The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” (Matthew 21:6-13)
God is jealous for his house. . .
In the wilderness, as the Hebrews came up out of the bondage of Egypt – God commanded Moses make a tent. He gave Moses very specific instructions about how the tent was to be built – its size, the materials used in its construction, how it was to be transported when the people moved, and the layout of the furniture that would be housed there.
The Lord was also very specific about the conduct of those who would enter that tent, and the services that would be rendered there. The scriptures tell us that when Moses raised up that tent, it was built exactly as God had commanded, a priesthood was ordained in Aaron and his sons, and the members of the tribe of Levi. There were very specific and stringent expectations of the lives of those who served in the Tabernacle, the priests and tabernacle workers. Nadab and Abihu were two of the sons of Aaron who failed to conduct themselves in the prescribed manner and for it they were slain right in front of the curtain that covered the Holy of Holies. It was a house –– it was God's house.
God is jealous for his house. . .
This tent, or Tabernacle, was called a “place of meeting.” The word Tabernacle means “residence” – It was the place of residence of the Presence of God in the midst of His people. It was also called The Tent of the Congregation or The Tent of Meeting. It stood as a reminder that God was with them. That place was not holy except for the presence of God Himself. It was MADE HOLY by is presence. Otherwise, it is a tent made from badger and goat hide. The pillar of fire sat down upon the Ark of the Covenant inside the Tent – and it became a HOLY PLACE.
Later on of course, Solomon built a Temple in Jerusalem that would replace the Tabernacle from the wilderness. The construction was different, but the purpose was the same. It was a meeting place between God and Man – It was a place where men came to meet with God and God would meet with them, and because of that dynamic it was a holy place.
When Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on the day that we now call Palm Sunday His destination was that Temple. He was outraged by what he saw there, as vendors and money changers had inhabited the outer court. They were gouging prices for sacrificial animals that they sold to visitors who came to worship. It looked more like a flea market or a carnival midway rather than the house of God.
The flesh had taken over God’s house. There was no real ministry going on there. There was no true worship going on there. Prayer was secondary there...personal gain, personal enrichment, personal satisfaction was openly on sale there and Jesus tore through the place like a tornado – he threw everybody out!
God is jealous for his house. . .
From the Temple, Jesus traveled to Bethany for the night. It would appear that His irritation had not subsided, and the next morning he took it out on a Fig Tree. Jesus and the disciples are walking from Bethany to Jerusalem when off in the distance Jesus sees a fig tree alongside the road. Perhaps they hadn’t had breakfast yet and Jesus was hungry. The tree was green and lush and full of leaves. "Oh Boy," Jesus thought, "fresh figs." However, when he got closer, he could see that even though the tree looked healthy, even though it had all of the outward appearance of a fruit bearing tree – it was barren; there were no figs.
Jesus cursed that tree – he said, “May no fruit ever come from you again.”
Seems kind of petty doesn’t it...taking his frustration with the vendors in the Temple out on a tree. The disciples were astounded because they saw that tree wither right in front of their eyes. However, this was not pettiness, it was prophetic. He saw that tree just like he saw the religious Jews. All leaves and no figs. All talk and no walk. All appearance but no substance.
You know at one time Jesus compared the Pharisees as “whitewashed tombs” (Matthew 23:7) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones ... He said you look good on the outside, all painted up with flowers planted around; maybe even some finely carved decorative statues around – but inside – you are just a grave filled with dead men’s bones. You look good, but there is no life in you!
Jesus was saying - The Jews were just like that fig tree – they dress up nice but there is no life in them, and they are rotting from the root.
All of us remember the early days of the covid pandemic. Many declared that the government was “persecuting the church” through the coronavirus pandemic because they have ordered churches, and our meetings shut down. There was a great hue and cry about robbing us of our liberties and our freedom of worship.
One morning, I was at the church helping some folks put together boxes of food to distribute on Thursday night. At one point, I pulled my pickup out front of the church and loaded it up with cardboard and compost to take to the local recycling center. After I packed the truck up, I went down the street and turned toward the center of town. Of course, along the way, including our church I saw several church buildings along the street. I remember so clearly that as I passed church building after church building, I sensed the Holy Spirit pressing in on me.
I didn’t have a vision – I didn’t “hear” God’s voice – but He spoke to me...I could sense His presence in the cab of that truck, and I know that God spoke to me and this is what he said:
“It is not the government that is troubling the church in this hour. It's Me. I am cleansing My House.” That’s it. Nothing more and yet, as I drove through the town . . . my town, I knew that the Lord had settled something in me. “I am cleansing My House.”
As this pandemic spread across the nation – indeed across the globe – church doors were shut. Many believed it was because of the potential for spreading disease. Others believed that it was the hand of Government, using this pandemic as an in-road to shutting down religion in America. But from that moment on I had a very different perspective.
God was “rebooting” the church. I see it more clearly now than I did then. Before God resets the church, He will cleanse the church. He his cleaning His house.
Even today, years after the fearful days of that pandemic
Church houses that have long abandoned or perverted the Word of God – sit empty.
Church houses that have embraced, perversion and sin – sit empty.
Church houses that serve man rather than God – sit deserted.
Many pulpits are free of self-serving and unfaithful prophets.
Altars that have denied the power of the gospel and the authority of the Word are closed off.
Flags that celebrate sin and rebellion against God still wave in the breeze – but there is no one there to see it.
God is rustling around in our leaves – looking for fruit.
In John 15:2 Jesus said this, "every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." And every fig tree that does not bear figs (fruit) runs the risk of being cursed and withering from the root.
God is jealous for his house. . . He is cleansing his house. He is rummaging through our leaves; our programs, our services, our meetings, our preaching, our attitudes, our spiritual declarations, our leaves.
He is looking for fruit.
As He did in ancient Jerusalem, the Lord of the Church is cleansing His House. Even those of us who stamp our feet and pound our Bibles and shout from our pulpits, pretending to be bastions of purity, find our houses empty or nearly so. Let us welcome the Lord when He comes to cleanse His house and perhaps, rather than to curse evil governments for our trouble, we take a more inward posture. Perhaps the cry of our heart should be:
Search me, O God, and know my heart today,
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me.
Cleanse me from every sin and set me free.
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