God’s Dwelling through Scripture

“However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says: ‘Heaven is My throne, And earth is the footstool of My feet; What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord; ‘Or what place is there for My repose?” (Acts 7:48-49 NASB)

• The Tabernacle of Moses
• Tabernacle of David

From the very outset of the Scriptures we find that God has sought a place to dwell with His people.

•  In the garden of Eden He walked and talked with Adam (Gen 3:8);
• He directed Abraham to the Promised land and settled His people there, dwelling among them in the Tabernacle.
• He revealed to David plans for a Temple, and had Solomon build that temple in Jerusalem, the glory of the nations.
• He dwelt in fullness in the Person of His Son (Col 2:9), through whose sacrifice the possibility of a new dwelling place was made available;
• He now lives in the corporate temple of the Body of Christ on the earth. This is the Church, the dwelling place of God.

“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”  (1Corinthians 3:16 KJV)

God cannot be contained nor confined to any geographic place, nor for that matter even to time. The Scripture’s declare that He inhabits eternity (Isa 57:15), a realm beyond the confines of the created order.

He has however chosen to commit Himself to manifest His Person here in time and space at different times and in different ways, most fully in the Person of His Son Jesus, and now in and through the mystical Body of Christ – the Church.

Just as Jesus was the Tabernacle of God during His earthly life, so now the Church carries the presence of God like the Ark once did, bringing His glory and His love to the nations.