<p>7:47 <em>But it was Solomon who built Him a house</em>- Stephen was accused by the Jews of blaspheming the temple. In reply, he gives a potted history of Israel, emphasizing how the faithful were constantly on the move rather than being settled in one physical place. He was subtly digging at the Jewish insistence that the temple was where God lived. In this context, he refers to Solomon's building of the temple in a negative light. He says that David tried to find a <em>tabernacle </em>for God, &quot;<em>But</em>&nbsp;Solomon built him an <em>house</em>. <em>Howbeit</em>&nbsp;the most High dwelleth <em>not</em>&nbsp;in temples made with hands; as says the prophet, Heaven is my throne... what house will you build me?&quot;. This cannot mean 'God no longer dwells in the temple as He used to before Christ's death', because the reason given is that the prophet Isaiah says that God cannot live in houses. This reason was true in Isaiah's time, before the time of Christ. It would seem that Stephen is politely saying: 'Solomon made this mistake of thinking that God can be limited to a physical building. You're making just the same mistake'. And he goes on to make a comment which could well allude to this: &quot;You do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers (including Solomon) did, so do you&quot; (Acts 7:51). Further evidence that Stephen saw Solomon's building of the temple in a negative light is provided by the link between Acts 7:41 and 48: &quot;They made a calf... and rejoiced in <em>the works of their own hands</em>... howbeit the Most High dwells not in temples <em>made with hands</em>&rdquo;. The word &quot;made&quot; is stressed in the record of Solomon's building the temple (2 Chron. 3:8,10,14-16; 4:1,2,6-9,14,18,19,21). The work of the temple was very much produced by men's <em>hands</em>&nbsp;(2 Chron. 2:7,8). Things made with hands refers to idols in several Old Testament passages (e.g. Is. 2:8; 17:8; 31:7). Significantly, Solomon's temple is described as being made with hands in 1 Chron. 29:5. And it may be significant that the words of Is. 66:1,2 concerning God not living in temples are quoted by Paul with reference to pagan temples in Acts 17:24, and concerning the temple in Jerusalem by Stephen. The building of the temple became an idol to Solomon. Human motives get terribly mixed.</p>