“When your days come to an end, and you sleep with your ancestors, I will establish one of your descendants to succeed you, one of your own flesh and blood, and I will set up his rulership. He will build a house for my name, and I will establish his royal throne forever.”-2 Samuel 7:13
Verses 12 and 13 state that David’s son will be allowed to build a Temple for the Lord.
But notice the interesting way God expresses that thought.
The Lord doesn’t say one of David’s descendants will build a house for “me.”
He says he will build a Temple for my NAME.
This supports everything I’ve been saying so far about God not needing some physical structure to dwell in.
It’s God’s NAME that will live in the Temple. not God Himself.
The Temple will represent God’s reputation and everything He stands for.
So although not directly stated, this is indeed a reminder that the Lord is Spirit.
That He lives in Heaven and certainly cannot be contained in a Temple built by human hands…
Despite this being the exact opposite of what everyone believed in the Biblical era.
So the takeaway is pretty much what I’ve been saying all along.
God’s presence isn’t confined to a building.
He is far greater than anything made by human hands.
In this case, the purpose of the Temple would be to honor His Name, not house His being.
How can you apply this to your life today?
Simply by remembering that worshipping God ain’t so much about sacred places…
It’s about honoring Him in our lives.
In other words, do we carry His Name (reputation) with reverence in our hearts and actions?
See ya all next time.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“‘Sir, I can see that you are a prophet,”
the woman replied. ‘Our fathers worshipped
on this mountain, but you people say that
the place where one has to worship is in Jerusalem.”
Yeshua said, ‘Lady, believe me, the time is coming
when you will worship the Father neither on this
mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people don’t know
what you are worshipping;
we worship what we do know,
because salvation comes from the Jews.
But the time is coming — indeed, it’s here now —
when the true worshippers will worship t
he Father spiritually and truly,
for these are the kind of people the
Father wants worshipping him.
God is spirit; and worshippers must worship
him spiritually and in truth.”
-John 4:19-24
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