After the children of Israel entered Canaan, God repeatedly blessed them, giving them rest all around and enabling them to live in peace. At that time, considering the question of a dwelling place for God, David their king said, “I dwell in a house of cedar, but the Ark of God dwells within curtains” (2 Sam. 7:2). In light of this, he decided to build a house for God. However, God in effect told him, “Do not rush! I will first build a house for you, out of which a son will come forth, and it is he who will build a house for Me. I must first build you a house, and then you can do it for Me.”

This is a great spiritual principle. No one can do things for God first. God always does things for man first, and then after this man can do things for God. God never asks anything from you when your hands are empty. God always gives to you first, and then asks a little from you. This may be likened to a father who first gives his child a bag of candy, and then asks the child for one piece of candy. Nevertheless, sometimes the father is treated very pitifully, because even though he has already given the child a bag of candy, when he asks for only one piece of candy, the child puts his hands behind his back. In this situation the father has no other way except to bring out another bag of candy and tell the child, “If you give me a piece, I will give you another bag.” After some calculation, the child considers it quite a bargain to give one piece and get another bag, so he is willing to give his father a piece of candy. However, the father will have to prepare a third bag if he wants to ask the child for another piece. If the father does not have the third bag of candy, the child will not give him the second piece of candy. Likewise, there is always a similar difficulty whenever God asks us for something. However, I can tell you that if God asks you for something, He has a “second bag” already prepared for you. Furthermore, He not only has a second bag, but He has prepared an unlimited number of bags. You can be at peace because God never asks anything from you when you are empty-handed. Instead, He always gives to you before asking anything from you.

That day when David first wanted to build a house for God, even Nathan the prophet, who knew God, did not understand this principle. Therefore, he said to David, “All that is in your heart go and do, for Jehovah is with you” (v. 3). Then God came to Nathan immediately and told him, “No! Go and tell David that he cannot build Me a house. I must first build him a house, and afterward a son will come out of that house, and then that son will build Me a house.”

Eventually when Solomon was born, he did build a temple for God, and the glory of God filled it. That temple, however, was still only a sign. Just as God did not dwell in the tabernacle, He also did not dwell in the temple. Rather, God considered the children of Israel to be His temple. When the condition of the children of Israel before God was normal, God dwelt among them, and that temple was filled with the glory of God. When the children of Israel were in desolation before God, God could no longer dwell in their midst, and the glory of God also left the temple. Therefore, the temple was only a sign, a symbol. The real temple was the children of Israel. God did not dwell in a house made of stones; instead, He dwelt among the children of Israel. Therefore, God said in Isaiah, “Heaven is My throne, / And the earth the footstool for My feet. / Where then is the house that you will build for Me, / And where is the place of My rest?... / But to this kind of man will I look, to him who is poor / And of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word” (66:1-2). Just as heaven is not God’s dwelling place, so the house on earth is not His dwelling place. He looks to a group of people into whom He can enter. Furthermore, God spoke through Isaiah, “For thus says the high and exalted One, / Who inhabits eternity,... / I will dwell in the high and holy place, / And with the contrite and lowly of spirit” (57:15). These words clearly show us that the heavens and the earth are not the dwelling place of God. The dwelling place that God wants to have is a group of people. If God does not gain a group of people, then He will be a God without a home in the universe. Therefore, He longs to gain a group of people so that they can be built together to be His dwelling place.
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