What does it mean that heaven is God's throne (Matthew 5:34)?

God, who bounds everything else, is Himself without bounds. He sets bounds to the sea; Huc usque; "Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further"; He sets bounds to the angels; they, like the cherubims, move and stand at His appointment (Ezek. 10:16), but He is infinite without bounds. He who can span the heavens, and weigh the earth in scales, must needs be infinite (Isa. 40:22). "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" (Jer. 23:24). The humble heart is His throne, in regard to His gracious presence (Isa. 57:15); and heaven is His throne, in regard to His glorious presence (Isa. 66:1); and yet neither of these thrones will hold Him, for the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him.

In the words that follow the Lord refers to the various phrases the Jews used to confirm their many oaths. "Swear not at all: neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is His footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black." It was a wrong idea to think one could happily use these substitute phrases, as long as one did not mention the name of God. Heaven is God's throne, the earth is God's footstool (Isa. 66:1) and Jerusalem is the city of God and of His King (Psa. 48:1-2). He who swore by his head, i.e. wanted to deposit his life as security against his oath, ought well to remember that God alone is Lord over life and death, and that he himself does not even have the power to change the colour of one hair of his head.

A. — Heaven being Jehovah's throne, as earth His footstool, we can understand readily how that highest region of divine glory is associated with every thought of purity, love, and worship. But there is no identification with God. On the contrary, after naming heaven as the unsullied seat of His honour, in contrast with this wholly defiled earth of man's will and sin and lusts, the prodigal distinguishes "thee," "Father." Compare 2 Chron. 32:20, Dan. 4:26, Matt. 21:25 and Mark 11:30-31, Luke 20:4-5, John 3:27, etc.

If one were to swear by the temple, he was actually swearing by the living God who dwelt in the temple. Men think lightly too of swearing by heaven, and many use the words, "heavens" as an ejaculation, but heaven is God's throne, and such swearing involves swearing by Him who sits upon the throne. All of these things indicate a deficient recognition of the supreme honor to which God is entitled.

In omnipresence there is the presence of God in every place. If it be heaven, He is there; it is His abode. And earth; "Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord" (Jer. 23-24). "Hell is naked before Him" (Job 26:6; Psalm 139:8). God is everywhere: He fills all places at all times. He fills space, earth, sea, and land. He fills our homes, with Him there can be no in and out, nor above and beneath. "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." "The whole earth is full of His glory" (Zech. 4:10; Isaiah 6:3). How deeply blessed to be able to contemplate this glorious attribute in our Lord Jesus Christ! In fact, each of these wondrous features may be seen in Him in His ministry. Could there be anything to surpass this amazing mystery of grace: — a Man here, who is in every way suited, as to His body, for the place He had taken, yet, at the same moment of time, in consubstantial union with the Father and Spirit filling all in heaven and earth?

"Thus says Jehovah, the heavens [are] my throne, and the earth [is] my footstool: what [is] the house that ye will build to me? and where [is] the place of my rest? Even all those [things] has my hand made, and all those [things] have been, says Jehovah" (vv. 1, 2). It is not that God did not accept the house which king David desired, and his son Solomon was given, to erect for His glory. It is not that He will not have a sanctuary in the midst of Israel in the glorious land; for He has revealed it minutely, with the feasts, sacrifices, priests, and appurtenances, by Ezekiel (Ezek. 40 - 48).

But it is another thing when His people, despising the only Saviour and Lord, their own Messiah, rest in the sanctuary, as of old in the ark to their own shame and discomfiture before their enemies. So it was when the Lord left the temple — no longer God's house but theirs, and left to them desolate, Himself its true glory being despised and rejected. So Stephen charged home on them these very words (Acts 7:48-50). It was not he nor Luke, but Isaiah who declared that the Most High dwells not in temples made with hands: and this in full view of the "exceeding magnifical" temple which Solomon built. Heaven is His throne, earth is His footstool. What can man do worthily for Him to rest in? He needs nothing of human resources. His own hand has made all these things, in comparison with which man's greatest exertions are puny indeed.

Once more among the Jews at the end of the age shall be the state of things which draws out this rebuke of their own prophet. Trusting in the house that they are at length allowed to build in Jerusalem, they must prove afresh that an unbelieving idolatrous heart desecrates a temple, and that not thus can sin be settled between God and the sinner. Earthly splendour in such circumstances is but gilding over iniquity. It is real hypocrisy. They may seek in unbelief to restore "all these things that have been"; but God has a controversy with the people about idolatry and the rejected Messiah not yet judged; and His elect own their sins and look for the new estate He will create in honour of Messiah. The heart must be purified by faith in order to worship acceptably.

Therefore, Stephen's words now cut right to the heart of the matter. "The Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands" (N.A.S.B.). Also He quotes their own scriptures to clearly indicate this: "Heaven is My throne, and earth is the footstool of My feet: what kind of house will you build for Me? says the Lord: or what place is there for My repose? Was it not My hand which made all these things?" (N.A.S.B.). Is God to be contained in a trifling part of that which His own hands have created? The One who had indisputable rights in regard to the temple had already been rejected and crucified by Israel. How can they speak so piously of the house while rejecting its true owner?

Isaiah 66 opens on a very lofty note. The earth is but the footstool of Jehovah's feet for the heavens are His throne. Recognizing this, we are conscious that no earthly house built for Him is anything but a small matter. What is a great matter is the right spiritual state and attitude, which should be found in man, who by nature is sinful and estranged from God. To be poor and contrite in spirit, and to receive the word as being truly the Word of God, and therefore to tremble at it and be governed by it — this invites the Divine regard. To such a man the Lord will look in blessing. We may remember that when the Lord Jesus opened His mouth on the mountain, the first beatitude He uttered was, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:3).

(v. 4) The answer is found in verse 4. The Lord is the resource of the righteous; His holy temple is on earth; His throne is in heaven. The temple speaks of His dwelling place, and, however desolate and desecrated it may be, faith still recognizes that God has a place on earth. His throne — speaking of His government — is still in heaven where no evil can enter. He still rules over all. The effort of man is to rid himself of the presence of God on the earth and to throw off His government from heaven. In spite of these efforts the House of God and the Throne of God — the foundations of all blessing for men — remains (vv. 5-7). During the reign of Antichrist, however, the government of God is not in outward display. Evil abounds, the wicked triumph, and the godly are tried. Nevertheless faith knows that God hates the wicked and the violent, and that His favour is toward the upright. This will be made manifest by the judgment that will shortly fall upon the wicked, however, for the moment, the Lord refrains from dealing with the evil, and uses the circumstances to try the righteous for their blessing and His glory.

Second aspect: the Kingdom of heaven. In this aspect the ruling power of the Kingdom is looked at as originating in, and coming down from heaven, and thus heavenly in character, though exercised on the earth. It is the rule of God from the heavens above over the earth in contradistinction to the rule of earthly sovereigns on the earth. "The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom ruleth over all" (Psalm 103:19); "The heavens do rule" (Dan. 4:26).