1 Kings 8:27, commentary and pictures

Solomon knelt before the great congregation at the dedication of the temple on Mount Moriah and asked if God would indeed dwell on the earth, praying that His eyes would be open toward the house of His name night and day to hear the prayers made toward that place. The house was never meant to enclose Him, for even the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, showing He is far greater than any structure and, unlike the gods of the heathen, is not confined to temples made with hands. As Creator He is independent of man, with heaven as His throne and earth as His footstool, needing nothing from human hands to add to His power and glory, yet He meets His people by His Spirit when they assemble in a house dedicated to His worship. This calls for thoughtful and reverent worship rather than cheap and limited ideas of Him, for though no earthly building can hold Him, He chooses the humble and contrite heart as His temple and fills it with His peace and presence.

Dedication Prayer Setting

The question belongs to Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple on Mount Moriah, offered kneeling in supplication before the immense congregation of Israel with many nations gathered for the dedication. In it he asks whether God will indeed dwell on the earth, and asks that His eyes be open toward that house night and day, toward the place of which He said My name shall be there, so that He may hear the prayer His servant makes toward that place. The temple is therefore not a literal dwelling that encloses Him, but a place marked by His name toward which people pray while He hears from heaven.

The prayer was made with a sense of need for divine power, honoring God and expressing Israel's dependence on the God of Israel. In it Solomon prayed for his people, that Israel might remain wholly devoted to God with hearts undividedly given to the Lord. It was spoken when he was a just, compassionate, and God-fearing ruler. Yet it stands in sharp contrast to his later apostasy, for although he had dedicated his life and the temple to God and had received divine manifestations, he cast off his allegiance, forsook the temple, turned from God and temple worship to worship idols, and became the seducer of his people into idolatry, allowing idolatry to corrupt his religion. The people who built the temple were many and the house they built was large and grand, and the Lord God of heaven honored them because they had built Him a sanctuary where they could meet to worship Him.

God Beyond Containment

Even the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain God, how much less the house Solomon built, for He is far greater than any place or structure and His greatness exceeds the limits of heaven and earth. As the great and mighty ruler of the heaven of heavens He is honored in His majesty by this declaration. He is not like the heathen gods who are confined to temples built for them, for the Most High dwells not confined in temples made with hands, whether Solomon's temple or any building made by human hands.

He is the Creator, not dependent on anything already made, for heaven is His throne and earth His footstool and all things were made by His hand, and He is independent of man, needing nothing from human hands to add to His power and glory. Heaven is the place of His highest worship. Yet though no earthly building can limit His presence or power, He meets His people by His Spirit when they assemble in the house dedicated to His worship.

Paul held this truth of God's infinity on Mars Hill with hand outstretched toward the idol-crowded temple to expose the fallacy of Athenian religion, that God cannot be likened to forms of human device and His glory cannot in the faintest sense be represented by works of art in gold or silver or stone, which have no breath nor life and move only as men move them, so that their worshipers are in every way superior to what they worship. That truth lifts minds beyond false religion to right views of the true Deity instinctively acknowledged as the Unknown God, who created man in His own image with intellectual power and a perfect and symmetrical body. The declaration was used to connect Jesus Christ with all Jewish history and to give the spiritual interpretation of the Jewish economy now made manifest through Christ, proving loyalty to God and to the Jewish faith while showing that the law in which Israel trusted for salvation had not been able to preserve Israel from idolatry or save Israel from idolatry.

Reverent Worship Today

The verse warns against holding cheap, limited, and common ideas of God, for He is far greater than any place or structure and even the highest heavens cannot contain Him. No one should presume to restrict the power of the Holy One of Israel, but should stand in reverence before Him as holy. He is presented as the great and mighty ruler of the heaven of heavens, and His majesty is reason for thoughtful, reverential worship.

The temple was dedicated to His worship, yet He is not confined to it nor contained by any building. He meets His people there by His Spirit, and He visits them in their homes and wherever they are, so His children may worship Him in every place. Because He meets with His people in a house dedicated to Him, a home dedicated to God is sacred and must be treated with reverence. Worshipers must put away all angry feelings toward others on earth, because cherishing anger shuts the Spirit of God away from them.

Even though the heavens and the highest heaven cannot contain God, much less a house built by human hands, God chooses the humble and contrite heart and soul as His temple. There His peace and grace dwell, and His presence fills that heart and soul with peace, light, and strength. Israel's dependence was in the God of Israel, and the many people who built a large and grand house were honored by the Lord God of heaven because they had built Him a sanctuary where they could meet to worship Him. Those who worshiped Him sincerely had His blessing.