It is not an easy matter to study the Bible. We need certain skills if we are to properly study the Word of God. Those who lack the necessary skills may in their reading of the book of Acts pay attention to such things as signs, wonders, and Peter’s shadow (5:15). They may not pay attention to the stone rejected by the builders. We, however, need to see the importance of Christ as the building stone.
At the beginning of the Bible we have the tree of life, a river, and a stone. According to Genesis 2, after God created man, He placed him in front of the tree of life (vv. 8-9). We are also told that a “river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads” (v. 10). In relation to the river Genesis 2 speaks of gold, bdellium, and onyx stone (v. 12). This is the first mention of stone in the Bible.
In the Old Testament we read of stone again and again. For example, onyx stones were on the shoulder of the ephod worn by the high priest, and twelve stones were set into the high priest’s breastplate (Exo. 28:8-12, 21). On these stones were engraved the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. This implies that God’s chosen people should become stones in His sight.
In the Old Testament we also read of the cleft rock out from which flowed the water of life (Exo. 17:5-6). In 1 Corinthians Paul tells us that this rock was Christ: “They drank of a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4).
Isaiah 8:14 and 15 speak of a rock for stumbling. But Isaiah 28:16 says, “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation.” To His opposers Christ is the rock that stumbles them, but to us He is the foundation stone and the cornerstone. Furthermore, Zechariah speaks of Christ as the topstone: “He shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it” (Zech. 4:7).
We read much more concerning the stone in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus called Peter a stone, and indicated that He Himself is the rock (John 1:42; Matt. 16:18). Christ will build His church upon this rock with the believers as stones. In 1 Corinthians 3:11 Paul says that Christ is the unique foundation that has been laid, and we should build upon this foundation with gold, silver, and precious stones. Then in 1 Peter 2:4-5 we see that the Lord Jesus is the living stone and that we also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house. Then in the book of Revelation the Lord says that the overcomers will receive a white stone to signify that they have become precious stones in His sight (Rev. 2:17). Furthermore, in Revelation 4 God sitting on the throne has the appearance of jasper and sardius: “He Who was sitting was like in appearance to a jasper stone and a sardius” (v. 3). Eventually, we have the New Jerusalem, a city whose light is “like a most precious stone, as a jasper stone” (Rev. 21:11), a great and high wall of jasper (vv. 12, 18), and twelve foundations consisting of precious stones. If we consider this city, we shall see that it consists of gold, pearl, and precious stones. This is the clear revelation concerning the stone in the Bible.
Many of those who teach the Bible have not seen that stone is a major item in the Scriptures. Have you ever heard that the Lord Jesus is the Stone-Savior? Have you ever been told that God has the appearance of jasper? According to Revelation 4, we may say that our God is the jasper-God. If some say that such a term is not found in the Bible, we can point out that the Bible does not use the expression “Triune God,” but the fact that God is Triune—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—surely is in the Word. Likewise, the Bible does not use the term “jasper-God,” but it definitely reveals that God has the appearance of jasper. Is He not, then, in a very real sense a jasper-God?
Once again I would encourage you not to put your trust in traditional theology. With such theology there is too much restriction, blindness, and covering concerning many matters in the Bible. We have seen only a small portion of what is in the Word. God’s revelation in the Scriptures is inexhaustible. When we are in eternity, we may say, “Oh, how little we have seen!”
In our study of the Bible we should not be careless. Rather, we need to follow the governing principles of the Scriptures. If we follow these principles, we shall be kept from making mistakes. Although we should not be restricted by traditional theology, we still need to be directed by the governing principles in interpreting the Bible. (Perhaps on another occasion we shall consider what these principles are.)
In the Bible there is a line concerning stone from Genesis 2 through Revelation 22. In Genesis 2 we have the onyx stone at the beginning, and then in Revelation 21 and 22 we have the jasper city as the consummation. The appearance, the wall, and the first foundation of this city are all of jasper. How much truth, therefore, is indicated and implied by Peter’s referring to Christ as the stone rejected by the builders but made by God the cornerstone in resurrection!