Verse 8.— And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense. Notice that to the believer he is said to be precious, to the disobedient a stone of stumbling and rock of offense; that is to say, the unbeliever stumbles at the Word, rather, against it, and falls. This is his proper punishment. "And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder" (Matthew 21:44). Thus spake our Lord in relation to this same matter. 'Whereunto also they were appointed. God having given his Son, and every possible evidence of his love, for his creatures, and the exceeding great and precious promises to induce belief and incite to repentance and acceptance of his Son, those therefore rejecting are the arbiters of their own future. God's appointment is not that man shall stumble and fall, but that the disobedient only, as such, shall stumble and fall. This is their punish­ment. Bro. Johnson, in his notes, I think, makes it clearer. He says: "Whereunto unto stumbling over the stone, and falling. This is God's appointment to the disobedient."