Building A House For God

Peter Stephenson



In Do you live in a tent or a house? I opened with the account of the disciple's response to Jesus transfiguration on the mount. They said "Let us a build a house for you and stay here!"

David also wanted to build a house for God and we read in both Samuel and Chronicles how David felt ashamed that he lived in a nice house while the ark resided under a tent:

1Ch 17:1:
And it happened as David sat in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in a house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of Jehovah is under curtains.


In Samuel we have the short version of God's reply through Nathan, the prophet:

2Sa 7:3-7:
Nathan replied, "The LORD is with you, so do what you want!" That night, the LORD told Nathan to go to David and give him this message: "David, you are my servant, so listen to what I say. Why should you build a temple for me? I didn't live in a temple when I brought my people out of Egypt, and I don't live in one now. A tent has always been my home wherever I have gone with them. I chose leaders and told them to be like shepherds for my people Israel. But did I ever say anything to even one of them about building a cedar temple for me?"


In Chronicles however we can read the full prophecy that God gave Nathan to relay to David:

1Ch 17:3-15:
And it happened the same night the Word of God came to Nathan, saying, Go and tell David My servant, So says Jehovah, "You shall not build Me a house to dwell in. For I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel until today, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. Wherever I have walked with all Israel, did I speak a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed My people, saying, Why have you not built Me a house of cedars? And now you shall say this to My servant David, "So says Jehovah of Hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, so that you should be ruler over My people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you have walked, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a name like the name of the great men in the earth. And I will set a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall live in their place and shall be moved no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning, and since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies. And I declare to you that Jehovah will build you a house. And it will be, when your days have ended so that you must go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you, who shall be from your sons. And I will make his kingdom sure. He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. And I will not take My mercy away from him as I took it from him who was before you. And I will settle him in My house, and in My kingdom forever. And his throne shall be established forever." According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.


When you read this passage it is quite clearly , with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, a prophecy regarding the coming of Jesus, and not of Solomon, as David assumed it was. We know David made this assumption because he spent the rest of his life accumulating the wealth and materials needed to build a house worthy of God to take up residence in. He passed the burden of building the Temple on to Solomon.

1Ch 22:5-19:
And David said, "Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house to be built for Jehovah is to be highly magnificent, for a name and for beauty to all the lands. I will now prepare for it”. And David prepared abundantly before his death. And he called for Solomon his son, and commanded him to build a house for Jehovah, the God of Israel. And David said to Solomon, "My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a house to the name of Jehovah my God. But the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying, You have shed much blood and have made great wars. You shall not build a house to My name because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight. Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. And I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for My name. And he shall be My son, and I will be his Father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever. Now, my son, may Jehovah be with you and bless you, and build the house of Jehovah your God as He has said of you. Only may Jehovah give you wisdom and understanding, and direct you concerning Israel, so that you may keep the Law of Jehovah your God. Then you shall prosper, if you take heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments with which Jehovah charged Moses, concerning Israel. Be strong and of good courage. Do not fear, nor be dismayed. And, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of Jehovah a hundred thousand talents of gold, and a million talents of silver, and of bronze and iron without weight, for it is in abundance. I have prepared timber also, and stone, and you may add to them. And there are many workmen with you, cutters and workers of stone and timber, and all kinds of skilful men for every kind of work. Of the gold, the silver, and the bronze, and the iron, there is no number. Arise and be doing, and may Jehovah be with you". And David commanded all the rulers of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, "Is not Jehovah your God with you? And has He not given you rest on every side? For He has given the people of the land into my hand. And the land is humbled before Jehovah and before His people. Now set your heart and your soul to seek Jehovah your God. Arise therefore and build the sanctuary of Jehovah God, to bring the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of Jehovah."


When we look at this passage we can quite clearly see that David did a few things wrongly.

Firstly he assumed that prophecy of Nathan applied to Solomon.

This incorrect assumption laid a burden on Solomon that made him fearful. David has to say to him, "Don't be afraid of this task". The task God lays on us makes a burden that is easy and light to carry and do not make us fearful.

Mat 11:30
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.


Secondly he added into the prophecy Nathan gave. God did not tell David he would not build the house of God because he had shed blood. God told David "Do not build me a house [at all]". Neither did God tell David that the name of the son to build the House of God would be Solomon.

When we add into the Word of God we fall into error. It was just this same error that led Eve into temptation. God told them not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, however when questioned by the serpent, she says "We are not to eat or touch the tree" which opened the doorway for the serpent to say "Oh no you won't" which was a truthful statement in context of touching the tree - she would not die if she just touched the tree. However this led to the next step of the deception and because she had already accepted what the serpent was saying was true - HAD to accept what the serpent was saying was true because it was - she was open to accepting the next part which only partly true until she was led step by step with a mixture of truth and deception into doing what had been forbidden. If David had stuck to what God had said, if Eve had stuck to what God had said, without adding or taking away from it - then they would not have ended up doing the wrong thing.

Thirdly David says "I have prepared".

Now while we do indeed have to undergo a period of preparation for anything God wants us to do, sometimes even we don't know we are being prepared until the moment arrives when God says "Now go!", however let’s look at what David has prepared. Firstly he has gathered people together, he amassed a vast amount of wealth and collected materials together. All these things speak to the flesh. He was not relying on God to bring the right artisans for the task, or to make sufficient provision, or to bring the materials that would be needed. All of David's preparations speak of what David thought was the best and satisfied his desire. This kind of preparation leads us into doing things in our strength instead of God's way, which is "not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit". If we compare David's temple with the preparations Moses made for the construction of the tabernacle we can see the difference between striving in the flesh and God's preparation.

Exo 36:1 - 6
The LORD has given to Bezalel, Oholiab, and others the skills needed for building a place of worship, and they will follow the LORD's instructions. Then Moses brought together these workers who were eager to work, and he gave them the money that the people of Israel had donated for building the place of worship. In fact, so much money was being given each morning, that finally everyone stopped working and said, "Moses, there is already more money than we need for what the LORD has assigned us to do." So Moses sent word for the people to stop giving, and they did.


We can clearly see just from this one scripture (and there are many more in Exodus) the differences between God's provision and planning and man's. In God's provision there was MORE THAN enough, the workers were eager to work and had clear instructions from God on what, where and how.

Fourthly David interprets the word according to his expectation.

David wanted to build God a temple. God gives David a prophetic word about the House of God which is a Spiritual house built by Jesus. David then interprets this as a physical house because that is what he wanted. Interpreting according to our expectations also leads us into error. We must, when we hear from God seek His understanding and wisdom on what He is saying.

Pro 3:5 -7:
Trust the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths smooth. Do not consider yourself wise.


Earthly House vs Spiritual House

There is the very firm statement from God "You shall not build Me a house" and yet God says that Jesus will build Him a house. Now obviously the first part refers to David building God a house in David's terms and understanding the second refers to a Spiritual House built by Jesus. Let us first consider an earthly house.

Building in our strength makes us glorify ourselves:

Gen 11:4:
And they said, Go to, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.


2Ch 2:12:
Praise the LORD God of Israel who made heaven and earth! He has given David a son who isn't only wise and smart, but who has the knowledge to build a temple for the LORD and a palace for himself.


Our efforts corrupt the things of God:

Exo 20:25:
If you ever build an altar for me out of stones, do not use any tools to chisel the stones, because that would make the altar unfit.


Then let us consider the House of God:

God doesn't reside in houses made by human hands:

Act 7:46 - 50:
He pleased God and asked him if he could build a house of worship for the people of Israel. And it was finally King Solomon who built a house for God. But the Most High God doesn't live in houses made by humans. It is just as the prophet said, when he spoke for the Lord, "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? In what place will I rest? I have made everything."


The foundation is of the House of God is Christ:

1 Co 3:11:
After all, no one can lay any other foundation than the one that is already laid, and that foundation is Jesus Christ.


We are the house of God:

1 Co 3:16:
Don't you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?


The House of God is eternal:

Luk 16:9:
Jesus continued, "I'm telling you that although wealth is often used in dishonest ways, you should use it to make friends for yourselves. When life is over, you will be welcomed into an eternal home.".


There is one last aspect of this to discuss and that is the mercy of God. Even though both David and Solomon made a mistake in their interpretation and application of the Word of God, God still inhabited it:

1Ki 9:1-3:
The LORD's temple and Solomon's palace were now finished, and Solomon had built everything he wanted. Some time later the LORD appeared to him again in a dream, just as he had done at Gibeon. The LORD said: I heard your prayer and what you asked me to do. This temple you have built is where I will be worshiped forever. It belongs to me, and I will never stop watching over it.


Even though the earthly temple built with human hands, with human effort was not what God intended it to be God still honoured the intentions of David's heart and Solomon's obedience to his father's command. The final lesson we must learn is that things built by our hands do not last. Solomon's temple was first destroyed by the Babylonians and later again by the Romans. It has never been rebuilt.