Jesus Drives Out the Temple Money ChangersBible World
19:46Luke 19:46
Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Spoken at His second cleansing of the temple near the close of His ministry, Christ asserted with greater authority than at the first cleansing that the temple courts must be driven clear of traffickers. God's house is set apart as sacred for prayer, but at Passover it had been perverted into a noisy marketplace of exorbitant prices, money-changing for gain shared by priests and rulers, and traffic that drowned out worship, which was extortion and robbery even in the offerings. Standing alone with the majesty of Heaven's King, His commanding voice, consuming indignation and soul-searching look exposed guilt, put the crowd to flight as before a judge, and foreshadowed the final reckoning for those who receive light yet reject mercy. The courts filled with unholy traffic picture the heart, which should be Christ's dwelling but is defiled by selfishness, worldliness and evil passion, and in cleansing the temple He announced His mission to cleanse the heart from sin and make it a dwelling for God. That cleansing stands as the pattern for His institutions, that churches must not be turned to feasting, trade or display, publishing houses must not be turned chiefly to commercial gain and error, and schools must be cleared of defiling books and teachings.
Historical Setting and Utterance
The utterance belongs to the second cleansing of the temple near the close of ministry, in connection with the entry into Jerusalem. It pairs with the cleansing at the beginning of public ministry three years earlier, yet was spoken with greater authority than that first cleansing. The priests and rulers had been ashamed of their former fear and had resolved never to flee in that way again, but when they heard the words again they were terrified even more and obeyed in greater haste than before.
He stood alone in the desecrated court in the majesty of Heaven's King, with divinity flashing through humanity. He spoke in clear accents with power like a mighty tempest and with trumpet tones that hushed all noise and swayed the people. His indignation and displeasure were like consuming fire, quenching all opposition. His commanding authority and soul-searching look exposed guilt, asserted the holiness of God's house, and made the crowd feel answerable before God as before a judge.
The words were joined to the command to take these things away, and together they drove priests, rulers, buyers, sellers, cattle and merchandise in hasty flight from the temple of the Most High. Their fear and flight exposed them as convicted hypocrites and robbers. The disciples remembered that flight of the merchants, and later hoped He would again display such power to disperse His enemies and prove Himself King of Israel.
After the traffickers had been driven out, He welcomed the sick into the temple court and healed them there. The people then praised God in the restored house of prayer.
House of Prayer Desecrated
God's house is set apart as sacred for prayer, and Christ's own presence made the temple sacred, so to turn it to other uses is to profane it. Buying and selling there, marked by extortion and robbery and by disturbance of worship, had turned it into a den of thieves, and His words condemned that misuse and commanded the traffic to be removed. The rebuke exposed the leaders' failure to preserve true worship, for sacred worship had been corrupted by unfair dealings in the temple courts where the poor were exploited.
At Passover the courts were perverted with merchandise and made to resemble a noisy marketplace rather than a place of prayer. Sellers charged exorbitant prices for sacrificial animals, and priests and other authorities shared the gains from that profiteering and from exchanging the money worshipers brought. Their traffic filled the court with noise that seriously disturbed worshipers inside and drowned out prayers, showing how greed and love of power had corrupted the sacred temple and its worship. Even bustling commerce like that seen in modern cities illustrates the same point, treating a sacred place as though it had no sacredness.
This traffic was extortion and robbery, carried out even in the offerings presented. The priests and rulers who took part in buying, selling, and exchanging money became, in God's sight, no better than thieves. Their commerce corrupted the sacrificial service, for offerings meant to point people to the Lamb of God were made a means of gain, while outward sacrifices replaced humble repentance and obedience. Selfishness and love of money, envy and strife, injustice and fraud, malice and passion ruled, with everyone seeking gain from his quarter.
With all His infinite love and mercy He can execute stern justice against such desecration. His words carried divine authority and drove those who had brought cattle and merchandise into the temple to flee, and that stern act was followed by profound pity for the fleeing crowd.
Judgment and Coming Dispersion
The words exposed the traffickers and declared the temple sacred, so that the crowd felt answerable before God as before a judge. The priests and rulers who shared in buying, selling and money-changing were made, in God's sight, no better than thieves, and their gain-seeking commerce corrupted the sacrificial service meant to point to the Lamb of God into a means of money-getting in place of humble repentance and obedience. Their fear and flight exposed their guilt as convicted hypocrites and robbers, and their refusal to repent under conviction showed wickedness and impenitence, though it was already known that the corrupt priesthood would not be reformed. His presence made the place sacred, His desecrated house brought condemnation, and His assertion of holiness carried divine authority as judge.
That flight also symbolized the coming dispersion of the Jewish nation for wickedness and impenitence. Jerusalem had been favored as the depository of sacred trusts, yet perverted the truth and despised entreaties and warnings, and the courts where the poor were exploited and true worship was not preserved became a den of thieves through unfair dealing, selfishness and love of money, envy and strife, injustice and fraud, malice and passion, with everyone seeking gain. She stands as a warning that by long departure from just and righteous principles men place themselves where light and truth, justice and mercy are not discerned until sin reaches the boundary where repentance cannot be felt. Over such a course Christ sorrows and weeps, turns away, and comes to investigate the condition.
The scene in Jerusalem warns that similar scenes will take place in the last great day. At the cleansing His words carried the authority of judgment and foreshadowed a future reckoning for those who reject God's messages and offers of forgiveness. That warning and call to repentance applies still to those who receive great heavenly light but refuse it, with consequences corresponding to the light received. The cleansing near the end of the ministry, paired with the cleansing at the beginning of the public ministry, together form the pattern for the final warning to the world: the second angel's message and the call from heaven for God's people to come out of Babylon. His rebuke and expulsion of the extortionate dealers in sacrificial offerings, who robbed the people and profaned sacred things, taught that religious name and position count for nothing beside virtue, purity of character, honesty, and righteous dealing.
Heart and Soul Cleansed
The courts filled with unholy trade were a picture of the heart defiled by sinful desires, selfish lusts, and evil habits. That heart was meant to be Christ's dwelling, yet it is defiled by selfishness and love of the world, by malice and envy and unholy passion. In cleansing the temple Jesus announced His mission to cleanse the heart from sin and to make it a dwelling place for God.
That cleansing must take place in the soul temple by driving out the buyers and the sellers. The buyers and sellers are worldly merchandise, commercial burdens, and the leaven of worldliness that mingle with sacred things, crowd the mind, and destroy spiritual discernment. The means and the physical and mental powers entrusted by God are sacred, and they must be kept unmingled with worldly merchandise and invested wholly in the Master's service, for results as far reaching as eternity. Such cleansing makes doing the Master's bidding and promoting His work the one aim of life, bringing upward growth and transformation of character by the Holy Spirit, with self hid with Christ in God. It brings a generous spirit in kindness and tender regard for others through beholding Christ's character.
Faithful Use of Institutions
God's house is meant for prayer, not for turning worship to personal profit, and making it a den of thieves is what professed worshipers do when they put worldly gain first while keeping only a form of piety. Those who disregard God's commands for their own advantage will face His judgment, and God's people and the church are called to examine themselves lest they do the same. Refusing to receive and walk in the light God has given follows the same track as Jerusalem, which though favored as the depository of sacred trusts perverted truth and despised warnings, with selfishness and love of money, envy and strife, injustice and fraud, malice and passion ruling while everyone sought gain from his quarter. The publishing house in Battle Creek turned into a desecrated shrine of unholy merchandise and traffic is part of that same departure, over which Christ sorrows and weeps and which He comes to investigate. Jerusalem stands as the warning that long departure from just and righteous principles leaves men unable to discern light and truth, justice and mercy, until sin reaches the boundary where repentance cannot be felt.
Churches become that desecrated house when in the name of religion they host feasting and unholy trade to raise money by encouraging appetite, greed, or pleasure instead of rebuking those evils. The same desecration occurs when worship is turned to display and worldly interests, so that people focus on fashionable dress rather than Christ and the sermon. Such display dishonors God's house as surely as did the money-changing Jesus banished from the temple.
Christ's cleansing stands as the pattern for publishing houses, which are to serve their sacred purpose and not be turned chiefly toward commercial gain or questionable work. His cleansing of moral pollution requires removing injustice and fraudulent dealings, for schemes that deprive people of their rights are contrary to His order. Those who see such wrongdoing must speak against it fearlessly.
A publishing institution becomes a den of thieves when objectionable commercial work and the printing of teachings contrary to truth displace the printing and circulation of truth. In that condition workers' time and talents are wasted and misused, money is misappropriated, and presses meant to spread God's truth are used to spread error and Satan's theories. Such corruption defiles the institution, and dishonorable gain is worse than loss. Commercial work joined with the printing of error desecrates a place devoted to God's work just as merchandise and robbery desecrated the temple in Christ's day.
The defilement includes accepting, soliciting, and printing commercial and worldly literature that unsettles faith, misdirects the mind, and sows doubt, questioning, and unbelief about the authority and purity of the Old Testament Scriptures and about Christ, even arguing He was only a man. That work dishonors the Redeemer, brings Satan and his sophistry into the office, and sends forth educated infidels from a place established to give truth to the world, turning it into a place of evil work that God condemns. The defilement is also leading and managing without the Holy Spirit, without justice and integrity and the love of God guiding managers, in perversity and unsanctified, unrighteous dealing. It is practiced iniquity and every unfair scheme savoring of selfish grasping, often reproved, which hardens the actors until their hearts are beyond impression. God will bear with such working only so long, His wrath is kindled, and He will soon cleanse it, so publishing plants must exist elsewhere without longer dependence on Battle Creek. At the center of the work the buyers and sellers and merchandise are corrupt management ruling other minds, seeking full control or crushing the work, turning men from their rights, overbearing Spirit-led men unless they fight for right methods, weakening confidence and Protestant principles and nearly extinguishing divine light. God wants His temple no longer a den of thieves and moneychangers but purified, with His servants men of piety and holy endeavor.
When the publishing office is made a house of prayer, God is present with the workers both in their religious exercises and in their daily work. As Christ cleansed the temple, He would likewise cleanse schools by removing books, teachings, and other influences that defile students, corrupt minds, or misrepresent God. In their place He would give substantial knowledge, heart-treasured truths, and precepts that safely guide conduct.
Spoken at His second cleansing of the temple near the close of His ministry, Christ asserted with greater authority than at the first cleansing that the temple courts must be driven clear of traffickers. God's house is set apart as sacred for prayer, but at Passover it had been perverted into a noisy marketplace of exorbitant prices, money-changing for gain shared by priests and rulers, and traffic that drowned out worship, which was extortion and robbery even in the offerings. Standing alone with the majesty of Heaven's King, His commanding voice, consuming indignation and soul-searching look exposed guilt, put the crowd to flight as before a judge, and foreshadowed the final reckoning for those who receive light yet reject mercy. The courts filled with unholy traffic picture the heart, which should be Christ's dwelling but is defiled by selfishness, worldliness and evil passion, and in cleansing the temple He announced His mission to cleanse the heart from sin and make it a dwelling for God. That cleansing stands as the pattern for His institutions, that churches must not be turned to feasting, trade or display, publishing houses must not be turned chiefly to commercial gain and error, and schools must be cleared of defiling books and teachings.
Historical Setting and Utterance
The utterance belongs to the second cleansing of the temple near the close of ministry, in connection with the entry into Jerusalem. It pairs with the cleansing at the beginning of public ministry three years earlier, yet was spoken with greater authority than that first cleansing. The priests and rulers had been ashamed of their former fear and had resolved never to flee in that way again, but when they heard the words again they were terrified even more and obeyed in greater haste than before.
He stood alone in the desecrated court in the majesty of Heaven's King, with divinity flashing through humanity. He spoke in clear accents with power like a mighty tempest and with trumpet tones that hushed all noise and swayed the people. His indignation and displeasure were like consuming fire, quenching all opposition. His commanding authority and soul-searching look exposed guilt, asserted the holiness of God's house, and made the crowd feel answerable before God as before a judge.
The words were joined to the command to take these things away, and together they drove priests, rulers, buyers, sellers, cattle and merchandise in hasty flight from the temple of the Most High. Their fear and flight exposed them as convicted hypocrites and robbers. The disciples remembered that flight of the merchants, and later hoped He would again display such power to disperse His enemies and prove Himself King of Israel.
After the traffickers had been driven out, He welcomed the sick into the temple court and healed them there. The people then praised God in the restored house of prayer.
House of Prayer Desecrated
God's house is set apart as sacred for prayer, and Christ's own presence made the temple sacred, so to turn it to other uses is to profane it. Buying and selling there, marked by extortion and robbery and by disturbance of worship, had turned it into a den of thieves, and His words condemned that misuse and commanded the traffic to be removed. The rebuke exposed the leaders' failure to preserve true worship, for sacred worship had been corrupted by unfair dealings in the temple courts where the poor were exploited.
At Passover the courts were perverted with merchandise and made to resemble a noisy marketplace rather than a place of prayer. Sellers charged exorbitant prices for sacrificial animals, and priests and other authorities shared the gains from that profiteering and from exchanging the money worshipers brought. Their traffic filled the court with noise that seriously disturbed worshipers inside and drowned out prayers, showing how greed and love of power had corrupted the sacred temple and its worship. Even bustling commerce like that seen in modern cities illustrates the same point, treating a sacred place as though it had no sacredness.
This traffic was extortion and robbery, carried out even in the offerings presented. The priests and rulers who took part in buying, selling, and exchanging money became, in God's sight, no better than thieves. Their commerce corrupted the sacrificial service, for offerings meant to point people to the Lamb of God were made a means of gain, while outward sacrifices replaced humble repentance and obedience. Selfishness and love of money, envy and strife, injustice and fraud, malice and passion ruled, with everyone seeking gain from his quarter.
With all His infinite love and mercy He can execute stern justice against such desecration. His words carried divine authority and drove those who had brought cattle and merchandise into the temple to flee, and that stern act was followed by profound pity for the fleeing crowd.
Judgment and Coming Dispersion
The words exposed the traffickers and declared the temple sacred, so that the crowd felt answerable before God as before a judge. The priests and rulers who shared in buying, selling and money-changing were made, in God's sight, no better than thieves, and their gain-seeking commerce corrupted the sacrificial service meant to point to the Lamb of God into a means of money-getting in place of humble repentance and obedience. Their fear and flight exposed their guilt as convicted hypocrites and robbers, and their refusal to repent under conviction showed wickedness and impenitence, though it was already known that the corrupt priesthood would not be reformed. His presence made the place sacred, His desecrated house brought condemnation, and His assertion of holiness carried divine authority as judge.
That flight also symbolized the coming dispersion of the Jewish nation for wickedness and impenitence. Jerusalem had been favored as the depository of sacred trusts, yet perverted the truth and despised entreaties and warnings, and the courts where the poor were exploited and true worship was not preserved became a den of thieves through unfair dealing, selfishness and love of money, envy and strife, injustice and fraud, malice and passion, with everyone seeking gain. She stands as a warning that by long departure from just and righteous principles men place themselves where light and truth, justice and mercy are not discerned until sin reaches the boundary where repentance cannot be felt. Over such a course Christ sorrows and weeps, turns away, and comes to investigate the condition.
The scene in Jerusalem warns that similar scenes will take place in the last great day. At the cleansing His words carried the authority of judgment and foreshadowed a future reckoning for those who reject God's messages and offers of forgiveness. That warning and call to repentance applies still to those who receive great heavenly light but refuse it, with consequences corresponding to the light received. The cleansing near the end of the ministry, paired with the cleansing at the beginning of the public ministry, together form the pattern for the final warning to the world: the second angel's message and the call from heaven for God's people to come out of Babylon. His rebuke and expulsion of the extortionate dealers in sacrificial offerings, who robbed the people and profaned sacred things, taught that religious name and position count for nothing beside virtue, purity of character, honesty, and righteous dealing.
Heart and Soul Cleansed
The courts filled with unholy trade were a picture of the heart defiled by sinful desires, selfish lusts, and evil habits. That heart was meant to be Christ's dwelling, yet it is defiled by selfishness and love of the world, by malice and envy and unholy passion. In cleansing the temple Jesus announced His mission to cleanse the heart from sin and to make it a dwelling place for God.
That cleansing must take place in the soul temple by driving out the buyers and the sellers. The buyers and sellers are worldly merchandise, commercial burdens, and the leaven of worldliness that mingle with sacred things, crowd the mind, and destroy spiritual discernment. The means and the physical and mental powers entrusted by God are sacred, and they must be kept unmingled with worldly merchandise and invested wholly in the Master's service, for results as far reaching as eternity. Such cleansing makes doing the Master's bidding and promoting His work the one aim of life, bringing upward growth and transformation of character by the Holy Spirit, with self hid with Christ in God. It brings a generous spirit in kindness and tender regard for others through beholding Christ's character.
Faithful Use of Institutions
God's house is meant for prayer, not for turning worship to personal profit, and making it a den of thieves is what professed worshipers do when they put worldly gain first while keeping only a form of piety. Those who disregard God's commands for their own advantage will face His judgment, and God's people and the church are called to examine themselves lest they do the same. Refusing to receive and walk in the light God has given follows the same track as Jerusalem, which though favored as the depository of sacred trusts perverted truth and despised warnings, with selfishness and love of money, envy and strife, injustice and fraud, malice and passion ruling while everyone sought gain from his quarter. The publishing house in Battle Creek turned into a desecrated shrine of unholy merchandise and traffic is part of that same departure, over which Christ sorrows and weeps and which He comes to investigate. Jerusalem stands as the warning that long departure from just and righteous principles leaves men unable to discern light and truth, justice and mercy, until sin reaches the boundary where repentance cannot be felt.
Churches become that desecrated house when in the name of religion they host feasting and unholy trade to raise money by encouraging appetite, greed, or pleasure instead of rebuking those evils. The same desecration occurs when worship is turned to display and worldly interests, so that people focus on fashionable dress rather than Christ and the sermon. Such display dishonors God's house as surely as did the money-changing Jesus banished from the temple.
Christ's cleansing stands as the pattern for publishing houses, which are to serve their sacred purpose and not be turned chiefly toward commercial gain or questionable work. His cleansing of moral pollution requires removing injustice and fraudulent dealings, for schemes that deprive people of their rights are contrary to His order. Those who see such wrongdoing must speak against it fearlessly.
A publishing institution becomes a den of thieves when objectionable commercial work and the printing of teachings contrary to truth displace the printing and circulation of truth. In that condition workers' time and talents are wasted and misused, money is misappropriated, and presses meant to spread God's truth are used to spread error and Satan's theories. Such corruption defiles the institution, and dishonorable gain is worse than loss. Commercial work joined with the printing of error desecrates a place devoted to God's work just as merchandise and robbery desecrated the temple in Christ's day.
The defilement includes accepting, soliciting, and printing commercial and worldly literature that unsettles faith, misdirects the mind, and sows doubt, questioning, and unbelief about the authority and purity of the Old Testament Scriptures and about Christ, even arguing He was only a man. That work dishonors the Redeemer, brings Satan and his sophistry into the office, and sends forth educated infidels from a place established to give truth to the world, turning it into a place of evil work that God condemns. The defilement is also leading and managing without the Holy Spirit, without justice and integrity and the love of God guiding managers, in perversity and unsanctified, unrighteous dealing. It is practiced iniquity and every unfair scheme savoring of selfish grasping, often reproved, which hardens the actors until their hearts are beyond impression. God will bear with such working only so long, His wrath is kindled, and He will soon cleanse it, so publishing plants must exist elsewhere without longer dependence on Battle Creek. At the center of the work the buyers and sellers and merchandise are corrupt management ruling other minds, seeking full control or crushing the work, turning men from their rights, overbearing Spirit-led men unless they fight for right methods, weakening confidence and Protestant principles and nearly extinguishing divine light. God wants His temple no longer a den of thieves and moneychangers but purified, with His servants men of piety and holy endeavor.
When the publishing office is made a house of prayer, God is present with the workers both in their religious exercises and in their daily work. As Christ cleansed the temple, He would likewise cleanse schools by removing books, teachings, and other influences that defile students, corrupt minds, or misrepresent God. In their place He would give substantial knowledge, heart-treasured truths, and precepts that safely guide conduct.