“(Jesus) taught them, and said, “Is it not written, ‘My house (the Jewish Temple) shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves'” (Mark 11:17). How was the Jewish Temple “a den of thieves?
Jesus accused the merchants in the temple of turning a house of prayer into ‘a den of thieves.’ But how did they do that, and what did He mean? Let’s answer this question.
A Game of Tag
‘Tag’ is a well-known children’s game. Although it has several variations, the basic rules are simple: one child is designated ‘it’ and chases the others; when “it” touches someone, that person then becomes ‘it.’ The goal is to avoid being ‘it.’
A Safety Zone
Often, the game has a designated safety zone, which can be a tree, a rock, or another object. That safety zone is called a ‘ghoul.’ A ghoul adds an element of strategy to the game. When the pursued reaches the ghoul before the pursuer and touches it, they are safe from becoming ‘it.’ However, they can only remain protected for a limited time — say, a count to ten. After that time, they must leave the ghoul; if they don’t, the pursuer can touch them and they become ‘it.’
A Ghoul
Jesus referred back to a passage from the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, who wrote over six hundred years earlier. The Lord told him to stand in the Temple gates and proclaim:
“Shall you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and … walk after other gods whom you do not know, and come and stand before Me in (My Temple) and say, “We are delivered,” so that you may do all these abominations? (Has My house), become a den of robbers in your eyes?” (Jeremiah 7:9-11).
These hypocrites thought they could do evil and then run into God’s Temple, and that made them blameless. They used God’s temple as their ghoul! They were robbers who thought they had found a safe place to hide. They mistakenly thought, “After all, the temple and its ceremonies will wash us clean.”
God’s Warning
“Do not trust in lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.”… Indeed, you trust in lying words that cannot profit (Jeremiah 7:4, 8).
Safety for Lawbreakers
During the Prohibition era, a speakeasy was an establishment where individuals could consume alcoholic beverages in defiance of laws against liquor. To prevent informants from entering, a secret password was required for admission. Despite this secrecy, every participant was breaking the law.
Hypocrites
Likewise, Jesus accused these Jewish leaders of sinning and then using the temple grounds as a safety zone and its ceremonies for cleansing. They thought they could commit any sin, then run to the temple and become faultless, just because they were God’s people who had His Law and presence among them.
God’s Expectations
God had told them how they should live as His people:
“For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your deeds, if you thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your harm, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever” (Jeremiah 7:5-7).
Conclusion
We all make mistakes, and God graciously provides forgiveness when we confess our sins. However, like the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ time, we are hypocrites when we intentionally sin because we know God will forgive us. God expects us to live out justice and obedience. When we misuse His ceremonies, presence, and Fatherhood by using any of them as a ghoul! –- He will uphold justice and discipline the offenders.
“Obedience is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22).
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