Of dwellings and Dweller

“The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.” 1 Kings 8:12

The words are Solomon’s. The occasion is the dedication of the temple. Their meaning is great. There is Biblical Theology in these words.

God dwells in secret. Chapter and verse? Ok: “your Father who is in secret” (Matthew 6:6). Lewis has it, “He walks everywhere incognito.” Sin has hidden God from us. The devil may prowl about like a roaring lion, but the living God rules from a hidden place.

But these words mean something to Solomon because God has just disclosed himself in the temple. It was his dwelling; he was manifested there. And he is seen there, in all the imagery of the building itself and the Temple worship. The dwelling, and what happens there, teach us about the Dweller.

Solomon’s temple is long gone, but God’s temple continues. We are the temple of God. The church is his dwelling. The beauties and gifts of the living stones, and the breathtaking union of the whole, and the great work taking place within, and without, are the disclosure of God. The day has dawned, the Morning has begun. In the common tongue, get yo self a church.