John:
In Matthew 21:13, Jesus used the phrase, “den of thieves” in reference to what men had turned the temple of God in Jerusalem into. Is there any way in the Greek to tell if he meant robbed from the blessings (not keeping ordinances) or were the exchangers being unjust in their transactions?
Bro Wendell
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“Den of thieves” does not refer to a place for thieves more than a place for murderers, swindlers, prostitutes, and whatever other wicked spirit that wanted a place to hide. Jesus’ meaning was that the leaders of God’s people had transformed His holy place into “a dwelling-place of demons, and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean bird, and a prison of every unclean and hated beast.” It was a precursor of spiritual Babylon (Rev. 18:2).
jdc
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Hi Pastor John,
When I read this I thought how those with His spirit are His temple, so we must keep it clean, and not let it become a dwelling place of all those things mentioned. I think I’ve read a similar thing before, but I guess it’s good to go over these things.
I hope you are well. I’ve been enjoying my time off work. I’ve been listening to a lot of old CD’s actually, which has been good… I will get into more tomorrow.
Jenny
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That’s a good thought, Jenny. God help us do that.
Pastor John