13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
What or who is the temple of God?
1Co 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
So your body is temple of God.
Notice they were buying and selling in the temple of God. An exchange was going on.
Let's look at the two other accounts of this story.
Mk 11:15 -17
15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Luke 19: 45 -46
45 And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought;
46 Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.
From these scriptures we can clearly see there was buying and selling going on. An exchange was going on in the temple of God.
1. People were buying and selling. ( He cast them out)
2. Money was being exchanged. (He overthrew their tables)
3. Doves were being sold (He overthew their seats).
This is the reason why many christians are sick in their bodies, while many christians are poor and why many christian can't seem to connect with the holy spirit.
The people were buying and selling and Jesus told us what some of them were exchanging, goods, money and doves.
1. People who were buying and selling ( He cast them out)
Mat 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils.
Mt 21:12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple,
So now we have seen that the temple of God is YOU. The christian is the temple of God.
Them that sold and bought refers to demons.
Mar 1:34 And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.
2. Money Changers (He Over turned their tables)
So the temple of God, became a place where money was being exchanged.
Luke 12:16-21
16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? note
21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
This is how many christians have become poor and beggarly. Demons keep giving them thoughts and suggestions about 'money' that is contrary to God's word. They go ahead ahead processing those thoughts and ideas, until, the wealth of God that was in their hands is exchanged with poverty.
How do they do this? Through thoughts and suggestions. To you, you think you're out smarting God, but what you don't know is that demons want to exchange that your wealth with poverty.
3. Doves were being sold (He overthew their seats).
Mat 3:16
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Mar 1:10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
Luk 3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him
Joh 1:32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove
Dove in scriptures refers to the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.(The holy spirit is not a dove. Dobe is only a symbolism of the holy spirit).
What did Jesus do?
He overturned the seats of those that sold doves.
These are demons that gradually deafen you from being led by the holy spirit. The spirit of God can no more guide you because the demons have filled the minds of that christian with other thoughts and ideas. The dove is being exchanged.
WHAT AN ERROR!
The annoying thing here is that all of these demonic activities and manipulations were caused by the same christian. He is born again, he is THE TEMPLE OF GOD! yet his health (his goods), his finances (money) and his spiritual life (his dove) is down. WHY?
Jesus told us why.
Mt 21:13
...It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
'The temple of God' was suppose to be a place of prayer (fellowship with God), but because Prayer (fellowship with the father through his word) is absent, the demons turned the TEMPLE OF GOD into a den of thieves.
So as long as 'PRAYER' is absent, it remains a den of thieves. Note, not 'thief'-singular, but 'thieves'- Plural.
Jn 10:10
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:
Now that is a 'thief'- singular; now imagine when they are 'THIEVES'. This is why a christian life may seem ruled by the devil. Why?
'My house shall be called a house of prayer'
This is the way the bail out you need. Go back to God on you knees. Fellowship with the father. That communion with the father will naturally make you too hot for demonic activites. YOU ARE THE HOUSE OF GOD. Refuse to live an ordinary life, 'Refire' your prayer life and you'd see the real you come alive.
