House of Prayer

Luke 19:45-46 When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. "It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be a house of prayer'; but you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"

Keywords: prayer, robbers

Prayer is a dialogue between God and His people.[1] Throughout the Bible, there are individuals who practice praying. Abraham, Moses, and Joshua are the few who held meaningful prayer lives bringing about positive outcomes for the people. David was a mighty warrior who knew that his success was because of his fellowship and prayers to God. Solomon prayed for wisdom but was granted much more. Jesus prayed many hours to God both day and night. The disciples continue to focus on prayer during their tribulations.

Robbery was punishable up to the crucifixion. During the time of Jesus, the Roman authority would punish robbers. This is an individual or group of individuals that would purposely take things that belonged to someone else.[2] Although in the scripture, the money is not being taken by force, the individuals are making a profit on the animals and the money exchanges.

To put this situation in current times, let's think of going to the movies. The latecomers are seated in the back. There are no walls between the back of the theater and the concession stand. The movie is hard to hear because you are seated so far back, now you can hear the concession workers offering hot dogs, popcorn, and drinks to all that are coming in after you. This is a bad situation.

The temple was set up for all the Jewish men to be in the front, Jewish women and children in the next area, and non-Jewish individuals behind them. The people selling animals for sacrifice and exchanging money for temple currency were behind the non-Jewish individuals. The animals were purchased at the temple to prevent the long travel for the animals. The animals were sold at higher prices. A sacrifice is something that brings about emotion to separate from it. The person is purchasing an animal that was not raised by them. Can this really be called a sacrifice?

Bibliography

Hatchett, Randy. “Prayer.” In Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1291-1293. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2015.

Martin, John A. “Luke.” In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament, edited by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, 199-265. Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 1984.

Matthews, LeBron. “Robbery.” In Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1373. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2015.

Scott, Jr., J. Julius. Jewish Background of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1995.

[1] Randy Hatchett, “Prayer,” in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2015), 1291-1293. [2] Lebron Matthews, “Robbery,” in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2015), 1373.