November 2000

[Part Thirty]

                More thoughts on STONES and ROCKS (Ge 28:16-19) “Jacob awoke from sleep saying, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.’ Jacob was greatly affrighted and said, ‘How to be feared and reverenced is this place. For it is none other than the House of God and the Gateway to heaven. He rose early that morning and took the stone he had put under his head for a pillow and set it up as a pillar. And pouring oil on the top (head) of the stony pillar, he then renamed that place, theretofore called Luz (lit. almond tree), Bethel (House of God).“ Note Jacob’s words: “The Lord is in this place and I did not know it! It seems impossible that the Lord could be in the place we are, yet we do not know it! This Omnipresence of God (confirmed in Jn1:5) means He is in all places at all times, whether or not we are aware of His Presence! To the carnal mind this brings unthinkable fear, but to the spiritual mind, it is a comforting cause for celebration!!
               For Jacob, the realization of God’s Presence made it seem that the pillow of stone whereon he rested his head was converted to a tender, loaf of bread! As a man of God, he had been content to rest his mind and faith on the stony Law of Moses, however now God was rewarding his obedience by unveiling His Presence so as to make the Words of His Law into the Bread of Life! No wonder he leaped up and erected a pillar and called that place, House of God. This was a good thing to do at that time, for God had taught His natural-minded people to so; but its true purpose was a type and a shadow of what God’s spirit-minded people would later come to do.
Jesus once asked Peter (Mt 16:15-18), “Who do you say I am?”, his reply was the revelation, ‘YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD!’ Jesus responded, “You are so blessed, Simon Bar-jonah, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you; it was My Father in heaven! So to you I say, you are Peter; and upon this Rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” There has been much doctrinal confusion about this statement of Christ, because of the phrasing of the sentence. Some perceive our Lord to be sayng He was going to build His church on the man Peter! But they do err not knowing the Scriptures; for Jesus said “I will liken everyone who hears My Words and does them to the wise man who built his house upon a ROCK!”(Mt 7:24) Now any natural builder will tell you that the “rock” on which a well-constructed house is built is called a “foundation”. And it is written (1 Cor 3:11), “There is no other foundation that any man can lay than the Foundation which is already laid- and it is CHRIST!” Poor Peter would turn over in his grave to think that a manmade doctrine would misuse his name to blaspheme- and usurp the place of- His crucified, resurrected King! For just such mishandling of God’s Word has produced “The great whore that sits on many waters (lit. “peoples, multitudes, nations and languages” Rev 17:15) with whom earthly kings have committed fornication; and by whom the earth’s inhabitants are made drunk (self-exalted, self-righteous) by her wine of fornication (with this sinful world)...and is herself drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus- whose name is “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND EARTHLY ABOMINATIONS“! (Re 17:1-6)
                Much confusion centers on the name, Peter- masculine root Gk 4074 petros which means: “A piece of a rock”; while the word, Rock, in all the NT- the feminine root, Gk 4073 petra means: “A mass of rock!” To coin a phrase, Peter was “A chip off the old block”- “a piece of the Rock” like all true believers; while “THE (massive) ROCK WAS CHRIST!” (1 Co 10:4) If any would debate this Truth, they should ask why! True sons of God would never elevate any man, like Peter, to a status of “infallibility” when he who identified Jesus as “The Christ, the Son of Living God”, would soon after hear His Lord say to him ”Get behind Me, SATAN”; and then deny three times that he even knew his own Master! No, beloveds, we must see that it was the seven “WORDS” spoken by Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” to which Christ referred when He said, “UPON ‘THIS ROCK’, I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH!!”

[TO BE CONTINUED]