Reference: Stumbling Block
Morish
mikshol, ?????????. Anything placed in the way of another over which he might stumble and fall. It was forbidden in the law, and such things were to be removed out of the way of Israel. Le 19:14; Isa 57:14. Their iniquity, however, became a stumbling block to them. Eze 7:19; 14:3-7. In the church there should be care that nothing is practised by one that might cause another to stumble. Ro 14:13; 1Co 8:9.
Jehovah of hosts was to be a sanctuary for the believing remnant, but He would be "for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel," that is, He would become such through their unbelief in Jehovah's intervention through the virgin's child. Isa 8:14 (where the word is negeph, 'the act of stumbling'). When the Lord was on earth He became this stone of stumbling to the Jews, and remains the same to them and to the house of Israel where, through disobedient unbelief, He is still rejected. Ro 9:32-33; 1Pe 2:8. Any who through grace receive the gospel become Christians and are merged in the church. In connection with the same, the word ????????? is employed: this is literally 'the catch of a trap,' which being touched ensnares. Ro 9:33 (offence); Ro 11:9; 1Co 1:23; 1Pe 2:8 (offence).
The same word is used for the snare that Balaam taught Balak to lay for the Israelites. Re 2:14. It is also the word employed for the 'offences,' or snares, that must, by the nature of things, exist in the world for the feet of the saints. Mt 18:7; Lu 17:1; and in the remarkable instance when the Lord said to Peter, "Thou art an 'offence' unto me." Mt 16:23.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall [reverently] fear your God. I am the Lord.
And He shall be a sanctuary [a sacred and indestructible asylum to those who reverently fear and trust in Him]; but He shall be a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And the word of One shall go forth, Cast up, cast up, prepare the way! Take up the stumbling block out of the way [of the spiritual return] of My people.
They shall cast their silver into the streets, and their gold shall be [discarded] like an unclean thing or rubbish; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord; they shall not satisfy their animal cravings nor fill their stomachs with them, for [wealth] has been the stumbling block of their iniquity.
Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and put the stumbling block of their iniquity and guilt before their faces; should I permit Myself to be inquired of at all by them? Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Every man of the house of Israel who takes his idols [of self-will and unsubmissiveness] into his heart and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity [idols of silver and gold] before his face, and yet comes to the prophet [to inquire of him], I the Lord will answer him, answer him according to the multitude of his idols, read more. That I may lay hold of the house of Israel in the thoughts of their own mind and heart, because they are all estranged from Me through their idols. Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For anyone of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who separates himself from Me, taking his idols into his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity and guilt before his face, and [yet] comes to the prophet to inquire for himself of Me, I the Lord will answer him Myself!
But Jesus turned away from Peter and said to him, Get behind Me, Satan! You are in My way [an offense and a hindrance and a snare to Me]; for you are minding what partakes not of the nature and quality of God, but of men.
Woe to the world for such temptations to sin and influences to do wrong! It is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the person on whose account or by whom the temptation comes!
And [Jesus] said to His disciples, Temptations (snares, traps set to entice to sin) are sure to come, but woe to him by or through whom they come!
For what reason? Because [they pursued it] not through faith, relying [instead] on the merit of their works [they did not depend on faith but on what they could do]. They have stumbled over the Stumbling Stone. As it is written, Behold I am laying in Zion a Stone that will make men stumble, a Rock that will make them fall; but he who believes in Him [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] shall not be put to shame nor be disappointed in his expectations.
As it is written, Behold I am laying in Zion a Stone that will make men stumble, a Rock that will make them fall; but he who believes in Him [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] shall not be put to shame nor be disappointed in his expectations.
And David says, Let their table (their feasting, banqueting) become a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a just retribution [ rebounding like a boomerang upon them];
Then let us no more criticize and blame and pass judgment on one another, but rather decide and endeavor never to put a stumbling block or an obstacle or a hindrance in the way of a brother.
[And this He will do] provided that you continue to stay with and in the faith [in Christ], well-grounded and settled and steadfast, not shifting or moving away from the hope [which rests on and is inspired by] the glad tidings (the Gospel), which you heard and which has been preached [as being designed for and offered without restrictions] to every person under heaven, and of which [Gospel] I, Paul, became a minister.
Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: you have some people there who are clinging to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to set a trap and a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, [to entice them] to eat food that had been sacrificed to idols and to practice lewdness [giving themselves up to sexual vice].