Matthew 21:13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a ROBBERS’ DEN.”
Jesus makes His triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem, coming from Bethany - so that His entry was directly onto the temple mount. He finds the outer courts transformed from the place of worship that they should have been into a market, with stalls for changing money into coins used in the temple and others selling animals that might be offered in the various sacrifices of the temple worship. Consumed with zeal for God's dwelling, Christ overturns the tables and stalls of the traders and drives them all out. The temple was at the very heart of the worship of Israel. God was present in a special way in the Holy of Holies in that very temple. It was towards that very temple that the Jews, wherever they might be in the world, were commanded to direct their prayers. What, then, should be expected within its courts? They should have been characterized by an atmosphere of reverent worship and prayer. Yet here were people trading in those, seeking to make a profit by offering a convenience to the worshipers. In His rebuke for their behavior, Jesus quotes first from Isaiah 56:7 and then from Jeremiah 7:11. They had turned what should have been a house of prayer for all peoples into a den of robbers.
The result was that God was dishonored. The robbery that was taking place was not just that of men by men - God was being robbed of honor! His name dwelt specially in that place and it would be legitimate for those wanting to understand more about Him to come here and observe the behavior of those who spent all their time in His house. What would they understand of the God of heaven by witnessing the marketplace that had been set up there? We know from many places in Scripture that the temple in the Old Testament was a type, or picture. It was supposed to be a visible, physical representation to us of something invisible and spiritual - the temple that is being built from the living stones that are the New Testament believers:
Ephesians 2:19–22 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
If it is true that the physical, earthly temple of the Old Testament should have been characterized by prayer, how much more should this be the case for the spiritual temple that God is building now - the church? How tragic it is that the activities in many churches today are closer in character to Vanity Fair than to the dwelling of God in the Spirit! How reprehensible that the church, whose conduct should reflect an accurate picture of the God Who formed her, is disfiguring that image so significantly. We do so easily in the spiritual realm what the Old Testament Jews did physically, turning the New Testament temple into a place where God is robbed of honor - making it into a den of thieves!
Reverent prayer, worship and adoration are the things that we should find as we enter the New Testament temple - as we come among the children of God in whom He dwells by His Spirit. So let's pray in our local fellowships - let's join together and make sure they are houses of prayer for all the nations, rightly reflecting the wonderful God who is their Architect and Builder and bringing honor and glory to His name!
Jesus makes His triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem, coming from Bethany - so that His entry was directly onto the temple mount. He finds the outer courts transformed from the place of worship that they should have been into a market, with stalls for changing money into coins used in the temple and others selling animals that might be offered in the various sacrifices of the temple worship. Consumed with zeal for God's dwelling, Christ overturns the tables and stalls of the traders and drives them all out. The temple was at the very heart of the worship of Israel. God was present in a special way in the Holy of Holies in that very temple. It was towards that very temple that the Jews, wherever they might be in the world, were commanded to direct their prayers. What, then, should be expected within its courts? They should have been characterized by an atmosphere of reverent worship and prayer. Yet here were people trading in those, seeking to make a profit by offering a convenience to the worshipers. In His rebuke for their behavior, Jesus quotes first from Isaiah 56:7 and then from Jeremiah 7:11. They had turned what should have been a house of prayer for all peoples into a den of robbers.
The result was that God was dishonored. The robbery that was taking place was not just that of men by men - God was being robbed of honor! His name dwelt specially in that place and it would be legitimate for those wanting to understand more about Him to come here and observe the behavior of those who spent all their time in His house. What would they understand of the God of heaven by witnessing the marketplace that had been set up there? We know from many places in Scripture that the temple in the Old Testament was a type, or picture. It was supposed to be a visible, physical representation to us of something invisible and spiritual - the temple that is being built from the living stones that are the New Testament believers:
Ephesians 2:19–22 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
If it is true that the physical, earthly temple of the Old Testament should have been characterized by prayer, how much more should this be the case for the spiritual temple that God is building now - the church? How tragic it is that the activities in many churches today are closer in character to Vanity Fair than to the dwelling of God in the Spirit! How reprehensible that the church, whose conduct should reflect an accurate picture of the God Who formed her, is disfiguring that image so significantly. We do so easily in the spiritual realm what the Old Testament Jews did physically, turning the New Testament temple into a place where God is robbed of honor - making it into a den of thieves!
Reverent prayer, worship and adoration are the things that we should find as we enter the New Testament temple - as we come among the children of God in whom He dwells by His Spirit. So let's pray in our local fellowships - let's join together and make sure they are houses of prayer for all the nations, rightly reflecting the wonderful God who is their Architect and Builder and bringing honor and glory to His name!