Isaiah 8:13-15
Yahweh of hosts, him, shall ye hallow, – And let, him, be your fear, and let, him inspire you with awe; So shall he become a hallowed asylum, – But a stone to strike against, and a rock to stumble over unto both houses of Israel A trap and a snare to the dweller in Jerusalem; And many, shall stumble among them, – and fall and be torn, and snared, and captured. — Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible translation.
Romans 9:32,33
Why? Because they didn’t seek it by faith, but as it were by works of the law. They stumbled over the stumbling stone; even as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. And no one who believes in him will be put to shame.”
1 Peter 2:7,8
For you therefore who believe is the honor, but for such as are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected, Has become the chief cornerstone,” and, “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed.
Our trinitarian neighbors (and some others) often point to Isaiah 8:13-15; Romans 9:32,33 and 1 Peter 2:8 as proof that Jesus is Jehovah (Yahweh). Basically, the idea is that since Jehovah is alleged to be spoken of as a stone of stumbling in Isaiah and Paul applies this to Jesus in Romans, then this should prove that Jesus is Jehovah. However, what was Paul’s intentions in quoting Isaiah 8:14? Let us see exactly what Paul did say:
Why? Because {they did} not {pursue it} by faith, but as though {it were} by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” — New American Standard Bible translation
Paul appears to give indirect quotations of two scriptures: Isaiah 8:14,15 and Isaiah 28:16. He first quotes Isaiah 28:16, in which it is Jehovah who speaks: “I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone”. Then he jumps to Isaiah 8:14,15 for the phrase: “for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense”. And next returns to Isaiah 28:16 for the last part: “he who believes shall not be in haste.”
It should be easy to see from Isaiah 28:16 that the stone is laid by Jehovah, and thus the stone is not Jehovah. Paul’s application of these scriptures actually gives us reason to believe that Jesus is not Jehovah, since Jesus is the stone laid by Jehovah. Paul, by his application, further shows that Isaiah 8:14,15 is referring to Immanuel, not to Jehovah.
The earlier context speaks of the prophetess who conceived and bore a son. (Isaiah 8:3,4) This son is evidently the one referred to in Isaiah 7:4, 8:8 as Immanuel. Concerning this, the JFB commentary states: “prophetess — perhaps the same as the “virgin” (Isaiah 7:14), in the interim married as Isaiah’s second wife: this is in the primary and temporary sense. Immanuel is even in this sense distinct from Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Thus nineteen months at least intervene from the prophecy (Isaiah 7:14), nine before the birth of Immanuel, and ten from that time to the birth of Maher-shalal-hash-baz: adding eleven or twelve months before the latter could cry, ‘Father’ (Isaiah 8:4), we have about three years in all, agreeing with Isaiah 7:15,16.” — Fausset, A. R., A.M. “Commentary on Isaiah 8”. “Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible”. 1871
Concerning Immanuel in verse 8, this same commentary states: “Though temporarily applied to Isaiah’s son, in the full sense this is applicable only to Messiah, that Judea is His, was, and still is, a pledge that, however sorely overwhelmed, it shall be saved at last; the ‘head’ is safe even now, waiting for the times of restoration (Acts 1:6); at the same time these words imply that, notwithstanding the temporary deliverance from Syria and Israel, implied in ‘Immanuel,’ the greatest calamities are to follow to Judah.”
Thus we can see that in Isaiah 8:14, the prophet is evidently referring back to Immanuel of verse 8, and not Jehovah of verse 13. Indeed, since Paul does apply verse 13 to Jesus, not Jehovah, Paul verifies that it is Jesus, not Jehovah who is being presented as the stone of stumbling in Isaiah 8:14.
Now let us look at 2 Peter 2:7,8. We find that what Peter says agrees with what is presented above, and actually adds more proof that the stone being referred to Isaiah 8:14 is Jesus, not Jehovah. This is further attested to by Peter’s reference to Psalm 118:22. In Psalm 118:23, we read that “This is Jehovah’s doing.” Thus, we conclude that the stone of Isaiah 8:14 is the doing of Jehovah, but that the stone is not Jehovah himself.
Rather than making the claim that the above scriptures show that Jesus is Jehovah, the default reasoning should be to conclude that Paul and Peter show that Jehovah is not being spoken of in Isaiah 8:14,15.
Nevertheless, even if we were to assume it is Jehovah who is being spoken of in Isaiah 8:14,15, would this actually give reason for us to assume that Jesus is Jehovah? No. The default reasoning is not to imagine and assume that Jesus is Jehovah, but rather that Jesus is not Jehovah. Nevertheless, when Jesus is representing his Father and God Jehovah, it may be hard to draw a line between the two in terms of how the prophecies apply. Jesus said: "The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me." (Luke 10: 16) The rejection of Jesus' followers means the same as rejecting Jesus, and the rejection of Jesus is the same as rejecting the Lord Jehovah who sent Jesus. (Isaiah 61:1) Nothing in this gives cause to believe the followers of Jesus are all Jesus, nor should it give cause to believe that Jesus is the Lord Jehovah who sent him.
Further, we do find many of the scriptures which Jehovah applies to himself are often fulfilled in others, especially Jesus. This does not make Jesus the same being as Jehovah. For instance, in Deuteronomy 32:12 we read: “Jehovah alone did lead him (Israel), There was no foreign god with him.” Yet we also read in Psalm 77:20: “You led your people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.” And in Exodus 15:22 we find: “Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea.” If we put the first and last scripture together, one could imagine and assume from the two that Moses is Jehovah. However, as we can ascertain from the scriptures as a whole that Moses is not Jehovah, so we can ascertain from the scriptures as a whole that Jesus is not Jehovah. Indeed, to think that Jesus is Jehovah who sent Jesus would be against the default spiritual reasoning.
See our study on: Jesus is Not Jehovah
Taken out of context, Jeremiah 21:6 and Jeremiah 52:4-7 could be seen as saying that Nebuchadnezzar is Jehovah, but we know from the context and the rest of the Bible that Jehovah used Nebuchadnezzar to fulfill what Jehovah said he was going to do. Likewise, we can see from Romans 9:32,33 and the rest of the Bible that Jesus is not Jehovah, thus we can see Jehovah could use Jesus as the fulfillment of stone of stumbling to Israel, as though the stone were Jehovah himself.
The scriptures abound with cases where Jehovah speaks of various ones as accomplishing what he says that he himself accomplished. Yet by context and the rest of the scriptures we can see that the ones used are not Yahweh. — Exodus 3:10,12; 12:17; 18:10; Numbers 16:28; Judges 2:6,18; 3:9,10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:24,25; 14:6,19; 15:14,18; 16:20,28-30, 2 Kings 4:27; Isaiah 43:11, 45:1-6; etc.
Regardless, there is nothing in Isaiah 8:14 that proves that Jesus is Jehovah, and certainly no reason to add to the scriptures the fable of three persons in one God. There is definitely nothing in the verses about a triune God, or that Jehovah is more than one person.
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