Bible study series: Acts 7:44-50. God does not live in the temple. Stephen reveals God presence is not limited to the tabernacle of Moses or Solomon’s temple.

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At the link to the original post, next, I write more commentary and dig a little deeper into the Greek. I also offer a section titled Observations for Discipleship at the end. Check it out!

Acts 7

At that link, I write more commentary and dig a little deeper into the Greek.

In this post, links are provided in the commentary section for further study.

Let’s begin.

Scripture: Acts 7:44-50

⁴⁴ “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of testimony in the desert, just as the one speaking to Moses commanded to make, according to the pattern which he had seen. ⁴⁵ And our ancestors, after inheriting it, brought it out with Joshua, while taking possession of the nations which God drove out from before our ancestors until the days of David. ⁴⁶ He found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling-place for the descendants of Jacob. ⁴⁷ But Solomon built a house for him. ⁴⁸ However, the Most High does not live in things made with hands, just as the prophet says:

⁴⁹ Heaven is my throne,
And earth is the footstool for my feet;
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
Or which place for my rest?
⁵⁰ For did not my hand make all of these things?” [Is. 66:1-2] (Acts 7:44-50)

Comments:

The main point in this section of Stephen’s preaching to the high court of Israel is that God ordained a temporary home, and then David through Solomon built a permanent one, which Herod later augmented and improved. But as Isaiah says, God does live in manmade things. So the temple right outside the High Court’s council room is unnecessary for true worship (cf. John 4:21-24).

44-50:

The word father is used often here, which I translated as “ancestors” or it could be “forefathers.”

“favor”: Here it means acceptance or favor before God. See v. 27 for a closer look.

“feet … hand”: The words are anthropomorphic, which is a big word for speaking of God in human terms. He does not literally have hands or feet. He is spirit (John 4:24). But humans need a simple way of interpreting who God is on their level.

“drove out before him”: God did not necessarily want the Canaanites dead, though he commanded this to happen, if necessary. Rather, God said they must be driven out, for they were too far gone in their degraded and sex-obsessed and bloodthirsty gods to be converted.

“descendants of Jacob”: it is literally “house of Jacob,” and “house” speaks of dynasty or descendants.

Also, the ancient Israelites did not have the fullness of the Spirit as Stephen has now, so their message was limited in power. Conversions didn’t happen back then as they do today.

In the New Covenant, in contrast, the church is not commanded or even permitted to wage war on pagans or unbelievers.

“Judaism never taught that God actually lived in the Jerusalem temple or was confined to its environs, but spoke of his ‘Name’ and presence as being there. In practice, however, this concept was often denied. This would especially divine activity was refused by the people in their preference for God’s past revelation and redemption, as symbolized in the existence of the temple” (Longenecker, comment on vv. 48-50)

Schnabel summarizes this passage perfectly:

Stephen emphasizes that it is not he who denigrates the temple but the Jewish leaders, who debase the temple by thinking they have God at their command. They fail to use the temple as a place for a dynamic encounter with the living God. He is not the one who speaks against God but the Jewish leaders, who offend God by failing to understand his transcendence of which the temple is only a sign, and by failing to grasp the full extent of what God demands from them—which now includes, most critically, believing in Jesus as the one who rules on David’s throne at God’s right hand and who fulfills God’s promises for the last days. This is Stephen’s point, the main point of his speech, as the following verses demonstrate. (comment on vv. 48-50).

Bock: “Here Stephen is simply saying that the temple cannot contain God’s presence. There is more to God and God’s presence than this one locale. There is a danger in making too much of the temple” (comment on vv. 48-50).

A theme in Acts is to take down temples, whether pagan or the holy one in Jerusalem.

Paul is preaching to the Athenians, where there is the beautiful temple to Athena on the acropolis and other beautiful temples on lower levels.

²⁴ God who made the universe and everything in it, he is Lord of heaven and earth, and he does not live in handmade temples; ²⁵ neither is he tended by human hands, as if he needed something. He gave everyone life and breath and everything. (Acts 17:24-25)

Here is Demetrius the silversmith denouncing what Paul had been proclaiming in Ephesus:

²⁶ And you observe and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and led astray a large crowd, saying that the gods who come about by the hands do not exist! ²⁷ Not only does this endanger our line of business, to come to be discredited, but also the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be considered worthless, and she herself, whom all of Asia and the world worship, is about to be brought down with her majesty!” (Acts 19:26-27)

All pagan temples and shrines and church buildings throughout all human history will be wiped out at the Second Coming, for the church will be his holy dwelling place.

The Church Fulfills and Replaces Old Testament Temple

Since the church replaces the OT temple, then how much more does the church replace all temples, particularly the pagan ones!

GrowApp from Acts 7:44-50

1. The church replaces and fulfills the temple. God’s presence lives in you. How does this biblical truth ensure that you live a holy life?

RELATED

The Historical Reliability of the Book of Acts

Book of Acts and Paul’s Epistles: Match Made in Heaven?

SOURCES

For the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the very bottom:

Acts 7