Solomon had finished the enormous task of building a temple that would suitably show forth the glory of the true God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. It was constructed with huge stones, already prepared before they were brought to the site. It was lavishly decorated “and the whole house [was] overlaid with gold” (1 Ki 6:22). Inside and out, it was altogether a magnificent structure.
The time had now come for the temple to be set apart for the worship of God, and Solomon engaged in prayer. But in spite of the grandeur of the building, he had a highly-significant question to ask: “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” (2 Chr 6:18). God is infinite in every way; He cannot be restricted to any finite space. The answer to Solomon’s question was obvious: the temple, magnificent though it was, most certainly could not contain God.
But Solomon could see a more serious difficulty. In his prayer he referred to the possibility of God’s judgement coming upon Israel; he could foresee a time “when the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against Thee” (2 Chr 6:26). Sin has a separating power; Isaiah understood this well and he warned his people of their danger: “Your iniquities have separated between you and your God” (Is 59:2). Solomon feared that, because of their sin, the people would be separated from God and His favour. This might be seen, for instance, in God not sending rain; then the crops would not grow well, or not grow at all; there would be terrible hunger.
It is even more serious when, because of sin, God does not send spiritual blessing, when there is “not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11) – a spiritual famine. This very largely is the situation in the Western world, and we might ask, How can God “dwell with men on the earth” when they have forsaken Him, when they refuse to pay attention to His commands and reject the gospel of His Son? How can He deliver them from the consequences of sin in this life – and especially from the terrible sufferings of a lost eternity?
The basis for an answer to such questions was to be found near where Solomon stood, at the temple. There was an altar just outside the temple on which sacrifices were to be offered. Here there was much teaching for guilty sinners separated from God by their iniquities: (1.) They could learn that a substitute for sinners may be accepted. The animal being offered for an individual or for the entire people of Israel was a substitute for them. Although the animal sacrifices could not actually take the guilt of sin away from them, guilty Israelites ought to feel encouraged to look forward to the coming Messiah, the Substitute that God had appointed for sinners – whose sacrifice would truly take away sin.
(2.) The people could further learn that God is merciful; although He is perfectly just, He is willing to pardon sin. David asked, “If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” (Ps 130:3). Clearly if there was no mercy in God, no one could stand before Him – “stand one’s ground, maintain one’s innocence”1 before Him – particularly at the final judgement. Yet David can add, “But there is forgiveness with Thee”. Although God is inflexibly just, He is willing to do good to sinners – in particular to pass by transgression if a substitute will suffer the punishment instead of the sinner. And the substitute God has provided is His own Son, who suffered and died at Calvary in the place of sinners. What a demonstration of infinite mercy! John Calvin comments, “Men never serve God aright unless they know He is a gracious and merciful Being”. And W S Plumer noted that “it is both safe and obligatory for us to proclaim the doctrine of the full and free forgiveness of sin through faith in Christ”.2
(3.) The question may further arise: Has the sacrifice been accepted? First, were Solomon’s offerings accepted at the dedication of the temple, when he “sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not be . . . numbered for multitude”? The sign of acceptance was that, “when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices” (2 Chr 7:1). In the same way, God showed that He accepted the sacrifices at the tabernacle when Israel were still in the wilderness (Lev 9:24). Likewise God showed that He accepted Elijah’s sacrifice on Mount Carmel; it was burnt up by fire from heaven in spite of being drenched with water. This demonstrated that He is the living God, who had power to act, in contrast with Baal, who was only a product of the imagination of fallen human beings (1 Ki 18:38).
The same question arises in connection with Christ’s sacrifice of Himself. The demonstration that this sacrifice was accepted lies in His resurrection,
1J A Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained, Evangelical Press reprint, 1975.
2Both comments are taken from Plumer, Psalms, Banner of Truth reprint, 1975, p 1127.
for God “loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it” (Acts 2:24). Death could not hold Him because He had received the wages of sin in full, on behalf of all His people. God was well pleased with His work, for Christ had fully satisfied divine justice for them. And the sinner should also be satisfied with the work of Christ. If His Father was satisfied, how dare we be less than satisfied? How dare we refuse to receive Christ and all saving benefits through Him, when He calls to each of us: “Come unto Me . . . and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28)?
Let us also notice that, not only did the fire come down on the sacrifice, but “the glory of the Lord filled the house”. Because the sacrifices at the temple were accepted, God was willing “to dwell with men”. No sinner needed to stay away from Him if only he or she would look by faith to His provision, as illustrated in the sacrifices at the temple.
God still comes to dwell with human beings in spite of their sin: “thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place” – which suggests, if we read no further, that He will not dwell with sinners. But the Lord goes on: “with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit” (Is 57:15). He dwells with those who are repentant, turning from sin and looking to Christ as the sacrifice for sinners. They are those in whom the Holy Spirit has begun the work of making them holy. But though that sanctifying work is not yet complete and sin remains active in them, the Spirit now dwells within them; so Paul asks believers: “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost?” (1 Cor 6:19). It is a place set apart to holiness and indwelt by the Spirit – and all because of Christ’s sacrifice. Likewise their prayers, though tainted by sin, are acceptable, for they are presented to God through the Mediator, Jesus Christ.
Just as God dwells in the individual believer, so He dwells in the His Church collectively. He assures her: “God is in the midst of her” (Ps 46:5). In spite of remaining sin, He will never forsake His Church; there will always be a people who seek to show forth His glory; there will always be a remnant according to the election of grace.
And when, in the end, the earth will be consumed with fire, none of God’s children will perish; as a glorified Church they will be eternally safe. In almost the final vision he saw, John “heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God” (Rev 21:3). They will be perfectly holy; the great difficulty in the way of God dwelling with them will have been removed totally, for the Holy Spirit will have finished His work. In heaven there will be no more sin, no more guilt, no more curse. There will be no more separation.