My Temple Will be Called a House of Prayer

Our devotional reading is found in the book of Matthew 21:13.  In this episode, we will look back at the Old Testament period when people mixed up their ancient religion with pagan practices that were abominable before God. We will also see and apply to our present situation if the same are still being practiced by us. May this serve as a reminder for us as we walk in our journey of faith.

Gospel in the Air is a podcast ministry of Cornerstone Christian Church. We are located in Maui, Hawaii, USA. Our number is (808) 463-8859. You can also visit our website at www.cornerstonemaui.org or you can send your email to danibanggo@gmail.com.

Transcript

Episode 5
Topic: My Temple will be called a House of Prayer
Text: Matthew 21:13

© Dani Banggo 11/17/2023

From the beautiful island of Maui, I want to greet you with a warm Aloha! Welcome to “Gospel in the Air,” a 30-minute devotional program that will inspire and encourage your daily walk with Jesus.  May I invite you to join me in this short devotional meditation. May you be enlightened with new insights for living as the Spirit of God reveals His passion for humankind to be saved, that is, that no one should perish but all will come to repentance.

 Our devotional reading is found in the book of Matthew in chapter twenty-one and verse thirteen (Mt.21: 13). And it says: 

13 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves. 

Our devotional lesson is entitled: “My Temple will be called a House of Prayer.”  

The pilgrims are gathering in Jerusalem for Passover week. They have been celebrating this important event since rebuilding the Temple. And the rituals continue to be the same. People line up to exchange their foreign currencies with that of the shekels, the standard currency of Jerusalem, which is the only form of money acceptable for paying their Temple tax or for purchasing animals for their sacrifice.[1] The celebration of the Passover is not only about faith and piety, but it became a lucrative business especially among the Roman officials and the few and wealthy religious leaders. It has been estimated that around four million Jews come to Jerusalem each year for the Passover.[2] It means more income for the local businesses and profit through taxation and money changing. Even the poor are not exempted to buy the cheapest animals for the mandatory Passover sacrifice. It turned out that this religious holiday is all about money. No wonder why the Lord was so angry that he overturned the tables and chairs of the money changers and those selling doves and animals shouting at them at the top of his voice saying: “My Temple will be called a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” This declaration of the Lord against them was quoted exactly from the prophet Jeremiah in chapter seven and verse 11, which says, “Don’t you yourselves admit that this Temple, which bears my name, has become a den of thieves? Surely, I see all the evil going on there. I, the LORD, have spoken!”

It was during the period of the prophet Jeremiah, at the Temple courts in Jerusalem where pilgrims were gathering to celebrate a festival. But on their way to the temple courts, they must pass through a gate where they were greeted and reminded of the purpose of the occasion before they could worship. It is here where Jeremiah was positioned and delivered his sermon before the pilgrim. He preached on the nation’s spiral moral decay by pointing to them their evil practices. He used his illustration about the fateful judgment of God against their brothers in the north as a lesson - perhaps for them to repent of their sins; and perhaps for them to reform their ways. He pointed out how God severely punished them for their stubbornness. But they did not listen to him. Instead, their hearts became even more callous that there was no way for them to repent and reform their evil ways. (Isa.6:9-10). As we see later, they themselves scoffed at God’s prophets and even murdered them! (2 Chr.36:16; Mt.23:31). How fearful to disobey the Lord! (Heb.10:31) But these people took the word of God for granted. They have never learned their lesson. The prophet Isaiah described them as stubborn and obstinate, “their necks are as unbending as iron and their heads are hard as bronze” (Isa.48:4).

Jeremiah’s sermon hundreds of years ago continued to reverberate until Christ came. The people did not learn their lesson, but they continued even worse than their predecessors that caused to him to be crucified on the cross. They never stopped from making the Temple of God a mockery, turning it into a den of thieves and robbers. Theirs was a continuous downward spiral of moral decay. Far it be that the words of Christ will judge them including us if we do not reform and turn from wickedness.  Instead, may we be inspired to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness and become an instrument of His will.  

For our lesson, we will look back at the Old Testament period when people mixed up their ancient religion with pagan practices that were abominable before God. We will also see and apply to our present situation if the same are still being practiced by us. May this serve as a reminder to us as we walk with our journey of faith.  

There was a time when Judah enjoyed peace, prosperity, and spiritual reform. Under a god-fearing king, Josiah, the Law of Moses was reinstituted (2 Chro.34:14-15). It was the happiest years ever experienced by Judah.[3] But all those accomplishments and reforms became rubbish when his son, King Jehoiakim, succeeded him on the throne. He did evil in the sight of the Lord by committing dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, and on oppression and extortion (Jer.22:17). Furthermore, Judah continued to worship Baal (Jer.7:9) and other pagan deities including celestial bodies such as the worship of sun, moon, and the stars (Jer.8:2).  

Judah was completely flat on her face on the ground because of moral failure. There was widespread violence and spiritual degradation. But despite her sins people thought that the presence of the temple was a guarantee of their security. Since the temple symbolizes the ever presence of God among them, they were confident that their sins would be covered by the temple. They misunderstood that the physical presence of the temple building was more important than their moral integrity. No wonder they flocked to the temple during great festivals. The temple became a den of burglars!

But Jeremiah used Shiloh to remind the pilgrims what happened there. It was once a sanctuary in the northern kingdom in the time of the Judges and Samuel at which God had been worshiped (1 Sam.1-4). It was a place where God presence was established until it collapsed in ruin because of sin. (That was in 722 BC when the invading Assyrians overcame Israel.) The prophet wants to drive his point to the pilgrims that the temple or shrine does not provide absolute guarantee for their security. What happened to Shiloh would also happen to them if they would not repent and reform their ways. He pleaded with them to renounce their hypocrisy in place of moral integrity. While it is true that the presence of the Temple signifies the presence of God in their midst it does not mean that the Temple is more important than God Himself. They must abandon false trust in the temple. Instead, they must seek the living God and put their faith on Him rather than the Temple, which is nothing but a physical building. In other words, the temple became a sort of idolatry.      

 Aside from this abomination, the people had apostatized by offering sacrifices to the “Queen of Heaven” and the worship of other deities. This is characterized by a family cultic practice.[4]

The children are out gathering sticks, the fathers are kindling the fire for cooking, the mothers are making the dough for sweet cakes. They are preparing for the ritual of the “Queen of Heaven” and the worship of other pagan deities. (Cf.Jer.7:18)

With this pagan practice there are certain laws of God that are violated in this instance. The act of gathering sticks by the children is against the law of the Sabbath (cf. Num.15:32-35) as well as the kindling of fires by the fathers (cf. Ex.35:3). This family cultic practice does not only break the first commandment (Ex.20:3ff, “You must not have other god but me.”) but it leads to the breaking of others as well, such as murder (Jer. 7: 30-34).

The practice of paganism from the household level comes the crime of murder. This is associated with “burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Their children were burned as sacrifices at a place called Tophet in the steep-sided valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem (Jer.7: 31) This was practiced long before in the past at the time of King Ahaz and Manasseh (2 Kg.16: 3ff; 21:6-9). It has been said that King Manasseh: 

 “…sacrificed his own son in the fire. He practiced sorcery and divination, and he consulted with mediums and psychics. He even made a carved image of Asherah and set it up in the Temple. King Manasseh led the people to do even more evil than the pagan nations that the LORD had destroyed when the people of Israel entered the land.”

It is believed that the practice of child sacrifice was introduced by their Phoenician neighbors, a cult that was associated with Baal worship[5] (Cf.Jer.19:5; 32:35). Jeremiah fearlessly warned the pilgrims of the impending judgment of God against those criminals that murdered their children.  He prophesied that their bodies would no longer be buried on the ground but will be eaten as food for carrion birds and wild beasts (Jer.7: 33). A nation that kills her children will also forfeit all the right for a joyful wedding celebration. There will be no more joyful sound of wedding celebrations to be heard and their land will become desolate (Jer. 7:34). What a fearful judgment that is waiting for these people!

 Judah also worshiped the sun, moon, and the stars of heaven. Because of this their punishment would cause their bones to be dug out from their graves and laid out upon the ground and exposed to the very astral powers whom once they had worshipped. It would be a great humiliation to them because these powers that they thought would care for them turned out to be impotent and could do nothing. They worshipped them as their deities and solicited their advice and counsel, but it was made plain at their end. It was all futile!  Jeremiah prophesied further that when the invaders come, they will desecrate their bones. The skeletons of kings, princes, prophets, priests, and ordinary citizens will be removed from their graves and will become a dung upon the earth. In short, they will be used as fertilizers. Yet despite all the warnings given to them and the unrelenting sermons of the prophet they chose not to listen but continued with their foolishness and stubbornness. 

This practice of worshiping the sun, moon, and the stars is the modern counterpart of the astrological signs and horoscope. In Deuteronomy 4:19 it says, “And when you look up into the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars—all the forces of heaven—don’t be seduced into worshiping them. The LORD your God gave them to all the peoples of the earth.” It is commanded among the people in the Old Testament that It is an abomination to practice astrology and the punishment is death (Deut.17:2-5).   

Jeremiah’s sermon focuses on the social and religious condition pertaining to his period. The national moral decay made a mockery of the continuity of their ancient faith. It was all but hypocrisy. And the fusing (syncretism) of their pagan practices with their formal religion has been compromised. There would never be integrity in their temple worship. This is exactly the message of Christ to the pilgrims particularly the religious leaders in his period. He pointed out the collapse of the nation’s moral integrity. They became corrupt and had made a mockery of their religion. They made the house of God as den of thieves. Like in the days of Jeremiah, the pilgrims also thought that the temple gave them a sense of security and continuity. They were all wrong! They have forgotten what happened to the shrine at Shiloh in the north and their first and second temple in ancient Jerusalem.  They were all destroyed into ruins. They missed to realize that their own moral integrity was far more significant to God than simply the temple, which was a mere building. Their trust was misplaced. It was a false trust in the physical presence of a building instead of God! And the same happens to us when we lost touch of the reality of God that we simply trust on things that we thought can give us security, happiness, and fulfilment. We go to church but there is no change in our lives. We thought that going religiously will make a difference. You are wrong. You are no different with those people in the ancient of old who trusted their security with the presence of the physical building instead of the living God. This is a misplaced faith in God. Unless we changed our way of life and put our trust in God there will never be no difference at all no matter how we go to church every Sunday.  

Christ wants us to also examine the gap that exist between our moral life and our public worship. If God condemns the horrific child sacrifice in the Valley of Hinnom by the ancient pilgrims, is there a difference with the modern practice of taking the life of the young from the casual form of abortion that is now allowed and permitted by our government and some sectors of society? God forbids! If we do not reform now and repent of this heinous crime, we will severely face the judgment of God and pay a horrible price of eternal punishment. 

With the advancement of modern technology nothing can ever be known today. By just a click on your iPhone or computer all the answers you need to know are already there. There is nothing that you do not know today. Knowledge has so far been increased extremely fast. One can now read the Bible in 50 different versions at a time. But beware how computers and iPhone influence our life. We are now totally dependent on them for their counsel and advice. And if you are not aware, they rob us of our time with God. And this is where Christ is speaking to us today. He warns us of the danger of moral decay brought about by modern technology if we are not cautious enough to filter them. Nothing can replace the counsel of God.  

Finally, the judgment of God should serve as a warning to our stubbornness. No wonder Christ was so angry that he knocked over the tables and chairs of the money changers and those selling doves. For the first time that he did this in his entire ministry. Never that we have seen him as angry as this before. If this is the way the Lord reacted against those who made his temple a mockery, then how much more do we expect from him when he will finally judge the world? Hell is not a joke. It is a place where “maggots never die, and the fire never goes out” (Mk.9:48; cf. Isa. 66:24). May this serve as a warning to us that we cannot take God for granted. He did everything to save us from this evil world by sending His Son to die on the cross. And what is our response to his grace and mercy?  

Jesus said, “My Temple will be called a house of prayer.” The moment we become children of God the Bible says that our body become the temple of God where the Holy Spirit resides (1 Cor.3: 16). How pleasant to know that we are the Lord’s temple where the Holy Spirit resides (1 Cor.3:16; Phil.2: 22). Let us then be true and honest before the Lord. Let us use our body as a house of prayer where we constantly commune with Him. 

I introduce to you Jesus Christ, God’s Son. He is your only hope today. There is no other name whereby man will be saved except Him alone. Why don’t you accept Him by faith as your Lord and Savior? Open your heart to Him and welcome Him to commune with you.

It is my prayer that you have been blessed today. Listen to this podcast, “Gospel in the Air,” every week to be encouraged in your daily walk with Jesus. “Gospel in the Air” is a podcast ministry of Cornerstone Christian Church. We are located in Maui, Hawaii, USA. You can also visit our website at www.cornerstonemaui.org. This is your host, Brother Dani Marantan Banggo saying, keep punching the good fight of faith. Mahalo!

__________________________

[1] Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, Killing Jesus: A History (Henry Holt and Company: New York, 2013), 121-22.
[2] Ibid., 122.
[3] Ronald F. Youngblood, Gen. Ed., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Thomas Nelson: Dallas, 1995), 708.
[4] Peter C. Craigie, Page H. Kelley, and Joel F. Drinkard, Jr., Word Biblical Commentary: Jeremiah 1-25 (Word Books Publishers: Dallas, TX, 1991), 122-123.
[5] Ibid., 125.