The Lord Is There

The house Solomon builds, the complaint of Job, and Ezekiel’s measured city meet in one matter: God does not dwell with man lightly. A foundation must be laid, a people must be ordered, and the tongue must be restrained from false judgment. Origen notes the beginning of the temple with “great precious stones for the foundation of the house, and unhewn stones.” If a house is raised for God, how much more must the man who seeks Him be made sound in deed? Prayer with defiled hands, alms taken back by greed, and praise joined to slander are crooked stones, unfit for His dwelling.

Job suffers not only pain but the cruelty of many words. Yet even in grief he sets before us a hard rule: “if there be iniquity in my hands; if I have returned evil to those who have done evil to me.” This is the trial of the righteous man: not merely to endure injury, but to refuse repayment in kind. When accused, do not become an accuser. When struck by contempt, do not let the tongue become a whip.

Then Ezekiel shows the holy allotment and the city whose very glory is that the Lord is there. God orders His people, gives each portion, and sets His name in the midst. Therefore let each one remain within the measure given him: keeping prayer faithfully, making peace quickly, dealing justly, and honoring what is holy. The church is not raised by noise or haste, but by obedience, purity, and endurance. If we would dwell in the city of God, we must now learn to live as citizens whose life is ordered around His presence.