Matthew
21: 12, King James Version (KJV): 12 And Jesus went into the temple
of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and
overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that
sold doves,
Today,
reply is on the account of Jesus using physical violence against the
moneylenders within the courtyard at the Temple in Jerusalem. Like
the Tabernacle of Moses, the Temple was to be a visible place of the
unseen GOD’s
continual presence with Israel. The sanctuary and other devoted
places that are aspects of the church created by Jesus Christ are now
also acknowledged as houses of GOD, and places of his appearing in
Spirit. The holy writings show that, without correction from
divinity, many will not realize that they are endowed with blessing
and material prosperity from the Creator. GOD does supply
evangelists, priests, prophets, rulers, and other of his servants
with all they need (food, shelter, water, etc.) for accomplishing the
sacred tasks they are assigned and trained to complete. Yet, the
word of GOD, the divine process and substance we receive are not to
be used as merchandise or personal property that we may dispose of as
we please. Believers are equipped with divine gifts so they may
resemble, reflect, and reveal the character and likeness of Jesus
Christ. Most Christian parents prefer to provide experiences of
affection, gentleness, and tenderness to their children, and many are
reluctant to accept that there also must be displays of commitment,
firmness, and sternness against wrongdoing. Scolding and spanking
will not make a child (or an adult person) permanently change to
behave as a reliable and trustworthy daughter or son of GOD who is a
sanctified believer; even so, as a member of the household of GOD,
receiving in ones own flesh the consequences of their own errors and
unwillingness to change may provide correction and otherwise
unavailable warning regarding the consequences of judgment to come.
It is written: Revelation 3: 15-19, King James Version (KJV): 15 I
know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou
wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither
cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou
sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of
nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and
poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold
tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that
thou mayest be clothed, and that
the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with
eye-salve, that thou mayest see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and
chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. One of the fighters in
the “Yahoo! Answers” public forum on Religion & Spirituality
who uses the ID “Anonymous” (no profile information shown) posted
the following:
Jesus
hurt those money lenders really badly when He brutally whipped them.
Why is Jesus THAT hurtful?
THE
GOLDEN ARROW: And the Jews’
passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And found in
the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers
of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he
drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and
poured out the changers’ money,
and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take
these things hence; make not my Father’s
house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it
was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. Then answered
the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing
that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them,
Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said
the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt
thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his
body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples
remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the
scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. (John 2: 13-22, KJV)
THE
DOUBLE DAGGER: Lost For 40 Years? (09/17/2018); Divine Anger at
Harvest? (05/26/2019); The Presence of GOD (04/02/2019); Jesus
Rebuked The Moneychangers? (05/16/2018); Punishment To Show Love?
(11/29/2015); Money-changers in The Temple? (06/23/2013); Believers
and the Cross (06/24/2013)
“Anonymous”,
a parent may scold or spank a child, yet, does not disown their own
offspring. Similarly, the process of GOD for sinners who repent is
one of change, correction, and challenge. Jesus addressed all the
money-changers as partners in a consecrated covenant with divinity,
who had agreed when called upon to accept correction from GOD, and to
acknowledge the wrath of GOD against their nation, their own sins,
and the sins of their fathers. Just as children who lack adult
intellect and logic cannot justify and reason out all their behavior
and conduct to their own parents, and often must be trained using
graphic, memorable, and physical experience that reveal the
displeasure of their caretakers, those in covenant with GOD, as
babes, also may require challenges and rebuke for betrayal,
disobedience, disrespect, and irreverence. The spiritual instruction
that comes to us in the account of Jesus driving the money-changers
away from the Temple in Jerusalem proclaims that correct covenant
relationship with divinity is one that includes benefits, inheritance
and privileges to mankind, yet also requires integrity, sacred
service, and continual acknowledgment of the holiness of GOD by all
who are in the covenant relationship. In effect, the money-changers
created a marketplace on holy ground where there was the buying and
selling of livestock for sacrifices to travelers who would come to
worship, and the exchange of local currency for letters of credit and
cash from other areas (e.g., coins, salt, silver, gold). The Temple
community could influence and defile the entire nation, and was made
up of more than the High Priest, the Sanhedrin Court of 70, the
Levites, or the scribes and lawyers who argued cases using the sacred
law. Beggars, lepers seeking to be certified by the priests, those
in lives of devotion to GOD (e.g., Simon and Anna, the prophets who
first acknowledged Jesus as the fulfillment of divine promise), those
seeking to make special offerings and petitions, pilgrims, and those
seeking power through self-promotion frequented the Temple. To the
extent the Temple continued worldly customs and traditions that the
people thought were divinely approved, the Temple was a source of
great error. Sacred law required that the heads of households and
the primary heir from every family must assemble during specific
annual feasts and festivals. This was a divinely given method to
transform Israel from being a collection of tribes into a united
people. Secular concerns such as politics, regional government,
celebrations of sacred events (we say, miracles), and social welfare
were not to be their agenda. Rather, focus was to be on fellowship
with divinity. Consider again the following that uses language from
the Bible and a selection from the music ministry of Steve Amerson:
(1.)
Jeremiah 5: 1-5, King James Version (KJV): 1 Run ye to and fro
through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in
the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any
that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon
it. 2 And though they say, The LORD liveth;
surely they swear falsely. 3 O LORD, are
not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have
not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to
receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock;
they have refused to return. 4 Therefore I said, Surely these are
poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD,
nor the judgment of their God. 5 I will get me unto the great
men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the
LORD, and the judgment of their God: but
these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
(2.)
Jeremiah 10: 23-25, KJV: 23 O LORD, I know
that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in
man that walketh to direct his steps. 24 O LORD,
correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me
to nothing. 25 Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee
not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have
eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his
habitation desolate.
(3.)
Hebrews 12: 3-8, KJV: 3 For consider him that endured such
contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and
faint in your minds. 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving
against sin. 5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh
unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of
the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the
Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for
what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be
without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye
bastards, and not sons.
(4.)
1st Peter 4: 12-18, KJV: 12 Beloved, think it not
strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though
some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye
are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be
revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 14 If ye be
reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the
spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is
evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 15 But let none of
you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an
evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s
matters. 16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let
him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 17 For
the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God:
and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be
of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous
scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
There
is far more that should be said, correctly examined, and spiritually
apprehended. (For example, (5.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5frx0hqWVqw.) Even
so, I trust this fragment will be useful. Be it unto you according
to your faith.
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Washington,
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