Acts 7:49
Heaven is my throne, and earth is my foot stool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Heaven is my throne, and earth is my foot stool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?
Heaven is God's throne and earth is His footstool, so no house built by human hands can contain Him or be the place of His rest. He made all things by His own hand, so even Solomon's temple could not hold Him, and His highest worship is in heaven while the earth lies beneath Him under His rule. The saying rebukes making the temple an object of worship or valuing it above God Himself, calling worshipers to remember His holiness with humble and contrite hearts. His presence is not limited to the temple, and with Christ's death its order was abolished, so true believers among all nations may worship Him throughout the world in spirit and in truth. Stephen spoke it in his defense against the charge of blasphemy, joining Solomon's testimony with Isaiah to show that God does not dwell in temples made with hands, tracing Israel's history to its spiritual meaning in Christ until his witness ended in his stoning.
God Beyond Human Temples
Heaven is God's throne and earth is His footstool, so no house built by human hands can contain Him or serve as the place of His rest. God's presence is not confined to a temple built by human hands, and the temple does not limit where He is. The place of His highest worship is in heaven, while the earth is beneath Him under His rule, so the temple is not His dwelling in the fullest sense. Heaven is the place of His throne and worship with the whole earth under His feet, and earth is beneath Him rather than a house that holds Him.
He made all things by His own hand, so not even Solomon's temple can hold Him or give Him rest. Rebuilding the temple did not mean that He depended on a house or its ceremonies. Treating the temple as an object of worship or valuing it above God is rebuked, for worshipers need to remember His holiness and worship Him with humble and contrite hearts. With Christ's death the temple order was abolished, and the time had come for true believers among all nations throughout the world to worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
Stephen's Scriptural Witness to Christ
The verse belongs to Stephen's defense answering the charge of blasphemy, in which he traced Israel's history through Solomon and gave its spiritual meaning in the light of Christ. After recalling Solomon's building of the temple he cited the verse to declare that the Most High is not confined in temples made with hands. In doing so he joined Solomon's testimony that God does not dwell in temples made with hands with the words of Isaiah, that heaven is God's throne and earth His footstool so no house built by men can contain Him or be His rest.
By the verse he proved loyalty to God and the Jewish faith while joining Jesus Christ to all Jewish history. He used it to show that the law in which Israel trusted for salvation had not kept Israel from idolatry. Like Peter and Paul, he used the Old Testament Scriptures to give evidence about Christ's mission and to show that He was the Messiah. He followed the same course as Paul in reasoning from Scripture, for the prophetic voice speaking through the Scriptures was Christ's voice.
His witness connected his testimony about Christ with Israel's history and with the words of Solomon and Isaiah to show that the temple did not limit God's presence. That witness ended in his stoning, in which Saul took part before he was stopped on the way to Damascus, converted, and called Paul.