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The code of the money changers....

Have you ever felt that the gospel was being commercialised, manipulated and presented for monetary gain?

Lets take a look at how Jesus handled these kind of situations.

12 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days. 13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; 16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. 17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. 18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

John 2:12-22 (KJV)

The bible makes record of Jesus attending of the Passover in Jerusalem. According to exodus 12:1-27 the Passover was instituted by God as commanded feast for the children of Israel symbolizing their recognition of how God had brought them out Egyptian slavery, oppression and control.

So God made it very clear that they had to stand still on a specific time to recognize: God has set us free!

Not man, not religion, not rituals, not traditions, but GOD!!!!

Now Jesus comes to Jerusalem with His entourage seeking to celebrate this freedom and finds a system of bondage again in place: …the code of the money changers….!

Decoding the Code….

The money changers had made a pact with the priests in those days to be allowed to issue a special temple currency. By so doing everyone who wanted to worship and give at the temple had to pass by them to get their normal currency changed to “temple currency”. This was further expanded to only being able to buy animals for the sacrifice with this currency in and around the temple.

Conclusion: the place designed for freedom had become a place of bondage again.

Unfortunately we see the same spirit active in the church today.

Instead of giving out bread, many preachers are begging for bread.

And manipulating churches for the sake of greed and luxury all in the "name of God".

Turtledoves for sale

According to Leviticus 12:6 the turtledove was one of the animals accepted by God to be used as a sin offering. In other words God had stipulated in His Word the turtledove amongst other animals to be sacrificed in the Old testament to help set His people free from sin. According to history these and other animals could not be bought in the temple without this “temple currency”. So the system to help bring victory had become a system of corruption. Today we see the same principle operating.

Spiritual blessings are only accessible of you make certain donations to certain ministries…. The code of the money changers

I’m shocked to see websites of award winning Christian artist who’s record sales have run into the millions still place “donate now” on their website.

Others selling olive oil and even cosmetics online…. The code of the money changers…

Jesus is again sweeping His temple clean and will finish with He began in John 2.

that its urgent need for new measures.

Over the broad sense there has been a bankruptcy in the policies of Christian political parties across Europe and beyond. And this time we cant blame the devil …nor his step wife…!

More then ever the world seeks things that really work and not just religious mumbo-jumbo.

Faith that really moves mountains, real power and not a religious surrogate.

Time to tap from the root.

The church in the book of Acts offered the real deal and more. They had relevance and impact.

So somewhere between then and now some fundamental truths have been lost.

The church has lost its right to be heard…

Defining the need for relevance…

Both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ Himself gave plain answers to real problems. (please read: Luke 3:10-14//Matt5:21-48). In other words the content of their words and deeds was important and beneficial to the hearers not just on a spiritual level. I get spammed to overflow with invitations to go and listen to conferences.

The “superstars” from Canada to Buenos Aires get flown in to tickle the ears of the west…

Nothing wrong with having a conference, but what is the benefit to the visitors or the body, let alone the world?

Is what I’m going to hear influencing me to become a better father, a better husband, a better citizen or just give me goosebumps…?

Living in Europe only a few hours away from where Martin Luther penned the words that changed the world caused me to journey into the Word of God to look where have we lost relevance and impact.

The bible states in Exodus 22:22-24

22 “You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. 23 If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry; 24 and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

This was written on the canvas of 400 years of oppression. The children of Israel knew what it was like to be oppressed, abused and a stranger in a foreign land. Now they were finally free and it was at that given time God began to establish moral and spiritual principles which would be the foundation for the next 1400years.

Isn’t it interesting how God has a way of using our pain to free others?

In this scriptures God clearly stipulated the protection of the social weaker: widows and orphans. God warning His people that He listens to the cry of the social outcast, but do you...?

God takes it even a step further and says that unfair treatment of the social weaker would trigger His anger and could cost you your life….!

Awww.. that doesn’t sound too mushy charismatic does it…?

God's care goes even further:

1. He commanded tithes to be given to the widows & orphan: read Dt 26:12-15

2. He invites them to parties: read Dt 16:14/Luke 14:12-14

3. He is the Father of the fatherless and a defender of the widows: read Ps 68:5

4. He defends the poor and orphans: read Ps82:3/ Ex22:21-24

5. The care for the weak would influence the financial state of the nation: read Dt 26:14-15

In the new testament, the first church didn’t wait for bread to fall out of the sky to make a difference.

Acts 6:1-7 tells how the first church obtained the right to be heard by heeding the need of the people outside of the church and by taking care of widows. Result was that the church multiplied!

Read James 1:27

Waking up from “ Soapbox Christianity”

We can no longer bury our head and pretend that all is well. While most sermons on tv teach us 10 steps to get blessed and 5 step to get rich, the heart of the Father of fatherless is tuned to a different channel.

If we want to capture what He is really saying we need to get out of our soapbox mentality and listen to what people around us really need. Love, acceptance, friendship, support, food, clothing, compassion and not religious sales talk! It is then only that we will once again obtain the right to be heard. When the church will provide real answers for a real world.

Downloading new technologies

Joseph even went beyond this level (which is basic Christianity by the way) and touched a part in God concerning the future. Read (Gen 41:14-36). Let me just say that no soothsayer, no devil, no tarot reader knows the future. So we can stop reading our horoscope to see if we’re gonna win the lottery. Only God knows the future! And so Joseph caught a glimpse of the future and helped millions of people to escape an economic disaster. Interesting enough he did not do it to promote himself nor his ministry (read Gen41:33) but just gave to help humanity. He downloaded new technologies in God that became answers for the world he lived in.

And that’s what we need today,

P.Nsongo