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Bible Q

“stone of stumbling” from Isaiah 8:14 cited in 1 Peter 2:8 about Christ

This question is quite rare but a few Oneness (UPCI) and a smaller number of Trinitarians have misread that Isaiah 8:13 is about Yahweh, and in 1 Peter 2:8 this verse is cited about Christ, so therefore it is a proof that Jesus is Yahweh (per Oneness teaching) or God the Father (per an unorthodox Trinitarian view).

ISAIAH 8:13 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor 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.

and

1 PETER 2:7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do.

A quick look at the context in Isaiah shows that the context is the Immanuel-child born at the time of the two kings in Isaiah 7 and 8.  In 732 BC, Pekah king of the 10 tribes in Samaria allied with Rezin of Damascus, king of Aram and threatened Jerusalem. Which is where Isaiah made the Immanuel prophecy to the frightened king Ahaz of Judah. This leads to the common knowledge that the Immanuel child is Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz by betrothal to the godly maiden Abi, daughter of the high priest. A marriage that Isaiah possibly had some hand in arranging. This is not to suggest that Hezekiah was a miraculous birth like Jesus from Mary. So we then have three prophecies, Isaiah 7, 8 and 9, about the life of king Hezekiah. The final prophecy in Isaiah 9:6 refers to king Hezekiah as “Wonderful counsellor” – and probably relates to the extra 15 years of life given to him. As well as to the destruction of the Assyrian army by the angel of the Lord.

So there really is no problem here. Other than very careless reading, and failure to know anything about the history behind the book of Isaiah. Hezekiah was a representative for God with the people. Hezekiah was also a foreshadow of Jesus. It does not mean that Hezekiah was God. It also cannot be read to say that Jesus is God.

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