Isaiah 66:1–2 Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? 2 All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
If it were your job to craft a place for God to live in, what would it be like? What kind of house would you build for God to dwell in?
In the Old Covenant, the Tabernacle and then the Temples - the structures in which the ark of the covenant rested as the symbol of God’s presence among His people - were magnificent and very special. You would look at them and instantly know that God must be awesome indeed! As Solomon set out to build the Temple in Jerusalem, he felt the impossibility of building anything that could adequately reflect the character and the being of God:
2 Chronicles 2:5–6 The house that I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. 6 But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him?
When we come into New Covenant days, we often see the same thought processes at work. In the middle ages, huge and magnificent cathedrals were erected. Even today, we want church buildings to be splendid - to draw admiring gazes from all who see them. We continue to think of such buildings as “The House of God” and to call the rooms in which worship takes place “The Sanctuary” - terms that essentially mean we believe these are holy places in which God dwells in some special way.
As understandable as this thinking is in New Covenant times, it is completely and utterly wrong! Here are a few pointers to help us understand this:
In moving from the Old Covenant to the New, we have moved from physical, visible types and shadows to the spiritual, invisible realities. God’s presence among His people in the Tabernacle and then in the Temple foreshadowed a time when the intimate relationship that Adam and Eve lost for themselves and us through their sin will be restored, and God will dwell again with His people. More on this later.
Jesus called His body a temple in John 2:18-22. What kind of temple was fashioned for the second person of the trinity to dwell in? Was Jesus an Adonis-like man to look at, with a fine physique and striking, handsome features? Not at all! Isaiah remarks that there was nothing remotely head-turning in His outward appearance (Isaiah 53:2).
Steven was martyred because (with the help of the Holy Spirit) he saw more clearly perhaps than any of his contemporaries that the sacrifice of Christ was so efficacious that it had put an end to all other sacrifice. He probably grasped that the resurrection confirmed that this sacrifice had been accepted. He may have understood that the curtain in the temple was torn as Jesus died to show that the way was now open for God and man to dwell together. Perhaps he realized that the ascension showed that glorified humanity could enter into the presence of God and that this is the wonderful hope of all the redeemed. For all these reasons, the Old Covenant Temple was now obsolete and Steven died for proclaiming this truth. Here are some of his final words:
Acts 7:44–50 “Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, 46 who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him. 48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, 49 “ ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? 50 Did not my hand make all these things?’
Note that he says, “The Most High doesn’t dwell in houses made by hands” before quoting from the passage at the top of this meditation.
So where does God dwell under the New Covenant? Not in ornate and grandiose cathedrals made of stone, nor in any structure that we can erect. God has chosen rather to dwell in His people, in all the intimacy that was prefigured in the Garden of Eden and then ruined by our sin. God is fashioning His people into a spiritual house for that very purpose:
1 Peter 2:5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:19–22 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
So the question I opened this piece with was a trick question in a way. Even if we are clear that God doesn’t dwell in buildings made with hands, and we don’t call the room we worship in “The Sanctuary” and we understand that it is the people who are the church and not the buildings, maybe we overlook one important fact - we still have work to do in building the dwelling place of our God! How? We can cooperate with His Spirit to make sure that individually, we are the best vessels we can be for God to dwell in - putting sin to death and putting on righteousness. We can work in His strength to make the church as inwardly and spiritually beautiful as she can be, since she is Jesus’ bride. Jesus didn’t look striking and handsome and attractive outwardly but we know that He is “The Fairest among Ten Thousand” to those who know Him. In the same way, the church needs to work on Christlikeness within rather than ornate and costly outward decoration. That is why God says through Isaiah at the end of our passage today that He looks for those who are humble and contrite in spirit and who tremble at His Word.
What kind of house are you building for God to dwell in?
