Acts 7:48. Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples. The temple was built at last, but the wise king, its builder, at the solemn dedication, seemed to foresee the superstitious reverence with which they afterwards came to regard this work of man's hand, when, in his beautiful prayer to Jehovah, he asked: ‘If God would indeed dwell with men on earth; behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee, much less the house which I have built.' The Isaiah words quoted by Stephen were the burden of all the prophecies, The people had ever loved the Temple more than the God of the Temple, and its ritual more than a self-denying life. This is what Stephen had been teaching, and the martyr knew that for him there was no pardon; they had slain the prophets for the same thing: they would, he felt too surely, slay him now.

Continues after advertising
Continues after advertising

Old Testament