A common name for religious structures and buildings in the ancient Near Eastern world. These were places where people worshipped their gods or where religious leaders served. In the Old Testament, this term was used to describe several types of buildings:
The tabernacle, which was a portable temple (Deuteronomy 23:18; 1 Chronicles 6:31–32)
Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 8:11–20; 12:27; Jeremiah 20:1)
Temples of other religions (Judges 9:4; 2 Kings 10:21).
In New Testament times, people still called the temple the “house of God”(Matthew 12:4; Mark 2:26; 11:17; Luke 6:4; John 2:16–17). However, this meaning changed in an important way. After Jesus returned to heaven, his followers (the church) began to see themselves as God's house (1 Corinthians 3:9; Hebrews 3:6; 1 Peter 2:5; 4:17). God no longer lived in buildings made by human hands but in the lives of those who confess Jesus as Lord.