One can not fault the list maker for using this passage. This is directly quoted by Matthew 21:42: "Matthew 21:42 - 43: "Jesus said to them, âHave you never read in the Scriptures: ââThe stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the L-rd's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyesâ? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of G-d will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits."
But yet again a passage that was written to speak about King David (who was rejected, even as a child -- and most certainly rejected by King Saul who tried to have him killed), and is often used to speak of the Jewish people who have been rejected by one nation after another -- is not prophetic about the messiah. It is said that when Queen Elizabeth I of England was told her sister had died and she was now the queen actually quoted the same passage -- and it fit her, too. She was the daughter of a queen who had been beheaded (Anne Boleyn). She had been declared a bastard and sent away from her father (exile). She had nearly been killed by her sister, "Bloody Mary." Yet she had survived her rejection to become the "cornerstone" -- the queen of England. Notice that the claimed "prophecy" is still on T'hillim / Psalm 118. There are actually more claims tied to this psalm than there were to T'hillim / Psalm 110! T'hillim / Psalm 118 does not mention the messiah. This psalm is part of the r ××× / Hallel (praise) service, which consists of six Psalms (113â118). We recite them on joyful holidays including:
King David was often surrounded by enemies who, when he was young, sought to kill him. As a king he faced many who wanted to destroy Israel, and he defeated them all, with G-d's help. This psalm begins by praising G-d. Then the psalm describes how G-d has delivered His people (the Jews) from the enemies that had surrounded them. The poem says that although there was no way to survive, to escape, the Jewish people emerged victorious. The "stone rejected by the builders," meaning, Jewish people whom the other peoples of the world dismissed, rejected and deemed worthless, "became the cornerstone" â were recognized as G-d's special nation in whose merit the world is sustained (verse 22). Though we were looked upon as a condemned, hapless people, G-d lifted us to the prominence and stature to which we were destined. "It is better to take shelter in the L-rd than to trust in princes. All nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord that I shall cut them off. They encircled me, yea they surrounded me; in the name of the L-rd that I shall cut them off. They encircled me like bees; they were extinguished like a thorn fire; in the name of the L-rd that I shall cut them off." T'hillim / Psalm 118:9 - 12. "I shall not die but I shall live and tell the deeds of G-d." T'hillim / Psalm 118:17. While this passage fit Queen Elizabeth I, King David and indeed the Jewish people it does not fit Jesus, who died and did not live to tell the deeds of G-d. "G-d has chastised me, but He has not delivered me to death." T'hillim / Psalm 118:18. Again, Jesus died. He was delivered to death. This is not about Jesus. One could, at a stretch, say that the one line could apply to Jesus (he was rejected), but he died. He did not become a cornerstone of anything. After Jesus' death his followers (who often changed and distorted Jesus' teachings) built a church in his name -- but Jesus himself? No. And, whether or not one wants to take the stance that the one sentence "fits" Jesus we are faced again with a "so what"? It has been shown that it fits Queen Elizabeth I just as well, so ergo it is not a prophecy about one man - - the messiah. Yet again we have a passage that fits many -- who among us has not been rejected (fired, divorced, dumped by a friend) only to become "higher" in a different situation? If that were the only criteria the world would be filled with "messiahs"!
1 Comment
Corey
8/18/2019 10:06:26 am
Thank you for this brief, concise answer to Christianity’s claim on Psalm 118:22. The Queen Elizabeth analogy is brilliant. What a relief this is, I come from a Christian background.
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Photos used under Creative Commons from dionhinchcliffe, paulasenciogonzalez, paulasenciogonzalez, amy32080, petersbar, Aaron Stokes, amboo who?, Damian Gadal, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, SharonaGott, Udo Schröter, paulasenciogonzalez, Joybot, zeevveez, ianmunroe, freeqstyler, quinn.anya, Ivy Nichols, Groman123, UnknownNet Photography, torbakhopper, “Caveman Chuck” Coker, CarbonNYC [in SF!], dgoomany, Lion Multimedia Production U.S.A., oldandsolo, dbeck03