Daniel learned of what had happened, he made the decision that he would make the attempt the others wouldn’t – but Daniel did something different. He was wise because he went to the God of Israel. God gave Daniel a vision that night, and he went to the king. Here’s what Daniel said (Daniel 2:31-45):

“Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.”

“This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.”

“After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.”

“In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.”

Today, we are living in the era of the stone that has and will crush every worldly kingdom – from Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon and on. Christ’s kingdom is that rock! Will you build your life on this cornerstone, or will you stumble over it?

Reflection: What things do you try to build your life on other than Jesus Christ?

Prayer Prompt: God, take me out of Babylon. Place me on and attach me to the bedrock of Jesus Christ today. Help me to believe in the cornerstone, Jesus Christ, because you are good and offer the world salvation through him. Every other kingdom will be broken to pieces by this stone. Destin my life for faith in Christ – the cornerstone. Don’t let me stumble anymore!