Yirmeyahu 7:11 "Do you regard this house, which bears my name, as a cave for bandits? I can see for myself what's going on," says Adonai
Yeshua entered the Temple grounds and drove out those who were doing business there, both merchants and their customers. He upset the desks of the money changers and kicked over the benches of those who were selling pigeons. He said to them, "It has been written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer.' But you are making it into a den of robbers!"
Yeshua here, not long after his "triumphant entry", changes the game. As he rode into the city, people where shouting for him to "Save them". It is interesting that this is the first recorded action that Yeshua takes after the people's cry for salvation. Put yourself in the shoes of those following H'Meshiah. Perhaps they equated what Yeshua was doing directly with what they were pleading for. In any case it makes for an interesting message.
Yeshua is often seen as a mercy giver or humble king to those exhorter-gifted saints, yet to the rulers and prophets, the opposite sides of his character stand out. The honest truth is that Yeshua personified the positive side of all seven gifts. Yet in the passage of Mattityahu 21:12-17 focus on Yeshua as a prophet purifier, as he cleanses his temple. The temple area was the scene for this telling event in Yeshua’s life. Herod the Great had expanded the temple mount to a space the equivalent of thirty football fields. There were four courts that were restricted to particular people: the inner court or the temple proper was only accessible by the priests, the Court of the Israelites where the sacrifices were offered, the Court of Women where all Jews could enter, and finally the Court of the Gentiles. It is likely that it was in the Court of Gentiles where this incident took place.
People would come from all across the Roman Empire, traveling perhaps great distances to worship at the temple. Worshipers coming from such great distances would likely not have been able to bring with them the necessary animals for sacrifice. They would also not likely have the ability to exchange their foreign currency. This being the case, the exchange of money and goods on the temple mount was a helpful, on some level, to worshipers. Yeshua, in spite of the theoretically positive nature of the exchange, reacts harshly to the practice. He forms a whip, takes out the tables and chairs of the moneychangers in a very classic scene of righteous anger. But the question of why still stands. This practice is helpful even necessary to some, so why does H’Meshiah oppose it so violently?
There had obviously been a change in the practice at the temple. This was the third time Yeshua was recorded being there, and it is only now that he reacts this way. Yeshua is upset that the environment of the temple was no longer about worship, but about the business around worship. Perhaps, amid this noisy, busy, hectic market place, there are genuine worshipers getting lost in the chaos. Perhaps Yeshua had become aware of some thievery or dishonest business practices going on, as he was able to see into the heart of each man. Whatever reason, this was the first example of commercial spiritualism, a place where the process and necessities of worship took away from the heart of worship itself.
H’Meshiah used the temple as a metaphor for his body and for ours. As followers, our body is our temple. At times it becomes important, even necessary to concern our lives with the work required to build and keep our temples functioning. This like food, shelter, clothing, and so on are not wrong to seek after because they are necessary for proper stewardship of the temple we are given, and aide in its use in glorifying Adonai. But in the end it is essential that we not forget the purpose for which we are given our bodies, and why they metaphor of the temple is so applicable. While the process and necessities of living are relevant, the heart of the believer, their reason for life is to serve and glorify God. Not even daily needs should get in the way of that.
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