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1 Kings 8:27
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?

1 Chronicles 28:2
Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people:As for me, Ihad in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building:

2 Chronicles 6:18
But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!

where is the house

2 Samuel 7:5-7
Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? …

Jeremiah 7:4-11
Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD,are these…

Malachi 1:11
For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my nameshall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incenseshall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my nameshall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.

Heaven is My throne,
This phrase highlights God's sovereignty and majesty. The imagery of a throne signifies authority, kingship, and governance. In biblical cosmology, heaven is often depicted as the dwelling place of God, transcending earthly limitations. This concept is echoed in other scriptures, such asPsalm 11:4 andMatthew 5:34, reinforcing the idea of God's supreme rule over all creation.

and earth is My footstool.
The earth as God's footstool conveys His dominion over the physical world. This imagery suggests that while God is transcendent, He is also immanent, having authority over the earth. This concept is found in other biblical passages likePsalm 110:1 andActs 7:49, emphasizing the vastness of God's presence and His control over all creation.

What kind of house will you build for Me?
This rhetorical question challenges the notion that human-made structures can contain or confine God. It reflects the limitations of the temple or any physical building as a dwelling place for the divine. This theme is explored in1 Kings 8:27, where Solomon acknowledges that even the heavens cannot contain God, much less a temple built by human hands.

Or where will My place of repose be?
This question further emphasizes God's transcendence and the inadequacy of human efforts to provide a resting place for Him. It suggests that true worship and relationship with God go beyond physical structures. This idea is echoed inJohn 4:23-24, where Jesus speaks of worshiping God in spirit and truth, indicating that God's presence is not confined to any specific location.

• The prophet does not offer a personal opinion; he transmits God’s own words. That grants absolute authority to the statement, just as2 Peter 1:21 affirms that “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

• Because the message is from “the LORD,” every claim that follows is factual and binding.Psalm 119:89 reminds us, “Forever, O LORD, Your word stands firm in the heavens,” stressing the permanence of what is about to be declared.

• A throne signals rule, ownership, and majesty. By placing His throne in heaven, God announces unlimited sovereignty that eclipses any earthly power (seePsalm 103:19: “The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all”).

• The statement is literal—heaven truly is the seat of God’s reign—yet it also communicates relationship: He is above, we are below, echoingEcclesiastes 5:2.

• This heavenly throne shows God’s availability everywhere, not confined to one nation or building, as Stephen later emphasizes inActs 7:48–49 when quoting this verse.

• A footstool belongs to the same occupant as the throne, so earth remains firmly under God’s authority.Isaiah 40:22 paints the picture: “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth.”

• Jesus cites the same truth inMatthew 5:34–35, underscoring that swearing by earth is futile because it is merely “His footstool.”

• The imagery assures believers of God’s intimate supervision of daily life—nothing on earth lies outside His sovereign reach.

• The question exposes human limitations. Even Solomon, after constructing the magnificent temple, admitted, “The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain You” (1 Kings 8:27).

• God instituted the tabernacle and later the temple, yet these were symbols, never confinements.Acts 17:24 reiterates, “The God who made the world… does not dwell in temples made by human hands.”

• By asking, God invites humility: our best efforts at sacred architecture are meaningful only when they recognize His ultimate greatness.

• “Repose” points to rest and fellowship. While structures might facilitate worship, God’s true resting place is with the humble and contrite, as the very next verse declares (Isaiah 66:2).

•Hebrews 4:1–10 explains that genuine rest is entered by faith and obedience, not by location.

• For New-Covenant believers, God’s chosen dwelling is within His people: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you?” (1 Corinthians 6:19). Buildings matter, but surrendered hearts matter more.

Isaiah 66:1 sets God’s unparalleled greatness against human finitude. Heaven is His real throne; earth is merely His footstool. No earthly temple can contain Him, yet He graciously engages us, seeking hearts that honor His majesty. The verse calls believers to revere God’s absolute sovereignty while offering themselves—not merely structures—as the true place of His rest.

(1)The heaven is my throne . . .--We are left to conjecture the historical starting-point of this utterance of a Divine truth. Was the prophet condemning in advance the restoration of the temple on the return from Babylon, or, as some critics have supposed, the intention of some of the exiles to build a temple in the land of their captivity, as others did afterwards at Leontopolis in Egypt? Was he anticipating the vision of the Apocalypse, that in the new Jerusalem there was to be "no temple" (Revelation 21:22)? Neither of these views is satisfactory,Isaiah 56:7;Isaiah 60:7, and the writings of Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah, all pre-supposing the existence of a new temple. It seems better to see in the words the utterance, in its strongest form, of the truth that God dwelleth, not in temples made with hands, that utterance being compatible, as in the case of Solomon himself (2Chronicles 6:18), of our Lord (John 2:16-17;John 4:21-23), of St. Stephen, who quoted this passage (Acts 7:48-50), with the profoundest reverence for the visible sanctuary. Cheyne quotes a striking parallel from an Egyptian hymn to the Nile of the fourteenth century B.C., in which we find the writer saying of God,"His abode is not known. . . there is no building that can contain Him." (Records of the Past, iv. 109.) . . .