The Counterfeit Cornerstones

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]The parable of the counterfeit cornerstones.

[00:00:03]Harken unto a dark speech of the kingdom that the mystery hidden in the omission of the four kings may be revealed unto them that have ears to hear.

[00:00:13]The dark speech is this: A certain builder commissioned a temple [music] unto his name, and he set forth 42 cornerstones to be laid in three [music] bands of 14, each cornerstone bearing the engraved declaration of the way upon which it would stand. [music] And the builder gave unto each stone a name before it was hewn from the quarry, a name that declared its function, a name that established its [music] jurisdiction, a name that promised the strength it would bear. And the stones were hewn one after another and brought unto the foundation, and the builder examined each stone [music] before its placement. Now, there came among the stones four that bore the names of the builder upon their face. One stone was named he whom the builder holds. Another stone was named the builder hath forgiven. Another stone was named the builder is mighty. And the fourth stone was named the builder [music] raiseth up. And every man who looked upon those four stones said, "Surely, these are the chief stones of the temple, for they bear the name of the builder himself."

[00:01:16]But when the builder turned the [music] stones over to examine the backside of each one, the side that no eye seeth save the eye of him that placeth the stone, [music] he found upon the back of the first stone the seal of an alien jurisdiction.

[00:01:29]He found upon the back of the second stone the seal of an idol that had been worshipped within its quarry. He found upon the back of the third stone [music] the carved gods of a conquered nation.

[00:01:39]And he found upon the back of the fourth stone the ashes of his own burned commandments. And the builder [music] spake and said, "The face of these stones declareth my name, but the back of these [music] stones declare the contrary jurisdiction. They shall not be set equal upon my foundation. They shall not be engraved upon the stone of the shoulder of my priest. They shall not be counted among the 42 cornerstones [music] of my temple.

[00:02:03]And he commanded his servant, the scribe, [music] to omit them from the chart of the building, that the false declaration of their face might not deceive the generations that should read the chart [music] afterward.

[00:02:15]Yet the builder did not strike them out of the record altogether. [music] He commanded that they be set aside in another book, in the book of the kings and in the book of the chronicles, that the discerning reader might find them there [music] and learn from their omission the rule by which he buildeth his house.

[00:02:31]For he said, "Mine house is not built by the face of the stone, but by the back of the stone, [music] and the back of every stone shall be examined by the builder before it shall be set equal upon the foundation.

[00:02:47]Selah."

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