One of the most wonderful truths of Scripture is that God wants to be near to us. He isn’t a distant deity, unconcerned with the world’s affairs. God has actually chosen to step down from the heavenly heights and plant his feet here, in our midst. Here are three places the Bible says God’s feet touched the ground.
God’s Presence in the Temple.
David described the temple he wanted to build for God as “a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of our God” (1 Chron. 28:2). In the Psalms, this language of “footstool” is also picked up. “Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool!” (Ps. 132:7 cf. 99:5) The imagery here is striking. God sits on his royal throne, and he rests his feet in Jerusalem.
His feet touch the ground in the temple, where he promised to be near to his covenant people. When God described the glory of the temple to the prophet Ezekiel, he said, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever” (Eze. 43:7). The soles of God’s feet touched down in the temple, and there God’s people could worship at his footstool.
God’s Presence in the Incarnation.
Jesus identified himself as the true temple of God because he is the ultimate meeting place between God and humanity (Jn. 2:19). When you went to the temple in Jerusalem, you were going to God’s footstool. If you looked at Jesus, you actually saw God: head, hands, and feet! In the Incarnation, the second Person of the Trinity—the Word—took humanity from the womb of the virgin Mary. Therefore, wherever Jesus walked, there were divine footsteps. This is why on numerous occasions the people around Jesus could not help but worship him (Mt. 2:11; 28:17; Jn. 9:38).
God’s Presence in the Church.
Although Jesus ascended into heaven, Scripture makes it clear that his presence is still among us. The church today is described as God’s worldwide temple (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 2 Cor. 6:16; 1 Pet. 2:5). Faithful churches are like God’s footstools on earth, places where his presence resides through the ministry of sound biblical teaching. Jesus described himself as the one who “walks among the seven golden lampstands” (Rev. 2:1), a reference to the seven churches in Asia Minor. Where Christ’s Word is proclaimed, and where baptisms and the Lord’s Supper are being administered, Jesus’ feet are treading!
God’s presence in the Jerusalem Temple in the Old Testament, in the Incarnation in the New Testament, and through the church today all highlight that God desires to be near to us in worship. Since the church is God’s temple on earth today, local congregations are embassies of his grace, and worship isn’t centralized in one city (like Jerusalem, note Jesus’ teaching in John 4:21-24). Instead, his priestly people spread the fragrance of his presence throughout the whole earth (2 Cor. 2:15-17).
