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Acts 7:48–50
“Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?’”
Looking to what all of Scripture says about the character of our Creator, theologians typically distinguish between the communicable and incommunicable attributes of God. The communicable attributes of God are those attributes that human beings possess in an analogous way suitable to their being creatures. For example, like God, human beings can love and can be holy (1 Peter 1:13–25; 1 John 4:7–8). Our love and holiness are not identical to the love and holiness of the Lord, but there is enough of a correspondence that we can say that we possess these attributes of God in a way that is appropriate to creatures. In other words, He communicates—or shares—these attributes with us.
The incommunicable attributes of God have no analogy in creatures. These attributes our Creator alone possesses; they cannot be communicated to us. Infinity is one of these attributes. Infinity means that unlike creatures, God has no limits to His power, wisdom, and so on. The Lord, consequently, has no spatial limitations. Deity cannot be confined to one place, so God is present everywhere. God’s infinity is taught in passages such as Jeremiah 23:24: “Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.”
Today’s passage also teaches divine infinity. Having noted that Solomon built the first temple in Jerusalem, Stephen tells the Sanhedrin not to think that God was limited to the temple absolutely (Acts 7:47–50). Quoting Isaiah 66:1–2, Stephen reminds the Jewish leaders that ultimately no one can build God a house within creation, for God is the Creator and stands above and outside creation even as He also fills it completely. John Calvin comments on this text: “Whereas [Isaiah] says, that heaven is his seat, and the earth his footstool, it must not be so understood as if he had a body, or could be divided into parts, after the manner of men; but because he is infinity, therefore he says that he cannot be comprehended within any spaces of place.”
Even Solomon, the temple builder, understood that no building could contain the Lord (1 Kings 8:27). Because of His infinity, God would suffer no loss if it were destroyed. The members of the Sanhedrin were wrong to think the temple’s destruction impossible. By thinking that God was so limited to the temple that to say it could end constituted blasphemy (Acts 6:11–14), the Sanhedrin, not Stephen, blasphemed the Lord. The council members confined Him to the sanctuary, denying His infinity.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
The Bible has a notion of sacred space, especially in the Old Testament, but it never limits God to one particular place. The Lord may manifest His presence in a special way in certain locations and at certain times, but He is everywhere and nothing escapes His gaze. This is a great comfort to us, since it means that God is always at hand. Knowing this motivates us to holiness, for the Lord sees everything we think, feel, and do.
For further study
- 2 Chronicles 6:18
- Psalm 139
- Acts 17:24
- Ephesians 1:22–23
The bible in a year
- Joshua 15–17
- Luke 4:42–5:26