The following on the divine presence abandoning and returning to the temple should add an important clarification to 1 Kgs 8:27 that is sometimes used against divine embodiment and God:
Divine Temple Abandonment
Yahweh theophanies
occur throughout the Old Testament as part of God’s wise and just covenant
administration. The saddest of these “personal appearances,” however, occurs
when God lets Ezekiel watch the Lord’s departure from the Jerusalem temple and,
soon after, from Jerusalem itself. It is a sign that the covenant is over: “While
I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground . . . They
stopped at the entrance to the east gate of Yahweh’s house, and the glory of
the God of Israel was above them.” (Eze 10:19) “Then the cherubim, with the
wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was
above them. The glory of Yahweh went up from within the city and stopped above
the mountain east of it” (Eze 11:22-23). The prophet sees the glory of Yahweh,
on his chariot throne, depart the Jerusalem temple and ascent above the city.
He is borne on the cherubim in cloud and stormy glory as he abandons both city
and temple. God’s abandonment of his temple, his “house,” is a sign that he has
forsaken his people because of their sin. He said to Ezekiel in the temple
vision, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable
things the house of Israel is doing here, things that will drive me far from my
sanctuary?” (Ezek 8:6). This idea, however, is not new to Ezekiel or even to
the Old Testament. It is attested earlier in Assyrian epic poetry.
. . .
God’s Glory Returns
to the Temple
Like Isaiah before
him, the prophet Ezekiel offers consolation to God’s people. Yahweh has
abandoned his temple, but he will return. The idea that gods and goddesses
returned to their abandoned temples was well understood in the ancient Near
East. They would not harbor their wrath against their people forever. The man “whose
appearance was like bronze” (Eze 40:3)—an angel . . –brought Ezekiel to the
east gate of the temple. From that vantage point he was able to see Yahweh’s
return:
I saw the glory of
the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing
waters, and the land was radiant with his glory. The vision I saw was like the
vision I had seen when he came to destroy the city and like the visions I had
seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown. The glory of Yahweh entered the
temple through the gate facing east. Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought
me into the inner court, and the glory of Yahweh filled the temple. (43:2-5).
The phraseology echoes the prophet’s portrayals of those earlier visions to which he alludes. Yahweh’s “voice” (קוֹל, Ezek 43:2 = 1:28) was like the “roar of rushing waters” (כְּקוֹל מַיִם רַבּים, 43:2 = 1:24). The “glory of Yahweh” (כּבוֹד יהוה, 43:4 = 1:28) comes again. The prophet’s reaction is the same as before: “I fell facedown” (וָאֶפֹּל אֶל־פָּנָי, 43:4; 44:4 = וָאֶפֹּל אֶל־פָּנָי, 1:28; 3:23). Again, the Spirit transports the prophet (נשׂא + רוּחַ, 43:5 = 3:12; 8:2; 11:1). Yahweh’s return must have been as encouraging as it was awesome. The most encouraging phenomenon of all, however, was not the theophany but the fact that “the glory of Yahweh filled the temple” (מָלֵא כְבוֹד־יְהוָה הַבָּיִת; cf. 44:4). The phraseology repeats that used to portray Yahweh’s session in his tabernacle (Ex 40;34-35) and temple (1Ki 8:10-11; 2Ch 5:13-14; 7:1-2). It portends the restoration of all things—that day when, as John wrote, there will be no “temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp” (Rev 21:22-23). (Jeffrey J. Niehaus, God at Sinai: Covenant and Theophany in the Bible and Ancient Near East [Studies in Old Testament Biblical Theology; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1995], 136, 278-79)
Lynn Wilder vs. Latter-day Saint (and Biblical) Theology on Divine Embodiment
