And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. (1 Peter 2:8)
The apostle now quotes from Isa. 8:14. Compare Paul’s similar quotation in Rom. 9:32. The Jewish nation was so offended at Christ’s message of righteousness by faith that they crucified the very person who had come to satisfy the deepest longings of their hearts for peace. They rejected the very means by which God purposed to build and strengthen them as individuals and as a nation (see Vol. IV, pp. 32, 33).
Offence.
Gr. skandalon, “trap stick,”“trap spring,” which, when touched by an animal, springs up and closes the trap (see on 1 Cor. 1:23). As it were, the man who rejects Jesus Christ signs his own death warrant.
Stumble.
Christ came to be man’s steppingstone to salvation, peace with God, and eternal happiness. But when men refuse to step upward they “stumble,” a result for which the “stone” itself is in no way accountable. See on John 3:19.
Word.
That is, the gospel of Jesus Christ as set forth in the Scriptures (see on chs. 1:23; 2:2). The disobedient refuse to accept Christ’s offer of mercy.
Appointed.
God has “appointed” to salvation those who accept Christ, and to condemnation, those who reject Him. By choosing to accept or to reject Christ men voluntarily unite with one group or the other and are destined to share the fate God has foreordained for that group. When a man chooses to reject Christ he deliberately forfeits his only means of salvation (see Acts 4:12). God has declared that all who disobey will be ground to “powder” by the “stone” (Matt. 21:44). The consequences of transgression have been “appointed” by God. Thus, when the Jews as a nation rejected Christ they sealed their fate as a nation (see Vol. IV, pp. 30-36; see on 1 Cor. 1:23). For a discussion of divine foreknowledge and predestination see on John 3:17-19; Rom. 8:28, 29.