Mark
11:15-19 So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began
to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables
of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He would not
allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. Then He taught, saying to them,
“Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’ ?
But you have made it a ‘den of
thieves.’” And the scribes and chief priests heard it and
sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people
were astonished at His teaching. When evening had come, He went out of the
city.” NKJV
The money changers were those men who would exchange
foreign currency to the Jewish people that would come from different places so
that they could have valid money to use in the city of Jerusalem. These men
like the tax collectors would so raise the exchange rates that they would make
profit on average of over 100% and even as high as 300%. These men were
dominated and ruled by greed and they could care less about the economic status
of the people they were exploiting.
Jeremiah
7:11 “Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in
your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the LORD. NKJV
Those who sold the animals did so for the people to
use to sacrifice to YAHWEH in the temple. These men would so raise their prices
knowing that the people had to buy from them. The Jewish people that came with
their own animals for the sacrifice, these sellers would inspect their animals
and find some irrelevant or made up flaw or blemish with the animal and
pressure them into purchasing one of their animals to sacrifice. Probably they
were business partners in some way with the chief priest, scribes, and elders
of the temple. They had turned the sacred and holy temple of God into a mall or
a merchant place.
Hosea 12:7 He is a merchant, the
balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress. KJV
Our Lord has been steadfastly making His way to
Jerusalem to complete the Father’s will by satisfying the wrath of God that
remains on mankind for sin. He arrives and makes His triumphal entry into Jerusalem
and into the temple. Because the time was late He took the 12 disciples and
they left the city of Jerusalem for that night to lodge in Bethany and they came
back the next day and as our Lord entered the temple immediately He was angered
as He saw the money changers and those who sold animals doing it right inside
the holy temple. Our Lord was probably at this time far from the mild, meek,
and modest Shepherd, but He went through the temple with such fury that He
would have made the incredible hulk look like a little school boy. It perhaps
was a brief glimpse of what the Apostle John witnessed of our Lord in
Revelation Chapter 1 when he saw Him he fell at His feet as dead.
When the Lord God spoke to Moses and gave him those
very detailed instructions on how the temple was to be built and how the
worship was to be conducted to honor Him those details were very specific and meticulous
because they were but a pattern of The Temple Jesus Christ that stood in their
midst that day. All who have been born again are the temple of God and our
bodies where our Lord Jesus Christ lives is to be a constant temple of prayer
to Him as a sweet savory aroma to His Heavenly Nostrils (see sermon entitled “Are
You the Temple of God”, http://www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=86428
). Our Lord knew that the temple there was but a picture of Him and that their
making merchandise in this holy place was a reflection of their hearts to the
Father and to Him as they are One. Our Lord knew that the Jewish religious
rulers would not receive Him, but He wanted them to know how sinfully
rebellious to YAHWEH they had become with the veracious display of anger and
wrath against turning His house of prayer into a merchant mall.
Isaiah
56:6-8 “Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themselves to the LORD, to
serve Him, And to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants --- Everyone
who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant ---Even them I
will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar;
For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” The Lord GOD,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, “Yet I will gather to him Others
besides those who are gathered to him.” NKJV
They hated reformation and wanted no part of His
correction because of their love for money. This act of cleansing the temple of
what He deemed to be abominable so infuriated the chief priest, scribes, and
the elders that they were even more determined to kill Him. How ironic that our
Lord knew their evil hearts and was in the city of Jerusalem for the very
purpose of allowing them to kill Him and so fulfill the will of God.
Today we have men and women as I have stated in
other writings that are addressed by the title prophet or prophetess and they
are said to have the gift of prophecy. Some of these prophets charge people to
prophecy over their lives and tell them things that will happen for them or to
them in the upcoming year or whatever period of time the person request of the
prophet or prophetess. They are serving in the same role or capacity as the occultist
fortune teller or palm reader as they charge people to come to them so that
they can tell them their future.
I can recall visiting Bishop T. D. Jakes church in Dallas,
Texas as I was in town visiting relatives and we all decided to visit his
church. The place was huge and a very nice facility. However, I was very
perplexed as I walked around the front area before going to find a seat (it was
built much like a basketball arena) I saw men and woman (like at a basketball
game) selling t-shirts, caps, sweaters, programs, key chains, cups, and other
items with Bishop T. D. Jakes picture on those things. I felt like I was at a
basketball or football stadium and game. The man Bishop Jakes was merchandising
his own image.
How is that going to bring glory to Jesus Christ? There
is no gospel message that can save the soul of a lost person in an image on a
t-shirt. That is far different from one putting his picture on a book cover
with the message of the gospel contained in the book that God the Holy Spirit
can use to save a soul. I held my peace about what I witnessed and did not
express how repulsed I felt by seeing what I saw that day. When I reflect back
on that day in Texas, I gain a much deeper understanding of why our Lord
responded with such anger.
2
Peter 2:3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make
merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their
damnation slumbereth not. KJV
“The first century money changers were
in the temple, but they didn’t have the spirit of the temple... They were out
of sync with the whole purpose of the Lord’s house. “The atmosphere of my
Father’s house,” Jesus seemed to say, “is to be prayer. The aroma around my
Father must be that of people opening their hearts in worship and supplication.
This is not a place to make a buck. This is a house for calling on the Lord.”
Jim Cymbala
“Christ is our temple, in whom by faith all believers meet.” Matthew Henry
“Every saint is God’s temple, and he who carries His temple about him, may go to prayer when he pleaseth.”
Augustine (see article entitled “Praying for those we Love”, http://www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=79470
).
“We are now the Temple of God! If the inanimate structure of the old covenant
trembled and shook at God's presence, what is our response, we in whom this
same glorious and holy God now lives? How can there be the slightest
indifference or coldness or routine or mere ritual or mindless habit in our
worship when this same God lives and abides in us?” Sam Storms
If
you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this
from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear
Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I
believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from
the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn
from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control
of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you
Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus
Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and
Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple
I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reader,
Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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