Jesus Cleanes the Temple

One of the most dramatic parts of Jesus' ministry before His Crucifixion was the Cleansing of the Temple. The scene of our Lord in a rage, throwing tables, freeing doves, making a whip and removing the money changers and consumers. It is a moment of sheer outage by the Alpha and Omega, and for many this scene boils down to money, "It is written," he said to them, "'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it 'a den of robbers." (Matthew 21:13). Indeed, Christ is upset that the Temple has turned into a trading post, but the reason for this is much deeper. It is Satan, the fallen one who invented trade, "as the mighty angelic guardian Your rich commerce [trade] led you to violence" (Ezekiel 28:14.16) and it is for this reason Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." (Matthew 6:24). Then the Temple was suppose to be a house of prayer, the outer courts, known as Gentile Qaurter was where people from other nations could come and hear the Scriptures and the cantoring music, but instead it was filled with the sounds of Wall Street, the Souke, and Amazon.com. But there is still yet a greater reason our Lord is outraged.

The Temple had become Bablyon. A place where everything is sold, and seeking God is not the goal. The Temple of Zerubabel (Herod's Temple) was no longer a peaceful place to seek the I AM, but place of trade where people filled their vanity, lusts, and the place became a tourist stop to make money. The Temple belonged to Mammaon, god of money, not to Yaweh, and so Jesus the Son of Yahweh cleansed it. But this has greater meaning, the Church today has become just like Herod's Temple, we are full of every bit of vanity, greed, lust, and pride of life! What Jesus was doing with whip was also symbolic of the Church's fate, that He will come in and clear our inner beings with His blood dipped whip of his own body to clear our sins, but more than this He will also cleanse the Church system that exists today. Many has interpreted who Bablyon the Great in the Revelaton of John is, and I am convinced that it isn't Islam, but rather the Church as it is today all the way back to Constantine The Great, who defiled God's Temple (us) and made it into a system of trade, with paid priests, golden buildings, and tourist sites to get merit for sin, when Jesus has paid it all for sin!

Here is the Fall of Bablyon of Great,

18 After all this I saw another angel come down from heaven with great authority, and the earth grew bright with his splendor. ² He gave a mighty shout:

“Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen!
    She has become a home for demons.
She is a hideout for every foul spirit,
    a hideout for every foul vulture
    and every foul and dreadful animal.
³ For all the nations have fallen
    because of the wine of her passionate immorality.
The kings of the world
    have committed adultery with her.
Because of her desires for extravagant luxury,
    the merchants of the world have grown rich.”

⁴ Then I heard another voice calling from heaven,

“Come away from her, my people.
    Do not take part in her sins,
    or you will be punished with her.
⁵ For her sins are piled as high as heaven,
    and God remembers her evil deeds.
⁶ Do to her as she has done to others.
    Double her penalty for all her evil deeds.
She brewed a cup of terror for others,
    so brew twice as much for her.
⁷ She glorified herself and lived in luxury,
    so match it now with torment and sorrow.
She boasted in her heart,
    ‘I am queen on my throne.
I am no helpless widow,
    and I have no reason to mourn.’
⁸ Therefore, these plagues will overtake her in a single day—
    death and mourning and famine.
She will be completely consumed by fire,
    for the Lord God who judges her is mighty.”

⁹ And the kings of the world who committed adultery with her and enjoyed her great luxury will mourn for her as they see the smoke rising from her charred remains. ¹⁰ They will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will cry out,

“How terrible, how terrible for you,
    O Babylon, you great city!
In a single moment
    God’s judgment came on you.”

¹¹ The merchants of the world will weep and mourn for her, for there is no one left to buy their goods. ¹² She bought great quantities of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet cloth; things made of fragrant thyine wood, ivory goods, and objects made of expensive wood; and bronze, iron, and marble. ¹³ She also bought cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, wagons, and bodies—that is, human slaves.

¹⁴ “The fancy things you loved so much
    are gone,” they cry.
“All your luxuries and splendor
    are gone forever,
    never to be yours again.”

¹⁵ The merchants who became wealthy by selling her these things will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will weep and cry out,

¹⁶ “How terrible, how terrible for that great city!
    She was clothed in finest purple and scarlet linens,
    decked out with gold and precious stones and pearls!
¹⁷ In a single moment
    all the wealth of the city is gone!”

And all the captains of the merchant ships and their passengers and sailors and crews will stand at a distance. ¹⁸ They will cry out as they watch the smoke ascend, and they will say, “Where is there another city as great as this?” ¹⁹ And they will weep and throw dust on their heads to show their grief. And they will cry out,

“How terrible, how terrible for that great city!
    The shipowners became wealthy
    by transporting her great wealth on the seas.
In a single moment it is all gone.”

²⁰ Rejoice over her fate, O heaven
    and people of God and apostles and prophets!
For at last God has judged her
    for your sakes.

²¹ Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a huge millstone. He threw it into the ocean and shouted,

“Just like this, the great city Babylon
    will be thrown down with violence
    and will never be found again.
²² The sound of harps, singers, flutes, and trumpets
    will never be heard in you again.
No craftsmen and no trades
    will ever be found in you again.
The sound of the mill
    will never be heard in you again.
²³ The light of a lamp
    will never shine in you again.
The happy voices of brides and grooms
    will never be heard in you again.
For your merchants were the greatest in the world,
    and you deceived the nations with your sorceries.
²⁴ In your streets flowed the blood of the prophets and of God’s holy people
    and the blood of people slaughtered all over the world.” (Revelation 18:1-24). 

Notice that Bablyon is a City, and that she has trade as her main driver, that the merchants mourn because they can no longer sell cattle, gold, and everything else because she is fallen, well those are same things that were being sold in Temple when Jesus cleared it!, "Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables.  Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!" (John 2:15-16). This image of Bablyon is the same as Temple Jesus cleansed, and noticed that the finishing of her is Jesus returning: 

After this, I heard what sounded like a vast crowd in heaven shouting,

“Praise the Lord!
    Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.
² His judgments are true and just.
    He has punished the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth with her immorality.
    He has avenged the murder of his servants.”

³ And again their voices rang out:

“Praise the Lord!
    The smoke from that city ascends forever and ever!”

⁴ Then the twenty-four elders and the four living beings fell down and worshiped God, who was sitting on the throne. They cried out, “Amen! Praise the Lord!”

⁵ And from the throne came a voice that said,

“Praise our God,
    all his servants,
all who fear him,
    from the least to the greatest.”

⁶ Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder:

“Praise the Lord!
    For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.
⁷ Let us be glad and rejoice,
    and let us give honor to him.
For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb,
    and his bride has prepared herself.
⁸ She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.”
    For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people.

⁹ And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God.”

¹⁰ Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers and sisters who testify about their faith in Jesus. Worship only God. For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus.”

¹¹ Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. ¹² His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. ¹³ He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. ¹⁵ From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. ¹⁶ On his robe at his thigh^[e] was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, shouting to the vultures flying high in the sky: “Come! Gather together for the great banquet God has prepared. ¹⁸ Come and eat the flesh of kings, generals, and strong warriors; of horses and their riders; and of all humanity, both free and slave, small and great.”
¹⁹ Then I saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. ²⁰ And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast—miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. ²¹ Their entire army was killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the white horse. And the vultures all gorged themselves on the dead bodies." (Revelation 19:1-21). 
Jesus Christ returns to cleanse the Temple again, Babylon the Harlot is the Church System, is the Church that is corrupt, the Churches of Constantine and Rome (Papacy) and those Protestant denominations who have made money their god, instead of the Messiah Jesus Christ. Jesus is coming back to cleanse the Temple once more, and this time it will not be with a whip but a sword and rod of iron! For the angel warns us, "Then I heard another voice from heaven say: "'Come out of her, my people,' so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues." (Revelation 18:4). It is time to come out of her my brothers and sisters in Christ! The time has to become like Disciples of Jesus who followed Him everywhere, who did not visit the Temple system and den of thieves but to preach the Gospel (). Bablyon is going to fall, and Christ is going to judge her just as He did Herod's Temple, He sent Titsu in 70 A.D. to destroy the Temple and its system utterly! This time Jesus, The Divine Trinity will come to judge God's House, not a Roman Emperor! It is time to wake up my brothers and sisters in Christ. It is time to choose, who is your master? The Trinity or Trade? Are you going to be Den of Thieves or the Temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16)? The Lord will not abide indecision and being lukewarm long (Revelation 3). You must choose, are you going to ride with Christ or being tampled beneath the hooves of His horse? You cannot be on fence any longer. Choose your master, God or Bablyon (Church system and Money) today.

Jesus said when He cleansed the Temple of Herod, ""It is written," he said to them, "'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it 'a den of robbers." (Matthew 21:13), and "Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables.  Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!" (John 2:15-16). Shall he not say these same words again but to Church who fills their sanctuaries with CDs, DVDs, jewelry, and to finance a paid priest or pastor? Will He not return to find the Church system is no different the Temple system that sought to be marketplace rather than a house of prayer? Are not pastors marketing themselves (human slaves see Revelation 18:13) and does prayer even get a focus anymore? Most churches spend 5mins of prayer and hours on the pastor's interpretations. So seeking God is secondary for five minutes. Oh Church, you need to come out of Babylon! Martin Luther called the reign of Roman Catholic Church "The Babylonian Captivity," but sadly it did not end with The Reformation, but rather it survives in every denomination that takes money for the Gospel, pays a pastor or priest, and has building. For the Apostle Paul said, "What then is my pay? It is the opportunity to preach the Good News without charging anyone. That's why I never demand my rights when I preach the Good News," (1 Corinthians 9:18), "If others have this right to your support, shouldn't we have it all the more? But we did not exercise this right. Instead, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ," (1 Corinthians 9:12), and "See, I am ready to come to you a third time, and I will not be a burden, because I am not seeking your possessions, but you yourselves. For children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children." (2 Corinthians 12:14). The Money Changers are in the Church system today, and Christ is coming to cleanse His Church, but this time with a sword and rod (Revelation 19:11-16) instead of a whip! So come out Bablyon before you are judged with her (Revelation 18:4 NLT).