Worship Is Not A Place

For David said, "The Lord God of Israel has given rest to His people, and He has come to stay in Jerusalem forever.  Also, the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the equipment for its service....' - 1 Chronicles 23:25-26

I have sometimes wondered if it was beneficial for Israel that David established the Temple in Jerusalem. God had made it clear that He did not inhabit a building, yet the Temple (over time) came to symbolize (and act as a cheap substitute for) His presence. The permanent structure even affected those who had previously served in other ways. The king had to reassign a portion of the Levites because their previous work of transportation (set-up and take-down) became irrelevant.

Would it have made a difference in Israel's worship if the Temple had never been built? Perhaps, but we will never really know.

We do know that God desires us to serve Him and not a structure. We do know that our hopes and home are found in God Himself, not a physical location. We also know that we must continually resist the urge to embrace the finite as a cheap replacement for the infinite, no matter how comforting it may be, for worship is not a place, it is a Person.

An infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children. He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives all of Himself as fully as if there were no others. - Aiden Wilson Tozeroft