45 Then he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling. 46 "It is written," he said to them, "'My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it 'a den of robbers.' "
I am reminded of another passage when Jesus was also cleansing the Temple at the onset of His ministry found in the Gospel of John. How appropriate and fitting for Him to both begin and end His ministry with the cleansing of the Temple – perhaps we should take heed:
13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me." John 2:13-17 (NIV)
Believer, how zealous are we for the cleansing of God’s temples? As you well know, our bodies are now the temple of the Lord. We house the precious Holy Spirit therefore, I pose the question again - how zealous are we for its purity? Do we profane and dishonor God with our temples – both in our thoughts and in our actions? Are we striving to cleanse sin from within and without or do we glibly accept and make light of what God abhors? It matters.
“Sin is the dare of God’s justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, and the contempt of His love.” John Bunyan
We should fiercely despise sin – every sin carries with it a death sentence. Never embrace that which is wrong and condone that which our Lord dishonors. Scripture testifies to this in the small two page book of Haggai. Five times in this brief message God tells us to “Give careful thought to your ways” in regard to the building of our temples. While written to the Jews building the literal temple this can certainly be taken figuratively for us today. He begins by stating:
3 Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 4 "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?" 5 Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." Hag 1:3-6 (NIV)
Selfish indifference, negligence and the lack of satisfaction had caused the Jews to focus on their own homes and activities over the building of God’s temple. Let’s consider this for a moment in light of our day and time. How much effort do we put forth in “growing up” in Christ compared to our blending with the world? Christians are to be in a process of becoming conformed to the image of Christ:
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Romans 8:29 (NIV)
Next, I believe, we find in Haggai God’s “How-To” for us:
7 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored," says the LORD. Hag 1:7-8 (NIV)
Hopefully without taking too much liberty with the text, this points to our “going up” in the mountains of our quiet times in His Word and in prayer, of our “bringing down” the timbers of His truth and of our “building” our temples through the application of it - enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit. God states that He takes pleasure in our doing this and is honored by our actions - I might also add glorified. It would do us well to remember a Christ-centered and focused, God glorifying life, manifests itself as a life of expectation, satisfaction, significance and hope. We are the big losers if we do not follow hard after Jesus. Just as He told His original disciples He tells us: “Come, follow me”; “Seek first my kingdom”.
6 "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty. 8 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty. 9 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty." Hag 2:6-9 (NIV)