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Jesus's Command:
Make my house a house of prayer for the nations and do not make it into a market or a den of thieves.
Read Mark 11:15-17. The commands are found in verse 17.
When Jesus came in to the city during the final week of His life, He went to the temple, and what He saw infuriated Him. He saw people buying and selling there.
The temple is what is referred to as God's "house". It is His dwelling place. In the kingdom of Israel, it was the place where the priests would meet with God and offer sacrifices to Him on behalf of the people.
The buying and selling that took place there was very offensive to Jesus because God's house was being used as a market rather than for communication with God. The purpose of the temple was to offer sacrifices and to communicate with God.
I'm assuming that some of the merchandise that was being sold there were the animals that were sacrificed for their sin offerings.
I have heard that the people who would travel long distances to the temple would purchase their sacrifice when they got there, rather than bringing it with them from their home.
Because of this, the seller would charge very high prices for the animals, and it was this "overcharging" that made Jesus angry. That would definitely be reason for Him to call His house a "den of thieves." That might be one reason, but I think there are other reasons too.
First, I wonder if other merchandise that was related to the religion of Judaism was being sold for profit in the temple. Things like merchandise developed by scammers to "help increase their religious experience" or "closeness to God." If so, and I think it is a good possibility that took place, the sellers of this merchandise took advantage of the buyer's gullibility, and profited off of God and His law, which Jesus would not have been pleased with.
I have to wonder too, if the sellers of these animals, also sold them for the purpose of sacrificing to false deities. I don't know this for sure, but I think this is very likely based on the fact that Israel's trend throughout history was to commit idolatry, and because Jesus said that they were an evil, perverse, and adulterous generation of people.
There were also Gentiles in Jerusalem and the surrounding area who may have need of animals to sacrifice to pagan gods. Selling animals to Israel for the purpose of sacrificing to the true God, from the same source as animals being sold to sacrifice to false gods, would have been very offensive to God, and would have roused up Jesus's anger.
Next, God had specified certain requirements for the sacrifice to meet. It was required to be "of the heard and of the flock". God commanded this to Israel after leaving Egypt and prior to entering the promised land, therefore the Israelites had a shared herd and flock that they took from for sacrifices and probably for food.
This was probably not the case at the time that Jesus came. Israel had been scattered by Assyria and Babylon long after God had made that command, so they no longer lived in one location as a single large community or kingdom. Because of this, I don't know exactly what it would have meant for the sacrifice to be "of the heard and of the flock" when Jesus was there, but there is no indication in the Bible that God had changed this or any of the requirements regarding sacrifices under the old covenant. Therefore, I have to go with the assumption that the sacrifice requirements did not change, and that God would have still required that the animal come from "the herd and the flock" owned by Israel, and not bought by a merchant at the market. However, there was a significant change that occurred regarding Israel in general that did effect the sacricial system, that I will explain in a moment.
If God did require the animal sacrifice to be from the flock or herd of Israel as it was in the time of Moses, but they were purchasing animals at the market to sacrifice, then Jesus may have also been angry at them for disobeying God's command and doing things their own way. Purchasing the animals instead of bringing the sacrifice from their own heard or flock would have been disobedience to God's command.
Furthermore, the animal was required to be a male without blemish. I have my doubts that the animals that were bought and sold at the temple all met the requirements that God set at Mt. Sanai. Though the Jews tried to re-institute the sacricial system that God had put in place for His kingdom of people, their attempts were futile because they did not obey God's commands, and in my opinion, this is likely to be a another reason why Jesus drove out the buyers and sellers at the temple
As I previously mentioned, there was not a change in what God required of the sacrifice, but there was a change regarding Israel that effected the sacrifice.
This change occurred when both the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel ceased to exist when they were conquered. With them being conquered and the kingdom of Israel no longer in existence, the sacricial system and the law also ceased to exist because both were given to the kingdom of Israel to set them apart from the other nations as God's holy nation, which no longer existed.
God "divorced" the northern kingdom of Israel and "removed them from God's sight" when Assyria conquered them. Judah had witnessed this, but even so, "they continued in their harlotry" which was not pleasing to God, therefore He sent Babylon to destroy Jerusalem and the temple, and to take the Israelites who resided in the southern kingdom captive.
Later, a remnant of Israel returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and to reinstitute the sacrificial system, out of which the religion of Judaism was developed over time, between the return of the remnant and the coming of Christ, during which time God had no communication with Israel
The practices of Judaism, such as making sacrifices to God, were based in part on the law of God's covenant with Israel, but it was developed in large part by the Jews. Since Israel no longer existed as a single community of people like it did when God gave these commands and made the laws of the kingdom, details such as that of sacrifices being required to be taken from "the heard or the flock" had to be altered from God's command in order to make it work within their context. Therefore, even though it may seem like a minor and insignificant detail, it was no longer what God had commanded.
Now, some people probably did not think that there was any problem with buying and selling animal sacrifices or other merchandise in the temple, because it was allowed by the leaders of Judaism. Some people may have thought that they were doing what God wanted them to do because the religion allowed it.
But the very facts that Judaism allowed and practiced buying and selling in the temple, and that Jesus was angered by their doing so, indicates that they did not ask God if they could do it, and that God did not command them to do it. The fact that they did it on their own reveals the condition of their heart. Plus there was very likely some dishonest profits being made too, which also indicated that their hearts were not pure, but that they did it for monetary gain.
In some parts of the world today, God's people have made His house into a den of thieves, just as they did back then.
They have merchandised Him and His word for profit. Rather than making His house a house of prayer, they use it to make money for themselves. The Christian music industry is a prime example, as well as authors of books & Bibles, movies, clothing, and pastors who use their influence to make podcasts, videos, books, and merchandise for the purpose of making a profit.
Though there is nothing wrong with making music, videos, books, etc. in order to glorify God or build His kingdom, it is wrong to merchandise God and His Word for financial gain, and if Jesus were here today, He would drive out the buyers and sellers of this merchandise, just as He did back then.
Today, God's temple is the body of His people, both individually and collectively (See 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; 1 Peter 2:5; Ephesians 2:19-22).
Though different from the old one, God requires this new temple to also be a house of prayer for the nations and not a den of thieves. Jesus commanded His people:
Make God's house a house of prayer for the nations and do not make it into a market or a den of thieves.
So that is what we must do.
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