The Dwelling Places of God in Scripture

The Dwelling Places of God in Scripture

Scripture tells us about a successive line of places where God both has and will place hispresence among people on the Earth.

The Tabernacle

Beginning in the Old Testament (OT) book of Exodus, the tabernacle was a place for God todwell among his people (Exo 25-31). He gave Israel detailed instructions for how to build it (1445 BC). He designed it so that they could tear it down,carry it around, and set it back up as they traveled through the wilderness.

The Solomonic Temple

Some years after they settled into the Promised Land, King Solomon replaced this temporary structure with a larger, stationary building called the Temple (1 Kings 6, 960 BC). Centuries later, Babylonian soldiers destroyed this Temple when they took Israel away into captivity (2 Kings 25:9, 587 BC).

The Second Temple

When their captivity ended, men named Ezra and Zerubbabel led a construction project to rebuild the Temple (516 BC). This second Temple lasted until the ministry of Jesus but was not as grand as the first Temple. Centuries later, however, King Herod renovated and expanded it on a massive, opulent scale to gain political favor with the Jews (19 BC). Several decades after Christ's earthly ministry, the Roman empire demolished it completely (AD 70).

A Third Temple

Though a third Temple has never been built, this will occur in the future for a time called the Tribulation. This will happen before the antichrist appears on the Earth. He will enter this Temple to declare himself as God (Matt 24:15; 2 Thess 2:4; cf. Dan 9:24-27).

The Millennial Temple

The prophet Ezekiel describes another future Temple that will probably function in the millennial kingdom (Ezek 40). This will be a 1,000-year period between the 7-yr. Tribulation period and the eternal state (in which there will be no Temple, Rev 21:22). This Temple will be larger and more majestic than any previous Temple.

The Dwelling Place of God Today

Since there is no Temple today, then where is the dwelling place of God? Sometimes we mistake a church building for the Temple. We call a building “God’s house” or an auditorium “the sanctuary” (which means “holy place”). This is not an accurate understanding.

Today, we should identify the dwelling place of God in a threefold way.

Jesus was the dwelling place of God.

In John 1:14,we learn that Jesus dwelt among us. This word means “to pitch his tent” among us. When Jesus came into the world as a human being, he was God’s way of dwelling with his people in a more personal, direct, and accessible way than before. Jesus himself effectively replaced the need for a tabernacle or temple.

The body of a believer is the dwelling place of God.

In 1 Corinthians 6:19, Paul tells believers that “your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you.” He mentions this as a reason why believers should breakaway from all involvement in sexual immorality (1 Cor 6:18).

Abstaining from immoral behavior does not make you holy; the indwelling of the Spirit makes you holy. Therefore, since you are already a holy dwelling place for God, you should stay away from immoral behavior that runs contrary to the holiness of God.

OT believers did not experience this level of relationship with God. Though God dwelled with and among them in the tabernacle and the Temple, he did not dwell in them until after Christ returned to heaven (John 14:16-17).

It is fascinating to observe how the NT portrays the earthly ministry of Jesus as a “tabernacle” of God’s presence, but then it describes believers as the permanent “temple” of God’s presence. The earthly ministry of Jesus was a temporary period; Christ came for a while then he returned to heaven.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit, however, is a permanent, ongoing condition. He will never leave or withdraw his presence. That’s why a believer should not grieve the Holy Spirit through corrupt and evil words, attitudes, and behavior (Eph 4:30-31). When a believer persistently sins, the Spirit is unable to depart. Therefore, God must eventually destroy his or her temple instead (1 Cor 3:16-17).

The church at large is the dwelling place of God.

Both Peter and Paul describe the church throughout the world as the dwelling place of God (Eph2:22; 1 Pet 2:5). In both cases, we are described as an ongoing building project that is continuing to evolve upon the fixed foundation of Jesus Christ and the ministry of the apostles as recorded in the New Testament.

This building project does not refer to church buildings per se. It refers to all of us as believers who form a spiritual house together for the presence of God in the world.

Questions for Personal Reflection

• What does this study about the dwelling place of God teach you about God?

• What does it teach you about yourself and the way you should conduct your life?