8:14Isaiah 8:14

The Lord himself becomes a safe refuge to those who set him apart as holy and make him their fear, while to those who take the opposite course and reject him he becomes a stumbling stone and a trap over which many fall and are broken and taken.Lt 277, 1905, par. 18–22+4 This calls his people to refuse the way and confederacies of the world, to refuse its fears, and to prove all teaching by the law and the testimony.ST2 4.1+2 The stone is Christ, long rejected by the builders yet chosen of God as the sure foundation and head of the corner, whose self-denying life, purity, obedience, and great sacrifice offend both ancient and modern Israel.3SP 37.2–38.1+4 Whoever falls upon him in humble repentance, dying to selfishness and casting the helpless soul upon him as a little child, is broken and made new in the moral image of God.Ms 48, 1903, par. 10–12+2 In the short remnant of time this forbids worldly confederacies and worldly wisdom in counsel and work, calling a chosen people to press together in love and proclaim the testing messages with power.Ms 40, 1890, par. 33–36+2

The verse belongs to a command not to follow the course of the people around, not to call it confederacy when the people call it confederacy, not to share their fear or be afraid, but to set apart the Lord of hosts himself as holy and make him fear and dread.ST2 4.1+4 Those who take that course have him for a sanctuary, while to both houses of Israel and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem who take the opposite course he is for a stone of stumbling and rock of offense and for a gin and snare, so that many stumble and fall and are broken and are snared and taken.Lt 277, 1905, par. 18–22+4 This divides people in the short remnant of time at the end, forbidding alliances with unbelievers and worldly confederacies among God's own people, forbidding gathering a chosen agreeing company and running councils and institutions by worldly wisdom, manner and customs, and forbidding making the world the criterion or muting the special separating truths.Ms 40, 1890, par. 33–36+2 The world is not the criterion; the Lord himself must work, his voice from above must be heard and obeyed, and his workers must not set aside his counsel for the counsel of false gods on the suggestion of those who do not know the character of his work for this time.ST2 4.1+2 Reverencing and trusting him above human fears brings calm protection, safe refuge and triumph in facing opposition, with confidence that evil cannot finally prevail.Lt 164, 1901, par. 18–20+2

The surrounding words call disciples to preserve the testimony and the law and to test all speaking and teaching by the law and the testimony, since teaching not according to this word has no light in it.ST2 4.1+3 The faithful wait for the Lord and hold to that standard while others stumble and are ensnared.Lt 277, 1905, par. 18–22+1 Applied to publishing, sacred teaching must be kept distinct from common material and must agree with God's word.7T 152.3–153.2

When human associations and counsels oppose the work, the instruction in Isaiah 8:9-10 and verses 11-20 is to be read and heeded, with everyone standing in his lot and place.Ms 12, 1893, par. 1–2+1 Such confederacies of evil will be broken in pieces and their counsel will come to nothing, for God is with his people.Ms 12, 1893, par. 1–2+1 That sanctuary is calm protection and triumph while Satan uses his agencies to overpower the saints, as the Roman power was used to stay the course of Protestantism, with assurance that because Christ lives his people shall live and every advance of evil only brings them nearer the successful end of their warfare.Ms 92, 1894, par. 14–16

The Lord himself is for a sanctuary to those who sanctify him and revere him, honor him and make him their fear and dread, trust him above human fears, obey his word, humble their hearts, and believe and proclaim the simple gospel truths Christ proclaimed.Lt 277, 1905, par. 18–22+4 The surrounding instruction calls his disciples to preserve the testimony and the law, to wait for the Lord, and to prove all speaking and teaching by the law and the testimony.Lt 277, 1905, par. 18–22+1 To those who take the opposite course and reject him and resist God he is for a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense and for a gin and a snare to both the houses of Israel and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and many among them stumble and fall and are broken and are snared and are taken.Lt 277, 1905, par. 18–22+4 This holds even for professed believers from a company once united, where those who leave the loyal and true to resist God's will and the Spirit's warnings stumble despite knowing Scripture, receiving light, and serving as teachers of Bible truth, and their ruin is certain, and it warns that people can be trapped and brought down by wrong practices and counsel even when they think those practices are right.Ms 149, 1907, par. 7–9+1

As that sanctuary he is calm protection and safe refuge and triumph to his people while Satan uses his agencies to overpower the saints, as the Roman power was used to stay the course of Protestantism.ST May 28, 1894+1 They are not to walk in the way of this people saying a confederacy, nor to join it nor to fear their fear or be afraid, but to sanctify the Lord of hosts and let him be their fear, trusting him and facing opposition calmly in confidence that evil cannot finally prevail.ST May 28, 1894+1 The confederacy of evil will not stand but will be broken in pieces and its counsel will come to nothing because God is with his people, with the assurance that because Christ lives they shall live also and every advance of evil only brings them nearer the successful end of their warfare.Ms 92, 1894, par. 14–16

He was such a sanctuary to the faithful who remained faithful to him in apostate Judah even when the temple was closed.PK 330.3+1 They could find safety and reassurance in God's presence itself amid national ruin and Assyrian oppression by honoring him and making him their fear.PK 330.3+1

To those who take the opposite course and reject him, he is for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense and for a gin and for a snare to both the houses of Israel and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and many among them stumble and fall and are broken and are snared and are taken.Lt 277, 1905, par. 18–22+4 He is a sanctuary and safe refuge to those who trust and honor him, sanctify and revere him, let him be their fear and dread, humble their hearts, refuse to say a confederacy or fear what men fear, refuse to walk in the way of this people, refuse worldly alliances and worldly wisdom in councils and institutions, press together in brotherly love and bind up with Christ without criticism, accusation and variance, while to those who reject him he is stumbling and trap.Lt 277, 1905, par. 18–22+4 The faithful wait for him and hold to the testimony and the law, and in the last days this divides those who trust God amid selfish human confederating, secret societies, confusion and disorder permitted for a season while his purposes toward his rebellious subjects are fulfilled, from those who yield to the passion for confederation and work out the enemy's plans toward impending destruction and terror.Lt 277, 1905, par. 18–22+1 The warning had special force for the Jews at the first advent when Christ, foreshadowed by the long-rejected chief cornerstone proved without crack under exposure and under severe pressure to be an exact fit to bear great weight, bore trials and tests, and it holds a lesson still.DA 597.5–598.1

This applies even to professed believers from a company once united that divides into the loyal and true and those who leave them to resist God's will and the Spirit's warnings.Ms 149, 1907, par. 7–9+1 Those who resist stumble, fall, become ensnared and are taken despite knowing Scripture and God's Word, receiving light, and serving as teachers of Bible truth, and their ruin is certain under Satan's tempting.Ms 149, 1907, par. 7–9+1

People are trapped and brought down by wrong practices and counsel even when they think those practices are right.Ms 75, 1898, par. 18–19 Lack of spiritual discernment turns God's agency into an offense that causes others to stumble and be snared.5T 691.2 God's light and reproof become a stumbling block to those who reject them, so they trip and fall, reject offered mercy and truth, and are left unrestrained to continue downward, and by clinging to unbelief, rejecting reproof and refusing the light of his word they turn his means of warning and recovery into occasion for further rejection and spiritual ruin.5T 691.2+2

He is a stone of stumbling and rock of offense to those who disobey and stumble at the word, while to those who believe he is precious.ST May 20, 1897+3 As the chosen and precious living stone, rejected by men and by the builders yet made the cornerstone, he is a sanctuary to those who receive him and a sure foundation on whom believers are built as a spiritual house, but a cause of stumbling to the disobedient.ST May 20, 1897+3

The stone is Christ himself, a sure and tried foundation able to bear every burden, giving security and relief from guilt to all who trust in him.3SP 37.2–38.1+1 To those who believe he is precious, the chosen and living cornerstone upon whom believers are built together as a spiritual house.DA 599.1–2+1 To those who disobey and stumble at the word he is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.DA 599.1–2+1

The rejected chief cornerstone of Solomon's temple foreshadowed the trials and tests he was to bear at his first advent.3SP 37.2–38.1+2 Long cast aside as useless and as an annoyance in the way, it lay exposed to air and sun and storm without developing a crack.DA 597.5–598.1 Then proved under severe pressure, it was found to be an exact fit to bear great weight.DA 597.5–598.1

Disallowed by men but chosen of God and precious, rejected by the Jewish builders and put to death, he became the head of the corner.SLP 158.2 He is both the foundation and the crowning glory of God's temple, so that the work of building did not cease, and he is honored in heaven and by the faithful on earth as the true foundation.SLP 158.2 The sacrifices that pointed to him laid the foundation, and when type reached antitype in him he was what was to finish the building.ST Jul 21, 1898+1

To both houses of Israel, ancient and modern alike, he is Christ the stumbling rock because his life of self-denial and self-sacrifice offends them, with its purity, its exalted standard, and its perfect obedience to the law of God.Ms 23, 1897, par. 17–18 The great sacrifice made to redeem man from Satan's power and from the curse of the law is interpreted to mean that he abolished the law of God.Ms 23, 1897, par. 17–18 Thus God's great standard of righteousness, the representation of his character, is through Satan's devices made into a rock of offense, setting the Christ of the Old Testament to oppose and contradict the Christ of the New, Christ arrayed against Christ.Ms 23, 1897, par. 17–18

The Pharisees by settled rebellion rejected his rule and sank into hatred and unbelief.2SP 374.2 Judas could have received the bread of life and formed a firm, Christlike character, but he stumbled over the chosen and precious living stone.ST May 20, 1897 The scribes and Pharisees and the Jewish nation refused to receive the one who alone could make atonement for their sins and give power to their faith, leaving their salvation incomplete and themselves a ruin like an unfinished tower.ST Jul 21, 1898+1 Likewise God's Sabbath memorial of creation stands as a rock of offense that tests Christians as Christ tested the Jewish nation, and rejecting that holy memorial may decide their fate as rejecting Christ determined that nation's fate.ST Dec 19, 1900

He patiently bears abuse and rejection, but in judgment he rises in life and power against those who refuse God's grace.3SP 41.2+1 Then he becomes a rock of offense and a crushing mountain to the wicked, not to the Jews only but to all who reject heaven's benefits.3SP 41.2+1 His promised second coming brings joy and hope to those who love him, but its message becomes a stone of stumbling and rock of offense to professed believers who do not love him and resist being disturbed in their worldly pursuits.GC88 339.1–2+1

Isaiah 8:14 presents the Lord as both a sanctuary and a Rock over which people stumble.Ms 48, 1903, par. 10–12 Falling on that Rock and being broken means humbling oneself in repentance.Ms 48, 1903, par. 10–12 Those who so humble themselves receive spiritual strength and discern the truth.Ms 48, 1903, par. 10–12

Christ Jesus is that Rock, and the sinner's only hope is to fall upon Him and be broken.Ms 12, 1897, par. 26–29 Such falling means conviction and conversion, cutting away supreme selfishness, dying to self, and being born again.Ms 12, 1897, par. 26–29 Without this breaking, selfish habits remain interwoven in all practices, God's requirements are disobeyed, and the Holy Spirit is grieved away.Ms 12, 1897, par. 26–29 With it, ceasing to study self and looking earnestly at the unselfish life of the Lamb of God brings an entire transformation of spirit, life, and action.Ms 12, 1897, par. 26–29

Each person must fall on Christ the Rock and be broken.Lt 98, 1896, par. 35–37 To fall and be broken is to give up an unsubdued heart and determined own way.Lt 98, 1896, par. 35–37 It is to stop making the defects and defections of professed Christians an excuse for refusing allegiance to God and His commandments, to repent of one's own sins, to cast the helpless soul on Christ as a personal Saviour, and to become as a little child.Lt 98, 1896, par. 35–37 God's claims are personal without regard to any other person's perfections or imperfections, and another man's disloyalty is no excuse for sin and no protection in judgment.Lt 98, 1896, par. 35–37 When a person is thus broken, the Lord restores the moral image of God in him.Lt 98, 1896, par. 35–37

In the short remnant of time at the end the verse forbids confederacies with unbelievers and worldly confederacies among God's own people, forbids walking in the way of this people, saying a confederacy to all to whom this people say a confederacy, fearing their fear or being afraid, gathering a chosen number who agree, and carrying on councils and institutions after worldly wisdom, manner and customs.Ms 40, 1890, par. 33–36+1 The world is not to be the criterion and the special separating truths are not to be made less prominent, but the Lord is to work and His voice from above is to be heard and obeyed, and those employed in His work must not enter into alliance with those who know not the truth.Ms 40, 1890, par. 33–36+1 Suggestions from those who know not the character of God's work for this time weaken His instrumentalities and set Christ's counsel at naught for the counsel of false gods, so those employed must bear a clear-cut message with pen and voice, not in a tame indistinct whisper, proclaiming the first, second, and third angels' messages and the Revelation 18 warning with the heavenly anointing of the Spirit to discern sacred and eternal realities in their true significance.Ms 40, 1890, par. 33–36+1

In the last days this divides those who sanctify the Lord of hosts as their fear and dread and have Him for a sanctuary and safe refuge from those who take the opposite course and find Him a stone of stumbling and rock of offense and a gin and snare, so that many stumble and fall and are broken and snared and taken.Ms 40, 1890, par. 33–36+2 Those who refuse to say a confederacy or fear what men fear humble their hearts, press together in brotherly love, and bind up with Christ with kindness and without criticism, accusation and variance, trusting God amid selfish human confederating.RH Sep 10, 1903 Those who yield to the passion for confederation join secret societies and the confusion and disorder permitted for a season while His purposes toward His rebellious subjects are fulfilled, and work out the plans of the enemy toward impending destruction and terror.RH Sep 10, 1903

Sacred teaching in publishing must be kept distinct from common material and must agree with God's word, holding to the testimony and the law as the standard for truth and refusing the people's fear.7T 152.3–153.2 The cause of God in Europe must not be made by a stone of stumbling and rock of offense into an obstacle that turns unbelievers away from the houses of Israel.7T 152.3–153.2+1 Those who reject the light and instruction given to them will stumble, fall, be snared, and be taken, showing the danger of refusing truth.Ms 40, 1890, par. 33–36+3