Class Notes: 7/16/2014

Mark 11:14;- Mark11:15; Jesus throws the distractions out of the temple


In our study of Mark we left off in Mark 11:14 where Jesus cursed the fig tree that represented the Jewish people and the nation of Israel for having leaves that represented ritual and religion but no buds that would become figs that represented reality.

He then proceeds to the temple to address the problem because the source of the problem was with the activities in the temple and the issue must be addressed at it's source in the temple before it can be addressed in the city of Jerusalem and the nation.

So Jesus is going to spend the last days before His death in the temple addressing the issue there because it was religion that lead to their rejection of Christ and the headquarters of religion was in the temple.

We have this same problem in the USA today. The source of the problem in the client nation is the apostasy in the church under the principle of the divine solution is the only solution and that as goes the believer so goes the client nation.

This means that at some point Jesus is going to have to clean up the church in the USA and that will become the basis of the recovery of the nation but exactly how Jesus will accomplish that clearing out remains to be seen but He is going to have to do it pretty soon if the nation is to survive.

Mark 11:15; The word translated "drive out" in the NASB and "cast out" in the KJV is the Greek word "ekballo" that means to throw out, to drive out or to cast out by physical violence. Before Jesus can even begin to teach them in His temple discourse He has to remove of all of the distractions and noise.

Religion is always trying to find a way to bleed money from people. There is no justification for pressuring people for money. The things that belong to the Lord cannot be purchased.

Salvation cannot be bought so the racket being carried on in the temple has to go. The principle here is that the world must be removed from the Church before the Church can teach God's Word to the world.

You cannot give Bible doctrine and make the issue clear and at the same time dun people for their money. All expenses that the church incurs should be taken care of exclusively by the freewill grace giving of believers in the local church.

"and overturned the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves." The dove was a poor man's offering so we see that were not only fleecing the rich but they were also fleecing the poor.

Another thing that is possibly, behind all of this there is that in a few days Jesus Christ will go to the cross and die for the sins of the world. When he does all animal sacrifices are no longer legitimate because the reality is come.

Once the reality comes the shadows are removed so His death will mark the end of the validity of the Levitical offerings. Jesus Christ is demonstrating to the people who did not properly identify Him that Messiah is here and once He goes to the cross all of these sacrifices will be rescinded.

Mark 11:16; The word translated "merchandise" in the NASB and "vessel" in the KJV is the Greek word "skeuos" that literally means a pot or vessel but is also used to describe any tool or mechanism that was used for commerce.

The high priest Caiaphas had apparently authorized a market for the sale of ritually pure items necessary for temple sacrifice, the wine, the oil, the salt, and the approved sacrificial animals and birds.

Apparently in the process of doing this business the merchandisers were cutting through the temple area as a shortcut thereby making it a thoroughfare for travel across the city without having to go around the temple.

Buying and selling is a legitimate function but not within the temple or the church.

Jesus therefore shut down all of the clamor and noise that was filling the temple from the buying and selling that was going on so that the people could hear him and then He began to teach.

Mark 11:17; "Is it not written" (Isa 56:7; Jer 7:11;) perfect passive indicative of the Greek word "grapho" Perfect tense: it is written in the past with the result that it stands written forever; passive voice: the Bible was received from God. 2Tim 3:16;

"My house shall be called the house of prayer for all nations" (His house is the temple because every article of furniture in the temple represented Christ).

In other words, this is a place where people can reach me; "but you have made ( perfect tense keep on making it) a den of robbers.

The KJV translates this "thieves" but that is incorrect because a thief sneaks up on you and takes you by surprise but a robber takes by force, pressure or intimidation. The NASB and NET have correctly translated it as "robbers" Net note 32

Anytime those with power and authority restrain trade they creates a situation where crony capitalism with its graft and corruption cause prices to soar and bootlegging and fraud to become rapant.

Just as they did in Jesus' day self-righteous arrogant false teachers in the name of religion or doing "good "always take advantage of, deceive and steal from the people. This is the problem in the church today and it is why the USA is in grave danger just as the Jews were in Jesus' day.

Peter warns the church about this in 2Pet 2:1; where he refers to the false prophets" and "false teachers" as purveyors of lies.

The designation "teachers" that Peter uses, refers to any person who is engaged in Christian activity, whether a pastor, evangelist, teacher or church leader so he is referring to anyone who teaches the Bible to others in some manner.

The teachers Peter refers to are "self appointed false prophets" who would "secretly introduce" the Greek word "pareisago" that means to "bring in alongside or along with the truth, destructive heresies".

That is, these false teachers, while teaching truth, would at the same time cleverly, secretly or stealthily include false teaching along with it thereby deceiving the listeners in order to take them captive and enslave them.

This can be said of many who speak in churches today. They delude their congregations with false teachings because they don't want to offend anyone because they have a hidden agenda of maintaining or increasing church membership and they accomplish at the expense of teaching God's Word accurately.

Given this possibility for deception and the mandate not to be deceived found in Col 2:8; it is the believers' responsibility to know the truth so they can discern the lie.

Our attitude should be objective, realizing that in a free society people are free to believe whatever they want. The Invisible War is waged on the premise that free will allows each individual the freedom to choose to believe the truth or accept the lie.

Those who believe the lie will always be among us and outnumber those who believe the truth. Our job is to guide those who are objective to the truth and leave the rest alone for Jesus to deal with.

Our duty is not to be critical of people but to recognize the lie that they believe. The believer must defend the truth and demonstrate it by living it without compromise by using their own free volition that every human being has to choose for the truth rather than the lie.

Most ideologues have an insatiable desire to forcibly impose their ideas or as described by Peter "their merchandise" on everyone because they arrogantly believe their ideas are the best for everyone, especially those who they think are "unenlightened" that they attempt to sway into their sphere of influence.

The confidence the advanced believer has in their relationship with God and their superior knowledge of the truth that is revealed in God's Word provides courage toward adversaries, toward life, and toward circumstances.

Because of this there is no need for believers to be involved in judging those with opposing views. Jesus Christ is the only who has the authority to judge .

Our duty is to discern the thinking and the speech of those with opposing views and to reject their ideas while simultaneously demonstrating integrity love toward them.

The Word of God gives us precise instruction about how to do this in 2Tim 2:23-26; Avoid foolish and ignorant controversies knowing they foment needless battles.

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