The habitation of God
"But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." (Psalms 22:3)
Consider this verse:
Psalms 22:3 "But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel."
This verse tells us something about God’s habitation, and it says that God dwells in “the praises of Israel.” Praises are good and pleasant words that come out of the mouth, and Israel is the body of God’s elect.
Isaiah 57:15 "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."
Isaiah tells us that God inhabits “eternity”, which is to say, “the praises of Israel” (Psalms 22:3) is what Isaiah calls “eternity” in this verse.
Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."
Mark 13:31 "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away."
Luke 21:33 "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away."
The idea of eternity has to do with time. There is only one thing in heaven and earth that shall not pass away, and that is the eternal truth — the words of the LORD in the 66 books of the Holy Bible. In another words, the dwelling place of God is in his words: pure, infallible, and incorruptible — the eternal truth that shall not pass away with time.
Notice also in Isaiah 57:15 “I dwell in the high and holy place…” that is to say, the words of the LORD are in a high and holy place. Consider the prayers of Solomon in these verses:
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?"
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!"
The “high and holy place” is not heaven and the heaven of heavens.
Acts 7:47-49 "But Solomon built him an house. 48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, 49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?"
The “high and holy place” is also not temples made with hands. Even the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain God, but will God indeed dwell with men on earth? The clue is given in Isaiah 57:15 “with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit.” Who is “him” in the context of this verse?
Isaiah 66:2 "For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”
Isaiah tells us in this verse that a man of a poor and contrite spirit is someone who will tremble at the words of the LORD, and Isaiah 57:15 tells us that God dwells in the “high and holy place” with this man for to:
revive the spirit of the humble, and to
revive the heart of the contrite ones.
The word “revive” tells us that the spirit of the humble and the heart of the contrite ones were once dead.
Ephesians 2:1 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;"
Born again believers (the body of God’s elect) were once dead in trespasses and sins, but were quickened when they heard the word of God and they believed.
John 6:63 "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."
It is the words of the LORD in the 66 books of the Holy Bible that revived the spirit of the humble, and revived the heart of the contrite ones.
Hosea 6:2 "After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight."
After two days means in the third day.
John 6:44 "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."
John 11:24 "Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
The third day is the “last day”, and the last day is the day of resurrection. This is the day where the dead in Christ be revived and we shall live forever according to the prophecy in Hosea 6:2. Back to the question of Solomon in 2 Chronicles 6:18: “But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth?”
Luke 8:15 "But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience."
Earlier, we have established that God’s dwelling place is in the word of God. According to Jesus in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8), there are four types of ground whereby the hearts of every man and woman may be represented:
the way side heart;
the stony ground heart;
the ground (heart) full of thorns;
the good ground heart (an honest and good heart).
Of all the four types of heart, only the good ground heart having heard the word, will keep it. In fact, that is what happens when a grain of seed falls upon good soil. The soil will tremble a little at the gentle impact of the seed, and the seed will settle in— that is the reaction of an honest and good heart to the words of the LORD in the 66 books of the Holy Bible.
Only men and women with such kind of heart will tremble at the eternal truth. They shall receive the fear of the LORD, and their bodies shall the temple of God.
John 2:19-21 "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body."
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."
Jesus was crucified — his physical body was destroyed, but on the third day God raised him up. Paul tells us that the physical body of every born again believer is the temple of God, where the Spirit of God dwelleth. Our bodies are the “high and holy place” (Isaiah 57:15) where God inhabitest.
Luke 17:20-21 "¶ And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
The kingdom of God is within the earthen vessel of every born again believer.
2 Corinthians 5:1 "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
The building of God (an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens) is within the earthen vessel of every born again believer.
2 Corinthians 4:7 "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."
Matthew 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
We have this treasure in us, and where the word of God is, God is, and where God is, there our hearts will be also.
Matthew 22:37-40 "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
The love of the word of God must be the first and foremost testimony of the love of God in the life of a born again believer. In fact, it is not possible to love God without first loving the word of God, and it is not possible to “love thy neighbour as thyself” without the love of God.
John 3:3 "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
1 Peter 1:23 "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."
The love of the word of God is the kingdom of God within us, and the kingdom of God within us is God dwelling in us. John 3:3 tells us that except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Moreover, Peter also tells us that the word of God is the incorruptible “seed” and the only prerequisite that we who were dead in trespasses and sins were born again.
Luke 8:11 "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God."
1 Peter 3:4 "But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price."
The "seed" is the incorruptible word of God sown in the heart. Apart from the incorruptible word of God, one cannot be born again. It is by this incorruptible seed that the "hidden man of the heart" which is "not corruptible" was birthed in the earthen vessel of every born again believer. Having this understanding, I will always stay away from modern bible versions. The pure "seed" in the 1611 King James Bible is not the same as the corruptible "seed" in the NIV, NKJV, NASB, NLT, ESV, etc. Also, I will never attend a church that teach from modern bible versions. I will not even attend one that preaches from the King James Bible but subtly supports modern bible versions in any form or manner.