Isaiah 56:7 NKJV
“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.”
Nothing like it had happened in the recorded history of Jerusalem: that a man should physically confront broad-day-light robbers in God’s house. Yes, Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem was followed by an expression of His zeal for the Father’s house of worship. The Word says, “Then Jesus went into the temple [the following day] 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” (Mar 11:15-16 NKJV). Why was the Lord bothered about what was happening in God’s physical house when, after all, the ‘church is a spiritual body’?
Far from the delusion that the ‘church is [only] a spiritual body’, God is so concerned about what happens in the physical places designated for worshipping Him. It is partly the reason why He told the priests how to even dress when entering His physical house (Lev 16:4; Eze 44:17-19). No, we cannot afford to treat God’s physical house with contempt and act disrespectfully. Indeed, the LORD’s house is the place set apart to honor Him with utmost reverence, and must be held in high regard. At the height of that massive disruption, Christ quoted Isaiah’s prophecy and said, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers” (Mar 11:17 ESV).
Isaiah’s text from which Jesus quoted shows us that God’s desire is also to make His people “joyful in My [God] house of prayer,” and their burnt offerings and their sacrifices are to be “accepted on My altar,” as in our reference text. Hallelujah! Thus, to see that God’s house had turned into a “den of robbers” clearly reflected that the devil, who is the chief thief (Joh 10:10), had taken centre stage in the wrong place! Beloved, besides God’s physical house, our hearts are the seat of God’s temple, spiritually speaking. Therein, we are meant to be joyful in leading prayerful lives, and the fragrant “pleasing theme” (Psa 45:1 ESV) from our hearts is to be acceptable to God. Hallelujah!
Pst. Emmanuel