The House of God is a Proverb

God set a condition upon Israel – if they were not obedient to His commandments, He would destroy the house of God and turn it into a proverb and a byword:

2 Chronicles 7:19 But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;

20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.

The Hebrew word translated as "proverb" is also translated as "parable" about 18 times in the Old Testament. A proverb, or parable, is something plain or ordinary that is used by God to represent something else. For instance, in one parable Christ explained that the "field is the world". The field's meaning of the world is its parabolic meaning. Or deeper spiritual meaning.

So, since the house of God is turned into a proverb (parable), we would expect to find that it, too, has another parabolic meaning.

What could the meaning of the house of God be? It is important for us to find out because God says this most ominous thing concerning it in:

1 Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God:

Judgment will begin "at the house of God". Is this the house of God in Israel? No. That cannot be. And we should not expect it to be because the house of God that was in Israel, according to God's Word, has become a parable.

What then does the house of God represent? What is its spiritual or proverbial meaning? The Bible gives us the answer:

1 Timothy 3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church ...

Here is the parabolic meaning of the house of God. We were told it had been made into a proverb (parable). And this verse in 1 Timothy 3:15 reveals to us the meaning of that proverb. The house of God is a type and figure of the church.

Well, if judgment begins at the house of God. And the house of God is the church. Then...what could that mean?

It means that in God's end time judgment program-He will start with the churches and congregations of the world. And He will apply the same standard of conduct as He applied to the nation of Israel. The church will be judged for failing to measure up to God's commandments. For disobeying them and setting up their own commandments (doctrines) in their place.