Israel
Adam and Eve’s fellowship with God in Eden quickly deteriorated into personal sin, guilt, cultural rebellion, multiplication, scattering, and confused communication among men by Gen 11. In that situation, God chose the small wandering clan of Abraham to establish a covenant relationship of promise and purpose (Gen 12). Three times God affirmed this relationship with Abraham, and each time he declared it would bless all nations (Gen 12, 18, 22). When he renewed the covenant with Isaac (Gen 26) and with Jacob (Gen 28), the blessing to the nations was an integral part. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob blessed his people in order to bless all nations.
When David dedicated the Ark in Jerusalem (1 Chron 16) and when Solomon dedicated the temple (2 Chron 6) they affirmed the purpose was for all the nations to come and worship. The Psalms are filled with references to God’s global purpose for all nations. Isaiah repeatedly declared God’s plan to draw the nations to Jerusalem in worship and to send a Savior for all peoples. These themes echo throughout the Old Testament.
An obvious question is whether God’s people were responsible to actively support God’s purpose for the nations to know him. The evidence is strong that they were called to join wholeheartedly. The Psalms include multiple calls for his people to declare his praise among the nations and for the nations to believe (e.g. Ps 96). God sent Jonah to avert complete destruction of Nineveh, although the success of his mission broke his ethnocentric heart!
Ezekiel declared that God had punished his chosen people for “defiling” what was holy and “profaning” his name among the nations. Their judgment (chap 20) and their eventual restoration (chap 36) occurred because God acted to undo their profaning his name by their sin. Instead of spreading the praise of his glory, his people were obstructing the nations recognizing God’s power, holiness, and love. Essentially, they were bad for his reputation. God’s purpose for all the nations demanded active obedience on the part of his chosen people.
Jesus
This history of harsh punishment for disobedience and working against God’s global purpose is the background to Jesus causing a stir in the temple. When Jesus saw Jerusalem on his last trip to the city, he wept at its sin and coming judgment.
Our Bibles traditionally call what Jesus did the next day a “cleansing,” but Jesus was not cleaning up anything. The temple was not OK once he was done. Jesus declared through dramatic prophecy that the temple was doomed. It is the clearest example of righteous indignation in the Gospels; God’s wrath was coming on the temple and his people.
The temple Jesus knew was not only the temple of Yahweh, it was essentially the national bank of Judea, the largest livestock market in Palestine, and the only tourist attraction in town. The outer Court of the Nations was where God was drawing the seekers and curious from all nations to come worship the Lord. It is the site Zechariah referred to in his prophecy:
So, many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, “In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’” (Zech 8:22-23)
The Court of the Nations was also where worshipers could buy an approved animal for sacrifice and where foreigners had to exchange their coins for temple coins. Before a sacrifice could be offered, both the sheep and the foreigners were fleeced. The animals and the financial interactions were a loud distracting din in the only place set aside for non-Jews to worship.
So, Jesus turned the tables on the money collectors and animal sellers, literally. He also turned over the benches they were sitting on, poured out the thousands of coins collected, drove the animals from the court, stopped people carrying merchandise, and pushed out the Levites who were in charge of it all. He essentially offended the whole Jewish religious/economic system which sealed their hearts against him.
What drove Jesus to take such dramatic and offensive action? It was not some spontaneous temper tantrum, but the clear expression of God’s passion for the nations and his disgust that his people were so misaligned with his love for all. He quoted Isaiah 56 and Jeremiah 7 to declare the coming destruction because the people of God were unchanged by their religious ritual in the temple and were obstructing the prayers of the nations.
The Church
The temple is no longer the locus of God’s plan to redeem the nations. Ever since the Resurrection/Great Commission/Pentecost, the church carries the responsibility and resources for mission to all the world. No longer does the world come to the temple; the church is tasked with going out to the world to declare the Good News.
We Southern Baptists describe ourselves as mission people and we do have the greatest denominational mission program in the world. There are great mission churches where concern for the nations is integral to the DNA of the church, but not the majority. There are also individuals in churches who pray, give, and go sacrificially, but not most members. Many churches give a pittance, some pastors care little for missions, and a large percentage of members give missions no thought at all.
What will Jesus see when he visits your church next Sunday? Will he see his people transformed by his salvation focused on sharing it with the nations? Do we really think it is normal to say we love God, but care very little for his purpose for the whole world? When salvation came to your people, what peoples were you supposed to share it with? During the prelude to worship next Sunday, consider Jesus in the temple and ask him whether your church is aligned with his purpose for you and for the world.
Don Dent is an Emeritus IMB missionary and Senior Professor of Missions at Gateway Seminary. He studied at Mississippi College, GGBTS with Baker James Cauthen, and Malaysia Baptist Theo. Seminary where he earned the Doctor of Missiology with Mark Terry. His daughter, Chesed, and son, Rob, both work to extend missions to the nations. He is the author of The Ongoing Role of Apostles in Missions and the recently published Finding Direction to Redeem the Nations. Don loves reading non-fiction, hunting, and since moving in 2023 to MS from CA is looking for an alternative to kayak shark fishing in the Pacific.