Jesus used the Old Testament to point forward to the cross, and the benefits all who believe would receive from the cross. This is the very thing Peter is doing in the passage we are studying.
Please read this passage again, and notice how Peter used the Old Testament:
"As you come to him, the living Stone —rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1 Peter 2:4-10 (NIV)
Question 3. How did Peter reference the Old Testament when writing 1 Peter 2: 4-10?
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In 1 Peter 2:4-10, we see that Peter quoted directly from several Old Testament passages, and we also see him alluding to various Old Testament passages as well. Here are the references:
First, 1 Peter 2:4 says, “As you come to him, the living Stone —rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him…”
This is an allusion to Isaiah 42:1 which says, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight.”
Second, 1 Peter 2:5 says, “1 Peter 2:5 (NIV) you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
This is an allusion to Exodus 19:6 which says, “you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
Third, 1 Peter 2:6 says, “1 Peter 2:6 (NIV) For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
This is a direct quote from Isaiah 28:16.
Fourth, 1 Peter 2:7 says, “1 Peter 2:7 (NIV) Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”
This is a direct quote from Psalm 118:22.
Fifth, 1 Peter 2:8 says, “and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”
This is a direct quote from Isaiah 8:14.
Sixth, 1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
Here Peter alludes to several Old Testament passages:
Deuteronomy 10:15 (NIV) Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today.
Exodus 19:6 (NIV) you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Isaiah 62:12 (NIV) They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord, and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted.
Seventh, 1 Peter 2:10 says, “1 Peter 2:10 (NIV) Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
This is an allusion to Hosea 1:9-10:
Hosea 1:9-10 (NIV) Then the Lord said, “Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my people, and I am not your God. 10 “Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’
We can summarize all references to the Old Testament, as 1) pointing directly to the cross of Jesus Christ, and 2) to the benefits believers would experience through the cross.
In other words, Jesus is the Stone that was rejected, so that we could be accepted as the people of God. He was rejected by God and man so that we who had no mercy could receive mercy that flows from the death of Jesus. Just as blood flows from the wounds of Christ, so mercy flows from the death of Christ to all who believe.
As Jesus, our High Priest, offered up the sacrifice of His own body to take away our sin, He has made us a holy nation. As our High Priest died, He made us a kingdom of priests. As Jesus was shown no mercy at the cross, God’s mercy is flooded to us as the recipients of Christ’s death. As God treated Jesus as if He were no longer part of the family, hanging Him upon a criminal’s cross, so now we are called children of God.
Question 4. What does this short study tell you about how we, also, should be using the Old Testament in mentoring others?
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