Day 4 - Will God Dwell On Earth?
- Pastor b.Side
- Feb 4
- 3 min read
“And now I pray, O God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David my father. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!” - 1 Kings 8:26-27
When God freed Israel from Egypt, He instructed them to build a tabernacle to connect with Him through worship and sacrifice. Later, when David became king of Israel, he looked at the tabernacle with discontent. He didn’t like that he lived in a nice and comfortable house while “God’s house” was just a tent. When God addressed David about this issue, He reminded David of His transcendent majesty. Nothing manmade will ever be sufficient to contain God’s true essence or glorify Him any more than He already is.
Still, God honored David’s desire through his son Solomon. When Solomon completed the construction of that first temple in Jerusalem, he learned the same lesson that God had previously taught David. Solomon understood that the temple was built to facilitate worship through sacrifices. Nevertheless, Solomon couldn’t believe it. As glorious and amazing as that first temple was, he couldn’t comprehend how God would dwell in the place he had built. How could the Creator of all things, who holds the span of the universe, inhabit that space? Why would God even want to reside on the earth?
“And now I pray, O God of Israel, let Your word come true…”
As Solomon prayed to God while dedicating the temple to Him, these thoughts filled his mind, as documented in 1 Kings 8:26-27. Scripture confirms that the LORD indeed filled the temple. A dark cloud enveloped the entire complex, and the people were terrified. Scripture states that the presence of God in that cloud was so thick that the priests had to leave because they couldn’t see. When God showed up, it was overwhelming!
“But will God indeed dwell on the earth…”
God has manifested His presence differently since then, as flesh and blood. Solomon asked the question: Will God dwell on the earth? God came as Jesus to dwell with His people to save souls from sin, death, and hell. Since the things people build cannot contain the presence and perfection of God, He fashioned a body for Himself from the womb of a virgin Jewish girl. This seems impossible and is hard to understand. Even as an eyewitness, Solomon couldn’t grasp it. Jesus’ disciples also found themselves marveling. Still, the Bible shows that God has performed various miracles throughout the ages to connect with His people and will come again to make that connection eternally fruitful. That’s love! We don’t deserve these miracles, but God does them anyway. That’s what makes it all so hard to understand. Who else is like that?
Prayer for today
Our God in heaven, we’re so thankful for the miracles You’ve performed for our benefit since the beginning. We don’t understand how You can change forms to meet our needs, but we see plenty of evidence to know that You do. We admit we don’t deserve to be connected to the goodness of Your presence. No one can do enough to gain Your approval. The miracle of Your love accomplishes everything. Keep us from the temptation to build our way to Your presence. Help us to live today with the understanding that You WILL dwell with Your people on this earth, driven by Your love, and You will come again soon to do so, as it is written. We pray these things in Jesus’ name – the One we expect to return. Amen.
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