Home
The concept of a home - a place where we belong and from which we gain our identity - is prominent in the Bible. People are often identified in the Bible by their ancestry, such as "Lot son of Haran" (Genesis 11:31), or according to their hometown such as "Joseph of Arimathea (Mark 15:43). The word "house" frequently indicates the collective relatives and descendants of an individual, such as "the house of David" (1 Samuel 20:16).

With this in mind, the image of a home or house is often used symbolically. The temple was called the house of God. Although God is present everywhere, the temple represented his special relationship with the Israelites, his chosen people, and their identification with him. In the new testament, Christians are referred to as God's house because his Spirit lives in them, as the Spirit of God filled the temple (see Temple).

Ironically, many people in the Bible spent much of their lives away from their homes: Abraham, Jacob, Moses, many generations of Israelites, Jesus, his disciples. the apostle Paul. The Bible tells us that our real home - our identity and the family to which we belong - is with God in heaven. God told Abraham to leave his home and his people for and undisclosed land God promised to give Abraham's descendants. In the same way, we are to surrender our identification with earthy things and places for an eternal identity as children of God with citizenship in heaven. Even when we feel we are "aliens and strangers in the world" (1 Peter 2:11), we can know our true home awaits us.

Those who leave their homes to obey God will be blessed.
Genesis 12:1-8
Matthew 8:19-20
Mark 10:29-30
Hebrews 11:8-10
The Bible often calls the temple God's "house."
1 Kings 8:41-43
Ezra 2:68; 6:17
Psalm 135:1-4
Joel 1:13-14
Micah 4:1-2
We have a home with God in heaven.
John 14:1-3
2 Corinthians 3:16
Phillippians 1:21-24
Hebrews 11:13-16
Believers form the "temple" because God's Spirit lives in us.
1 Corinthians 3:16
Ephesians 2:19-22
Hebrews 3:1-6
1 Peter 2:4-5