The Messiah Simeon Waited For

Day 38, The Stone in Zion

Isaiah 28:16 Therefore the Lord God said:
“Look, I have laid a stone in Zion,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
the one who believes will be unshakable. (HCSB)

This promised stone would be laid in Zion.

This stone was called precious and tested. That would mean it had great value. People might assume that such a stone would belong to royalty. Perhaps it would be found in the world’s capital—Rome, at that time. Or maybe it belonged to the wise, to the Magi, in their center of learning. But no. God would only place this stone in Zion.

That place name had two meanings to the devout Jew. Zion was another name for Jerusalem. When they read the Psalms of ascent as they headed to one of the celebrations, they meant it as the real, physical Jerusalem that they knew and loved.

But in other places in Scripture, it could mean nothing but the heavenly Jerusalem, the perfect kingdom of God.

Still other sections of the Bible, like here, it could refer to both.

Only one person could truly be said to have lived in both Jerusalems, both Zions… Jesus.

He was put as a cornerstone both for the life of the redeemed here on earth, and for our eternal life in heaven.

The one who believes in Jesus will never lose him as the precious cornerstone or sure foundation. He will be the rock that sustains us whether in this life or the next.

So what does that mean for us?

The following poem will give you an idea of what it means to me.

SHAKEN

According to scientists, Mount Zion was shaken in 535 AD.

Shaken and shaded from the sun.

The entire world changed, they said,

Because of an Indonesian volcano

Exploding so furiously, so extensively,

That ash blackened the atmosphere

And the roar was heard thousands of miles away.

It shook everyone and everything on our world.

But Christians, then and now,

Are not shaken, were not shaken.

Our Mount Zion is not on this world.

Our Mount Zion endures forever

Beneath the throne of God.

It doesn’t matter if our world shakes

Or if calamity shakes us personally,

In Christ, we have feet on solid ground.

In faith, we cannot be moved, swayed or toppled.

In 535 AD, the world grew dark, cold, sick.

Many died, as all meet death once,

But those in Christ

Merely stepped off this trembling world

To climb the unshakable mountain

Underneath the light of his everlasting glory.

A Sixty-Day Countdown to Christmas


More Days

Introduction to The Messiah Simeon Waited For

Holding Jesus

Day 3, A Sketch of Simeon

Simeon Was a Godly Man

Day 5, Simeon's Testimony

Day 6, Prophecies for the Gentiles

Day 7, Blessing to Nations

Day 8, A Holy People

Day 9, Welcoming God's Firstborn

Day 10, The Name of Simeon

Day 11, Staying Alive

Day 12, Following the Spirit

Day 13, Taking Up Jesus

Day 14, God's Slave

Day 15, True Peace

Day 16, Seeing Reality

Day 17, The Intent of the Law

Day 18, For All Peoples

Day 19, Making Mary and Joseph Marvel

Day 20, A Blessing

Day 21, Hinting at the Rest of the Story

Day 22, Mary Will Grieve

Day 23, Making Simeon into Simeon

Day 24, Prophet to the Prophets

Day 25, A Priest Like Melchizedek

Day 26, Destined for Sacrifice

Day 27, Jesus and the Passover Lamb, part 1

Day 28, Jesus and the Passover Lamb, part 2

Day 29, Jesus and the Passover Lamb, Part 3

Day 30, Jesus as the Lamb (con.)

Day 31, Simeon as a Man of Gratitude

Day 32, Sacrificing Lambs in the Old Testament

Day 33, The Silent Lamb

Day 34, The Messiah as Light

Day 35, Jesus the Stumbling Block

Day 36, Jesus as the Rock

Day 37, The Precious Cornerstone

Day 38, The Stone in Zion

Day 39, The Cornerstone and the Gate

Day 40, The Stone of Judgment

Day 41, Into Zion First

Day 42, Restoring the Booth of David

Day 43, Forgotten Stones

Day 44, Blessed to Receive

Day 45, Crown Him with Many Crowns

Day 46, Identifying the Son of God

Day 47, The Best Storyteller Ever

Day 48, In Bethlehem, the City of David

Day 49, Born a King

Day 50, The Living Jesus

Day 51, The Mountain Tree (Part 1)

Day 52, The Mountain Tree (Part 2)

Day 53, The Root of Jesse

Day 54, David's Branch

Day 55, The Cursed Tree

Day 56, Time Fulfilled

Day 58 through 60

Day 57, Born David's King