Bible Synapse
Does God dwell in temples made by people?
Hard question · Who God is · raised by 2 of the lists sceptics circulate
See the passages joined in the interactive mapThe passages
God tells Solomon, “I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice”.
And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.
“That my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.”
For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
Solomon’s own prayer at the dedication: heaven cannot contain God, “how much less this house which I have built!”
But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!
Stephen: Solomon built God a house, but “the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands”, as Isaiah 66:1 says.
But Solomon built him an house. Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?
The objection
In 2 Chronicles 7 God tells Solomon that he has chosen the temple for himself, “that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually”. Yet Stephen says, “the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands” (Acts 7:48). Either God dwelt in the temple or he did not.
The answer
Solomon said both things himself when the temple was dedicated. He prayed, “will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!” (2 Chronicles 6:18). God’s answer in chapter 7 does not say that the temple would contain him. It says he has chosen it as the place for his ‘name’, where he would be present to hear prayer and receive worship (7:12–16); his ‘eyes and heart’ there are pictures of his attention and love toward his people’s worship.
Stephen, quoting Isaiah 66:1–2, denies that a building could confine God or that God needs a house, as though he belonged to one place. He had been accused of speaking against the temple (Acts 6:13–14), and he answered from Solomon’s and Isaiah’s own words. The prophets had already rebuked those who trusted in the temple as if it guaranteed God’s favour (Jeremiah 7:4). So God is present everywhere and contained by nothing, yet he chose to make his presence known in one place; and the New Testament goes on to say that God now dwells by his Spirit in his people (1 Corinthians 3:16).
From the classic commentators
Solomon does not intend to guard against the delusion that God really dwells in temples (J. D. Mich.), but simply to meet the erroneous idea that He dwells in the temple as men dwell in a house, namely, shut up within it, and not also outside and above itKeil & Delitzsch, Commentary on 1 Kings 8:27 (1857–78), at Bible Hub
he did indeed dwell in his temple, but he was not confined to it, nor included in it, or circumscribed by it; and so much Solomon himself suggests, when he expresses his wonder at his dwelling on earthJohn Gill, Exposition of the Bible: Acts 7:48 (1746–63), at Bible Hub
Sources
- Keil & Delitzsch, Commentary on 1 Kings 8 (1857–78), at Bible Hub
- John Gill, Exposition of the Bible: Acts 7, at Bible Hub