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“But will you [God] really live on earth with human beings? After all, the heavens can’t hold you. In fact, even the highest heavens can’t hold you. So this temple I’ve built certainly can’t hold you!” – 2 Chronicles 6:18 (NIRV)
The word “magnitude” simply means: “great size or extent”; “spatial quality: size: quantity”; “the importance, quality, or caliber of something” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). When the building of the temple in Jerusalem in the days of Solomon was finished (2 Chronicles 5:1; cf. 6:10), king Solomon, the king of Israel, dedicated the temple to the Lord (2 Chronicles 6:12-42). At one time in his prayer of dedication to God, Solomon uttered the words that we find cited for us above as found in 2 Chronicles 6:18 (cf. 2 Chronicles 2:6 as well).
In light of Solomon’s profound, God-given wisdom (see 2 Chronicles 1:6-12; also 2 Chronicles 9:22), Solomon acknowledged something that seemed quite obvious to him: “Nothing from the hands of man can contain a God so great; His greatness even exceeds the ‘greatness’ of ‘the highest heavens.’” (Therefore, once again, not even the “highest heavens” being able to contain, or ‘hold,’ God.) In relation to the extent of God’s magnitude, David, Solomon’s father (more than likely where Solomon first learned at a young age of this idea of the greatness/magnitude of God), stated the following:
Where could I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I flee from Your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol (the place of the dead), behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning or dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me and the night shall be [the only] light about me, even the darkness hides nothing from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You. – Psalm 139:7-12 (AMP; see also Jeremiah 23:24) (Note: And please understand, this is not a ‘bad thing,’ so to speak, on the part of David that he ‘finds’ God present no matter where he might go [i.e., God being “omnipresent"], no!, but only assurance that God is always there—leading him and upholding him with His “right hand” [v. 10 NKJV; see also the rest of the verses of Psalm 139 not cited here].)
And here is the most amazing thing, I believe, of all: this same God, who even the “highest heavens”—per Solomon’s confession, no less—cannot contain, is the same God who desires/promises to reside in the hearts of those who simply believe—and therefore put their trust—in Him; as Jesus in essence stated this reality to His disciples at one time: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, [here it is] and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23 NKJV; see also Revelation 3:20). (We as believers making up the true “temple of God” ‘this side of the cross’ now, no less, of course [e.g., 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 6:16].)
How awe-inspiring it is (or at least it should be) to consider the magnitude/greatness of God—realizing that God, who is exalted, once again, even above “the highest of heavens,” lives in the hearts of each and every man, woman and child that puts their faith and trust in Him!
“This is the God who made the universe and all it contains, the God who is the King of all heaven and all earth. It would be illogical to assume that a God of this magnitude could possibly be contained in any man-made structure, no matter how majestic. Nor would it be logical to think that this God would need human beings to provide Him with food and shelter—after all, He Himself would have given to humans everything they need—life, breath, food, shelter, and so on. This God made us in all our diversity from one original person, allowing each culture to have its own time to develop, giving each its own place to live and thrive in its distinct ways. His purpose in all this was that people of every culture and religion would search for this ultimate God, grope for Him in the darkness, as it were, hoping to find Him. Yet, in truth, God is not far from any of us. For you know the saying, “We live in God; we move in God; we exist in God.” And still another said, ‘We are indeed God’s children.’” – Acts 17:24-28 (The Voice) (See also Acts 7:49-50; cf. Isaiah 66:1-2.)
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