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Chapter 14a – The Mormon Temples: The House of the Lord

(Biblical Foundation & History)

If God once commanded temples… why would He stop?

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Mormon Mann YouTube channel. I’m Kendall, the Mormon Mann.

In this chapter, we’re going to examine what the Bible actually teaches about the House of the Lord—the temples.

Before we talk about modern temples, we have to answer one foundational question:

👉 Did God truly command temples in the first place?

TEMPLES IN BIBLICAL HISTORY

Throughout the Old Testament, we see a clear pattern:

God establishes a sacred place where He meets His people.

We see this with:

• The Tabernacle under Moses: With the freed Egyptian Jews, the Lord commanded Moses construct a portable Tabernacle that could be carried around with the Jews as they were guided through the wilderness. 

• Solomon’s Temple:  The Lord commanded David to build a Temple, which David’s son, Solomon, built.  This Temple was used, desecrated, and re-cleansed several times until it’s destruction in about 600 B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar. 

• The Temple of Zerubbabel:The Temple of Zerubbabel was built on the same site about 100 years later.  In about 168 B.C., Antiochus Epiphanes ransacked and polluted the Temple.  After three years of sitting desolate, Judas Maccabaeus cleaned it up and rededicated the Temple.  In 37 B.C., when Herod took the city of Jerusalem, a portion of the Temple again was burned and desecrated. 

• The Temple of Herod:  In about 17 B.C., Herod, wanting to win popularity with the Jews, offered to rebuild the Temple of Zerubbabel.  This reconstruction lasted through the life of Jesus Christ and up to about 64 A.D..  This is the Temple where Christ and His apostles taught during their ministries.  In 70 A.D., on the night of the anniversary of the destruction of the first temple, the army of Titus totally destroyed the Temple of Herod. 

These Temples weren’t man’s idea.

These were God’s commands.

Exodus 25:8–9

“And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.”

Exodus 29:42–46

42. “This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee.
43. And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory.
44. And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office.
45. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.
46. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God…”

👉 God didn’t just approve temples.

👉 He commanded them.

👉 He appeared in them.

GOD APPEARS IN HIS HOUSE

This continues with Solomon’s temple.

2 Chronicles 7:11–12

“Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord…
And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.”

And again:

Leviticus 1:1

“And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation…”

👉 The pattern is clear:

• God commands the house

• God sanctifies the house

• God speaks from the house

THE OBJECTION

Now today, many Christians say:

“God does not dwell in temples made with hands.”

They reference passages like:

Acts 7:48–49

“Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool…”

And:

Acts 17:24

“God that made the world and all things therein… dwelleth not in temples made with hands.”

RESOLVING THE APPARENT CONTRADICTION

So what do we do with this?

Because the same Bible says:

👉 God does not dwell in temples…

But also says:

👉 God commanded temples
👉 God appeared in them
👉 God spoke from them

The answer is this:

God is not contained by temples…

But He does choose to meet His people in them.

Temples are not about limiting God.

They are about designating a holy place where God reveals Himself.

To be specific with:

Acts 17:24

“God that made the world and all things therein… dwelleth not in temples made with hands.”

This is an example of where one has to take the entire chapter into context. The two verses right before verse 24 state:

22 ¶ Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To the Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

Paul was talking to some people who were not true Christians that tried to build themselves an alter to an Unknown God.

These people were not commanded by God to build this temple and alter.

Therefore, Paul stated that God will not dwell in temples made with hands.

This is the same reason that the Christians religions of today do not have temples. They do not believe in living prophets, so they will not have temples.

If they decide to build a temple, God will not appear in it.

God commanded Moses and David to build the tabernacle and the Solomon Temple, he appeared in both temples.

CLOSING

So now the question becomes:

👉 If God commanded temples in the past…
👉 If He appeared in them…
👉 If He taught His people in them…

Why would that pattern suddenly stop?

In the next chapter, we’ll examine what the Bible says about:

👉 Temples in the last days
👉 And whether they were meant to be restored.

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