Psalm 118:22 refers to Christ as the stone whom Israel, the builders, refused at the crucifixion; His becoming the headstone of the corner is still future.
Les Feldick identifies the stone as Christ and the builders as Israel. The rejection was fulfilled when Christ was crucified, but Les says the second half of the verse has not yet been fulfilled. He places a break between 'refused' and 'is' because Christ's position as the headstone of the corner belongs to His future kingdom.
Psalm 118:22 — This is the verse being asked about; it states that the stone the builders refused becomes the head stone of the corner.
Acts 4:11 — Peter applies Psalm 118:22 to the leaders of Israel in Acts 4.
1 Peter 2:4 — Peter echoes the same rejected-stone imagery when he calls Christ a living stone disallowed by men.
Psalm 118:22 says, 'The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.' The psalm states that the builders refused a stone, and that the same stone becomes the head stone of the corner. The New Testament shows the identification of this stone. In Acts 4:11, Peter tells the religious leaders of Israel, 'This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.' In 1 Peter 2:4, Peter also says Christ is 'a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious.'
Les Feldick teaches that 'the stone which the builders refused' is Christ, the One he calls always the rock and the stone of Scripture. He says the builders are Israel, and their rejection of the stone happened at the crucifixion when the people said, 'Away with Him,' and asked for Barabbas. Les then draws attention to the second half of Psalm 118:22: the stone 'is become the headstone of the corner.' He says this has never yet been fulfilled. Christ is the head of the body, which is the church, but His headstoneship refers to His future kingdom. To show the break, Les places a parenthesis between 'refused' and 'is.' He also uses the legend of the temple's rejected chief cornerstone to picture how Israel cast Christ aside, making Him a stone of stumbling to Israel and Jerusalem a stone of stumbling to the nations.
Les identifies the builders as Israel. He says Israel was the builder of God's kingdom and Christ was meant to be the chief corner stone that would hold it all together. In Acts 4, Peter applies the verse directly to Israel's religious leaders: 'This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.' Les says these builders should have recognized the chief cornerstone, but they rejected it.
Les says the builders refused the stone when they crucified Christ. He specifically recalls their cry, 'Away with Him,' and their request for Barabbas. That was the fulfillment of the first half of Psalm 118:22 — the stone was refused.
Les says no. The stone 'is become the headstone of the corner' has not yet been fulfilled. He is careful to distinguish Christ's present role from His future one: Christ is not the headstone of the church; He is the head of the body, which is the church. His headstoneship refers to His kingdom, which is still future.
Les uses the legend of the temple's chief cornerstone to illustrate the term. The chief stone in ancient architecture was the final stone in an arch, and the rest of the arch rested on it. According to the legend, the builders could not find a place for it and threw it into a vacant lot, where weeds grew over it and people stumbled over it. Les says the legend is 'so apropos' because it pictures how Israel rejected the chief cornerstone and how Christ became a stone of stumbling.
Les says that because Israel rejected Christ, He became a stone of stumbling to the nation, and he applies the same word picture to Jerusalem. He also notes that Peter uses the analogy in 1 Peter, where Christ is 'a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,' and believers are living stones built up into a spiritual house.
Les says you can put a parenthesis between the word 'refused' and the word 'is' in Psalm 118:22 because a break in time interrupts the verse. He points to the same pattern in Isaiah 61, where the prophecy moves from the acceptable year of the Lord to the day of God's wrath without showing the interruption. Just as Isaiah's prophecy jumps over the years in between, Psalm 118:22 jumps from Christ's rejection to His future headstoneship.
Old Testament Prophecies Skip the Break
Les points out that an Old Testament passage like Isaiah 61 can move directly from Christ's first coming to the day of God's wrath, just as Psalm 118:22 moves from rejection to a future headstone without showing the intervening time.
The Stone Is Christ and the Builders Are Israel
Les directly identifies the stone in Psalm 118:22 as Christ and says the builders rejected Him at His crucifixion when they cried 'Away with Him' and asked for Barabbas.
The Chief Cornerstone in Acts 4
Les explains that Peter applied the verse to the religious leaders of Israel, calling them the builders who set the stone at nought, and uses the arch-stone illustration to explain what a chief cornerstone is.
Israel Rejected the Chief Cornerstone
Les teaches that Israel was the builder of God's kingdom, Christ was the chief cornerstone meant to hold it together, and by rejecting Him Israel made Him a stone of stumbling.
The Stone of Stumbling for Israel and Jerusalem
Les says Christ remains a stumbling stone to Israel and that Jerusalem is also a stone of stumbling to the nations, so the rejection in Psalm 118:22 still has consequences today.
The Temple Legend Repeated
Les repeats the temple legend of the rejected cornerstone to reinforce how the builders' misuse of the chief stone made it a stone over which people stumble.
The Parenthesis Between Refused and Is
Les teaches that Christ's becoming the headstone of the corner is still future, so a parenthesis can be inserted between 'refused' and 'is' to mark the break in time; the last half of Psalm 118:22 has never been fulfilled.
Peter's Living Stone and Believers as Living Stones
Les shows from Peter's epistle that Christ was the living stone disallowed by men, and that believers are living stones being built up into a spiritual house.
Psalm 118:22: The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
This is the verse at the center of the question; it shows the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone.
Acts 4:11: This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
Peter quotes this verse to Israel's religious leaders, showing that they were the builders who rejected Christ.
1 Peter 2:4: To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
Peter applies the rejected-stone imagery to Christ, the living stone whom men disallowed.
Les Feldick teaches that the stone is Christ and the builders are Israel. Israel refused Him at the crucifixion, but the verse looks beyond that rejection to a future day when the same stone becomes the headstone of the corner, which Les says has not yet happened.
In Les's teaching, the builders are Israel, especially the religious leaders who rejected Jesus. Peter applied the verse directly to them in Acts 4 when he said, 'This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders.'
Les says the rejection happened at Christ's crucifixion. The crowd cried, 'Away with Him,' and asked for Barabbas, and Jesus was put to death. That is when the stone was refused.
According to Les, no. He says the last half of Psalm 118:22 is unfulfilled. Christ is the head of the body, the church, but His headstoneship refers to His future kingdom, so Les puts a parenthesis between 'refused' and 'is.'
Because Israel rejected Him, He became a stone of stumbling to the nation. Les also says Jerusalem is a stone of stumbling to the nations. Peter's epistle uses the same imagery, calling Christ the living stone disallowed by men.
Watch the Teaching: Why the Old Testament Never Mentions the Church Age