The cleansing of the Temple

[nazarene]

The cleansing of the Temple

The Mount of Olives is spoken of in Zechariah 14:4, contained in the surrounding verses are some eschatological events including the return of the Most High [Zechariah 14:5] and the nations being judged [Zechariah 14:12-15] and the nations observing the Feast of Tabernacles [Zechariah 14:16-19].

The only other place that the Mount of Olives is spoken of is in 2 Samuel 15:30, in second Samuel David ascends up the Mount of Olives and whilst he 'passed on a little from the top' [2 Samuel 16:1] he is met by Ziba who then gives him, amongst other things, two asses [2 Samuel 16:2].

Given that these are the only two places in the Tanach that make reference to the Mount of Olives it may be significant that the Gospels speak of the Mount of Olives in association with the approach to Jerusalem on two asses, the cleansing of the Temple and end time events [Matthew 21:1, Mark 11:1, Luke 19:29, Matthew 24:3].

As the Mount of Olives is connected to an expectation concerning the Feast of Tabernacles [Zechariah 14:4, Zechariah 14:16-19], this may help us understand the curious response of the crowd when they welcome Yeshua in Matthew 21.

In Matthew 21 the crowd cut branches from the trees and spread them in the way and they cried out hosanna [Matthew 21:8-9]. These acts seems to be associated with the Feast of Tabernacles. Given that we have a reference to the Mount of Olives [Matthew 21:1], there is then a direct association with the Prophet Zechariah in Matthew 21:5 through a citation of Zechariah 9:9. The citation of which would not only bring to mind the promised Davidic King but the deliverance the Most High would bring and subsequently the additional eschatological events spoken of in chapter 14 of Zechariah. As the Mount of Olives is also connected to David and two asses in 2 Samuel 16 this may further reinforce the significance of the usage of two asses in the Matthew 21:7 and the subsequent cries of 'son of David' [Matthew 21:9] forging another link between the usage of Zechariah 9:9 in Matthew 21:5 and the reference to the Mount of Olives in Matthew 21:1.

Given this contextual backdrop with the incoming King the crowd cut down branches and begin to cry out 'save us' [i.e. hosanna]. In Mishnah Sukkah 4:5 it relates a tradition from the first century concerning the Feast of Tabernacles where willow branches would be gathered and brought to the altar and would be accompanied with the words `we beseech thee, O Lord, save now, we beseech thee, O Lord, make us now to prosper`. Given that the Mount of Olives in Zechariah would have been associated with the Feast of Tabernacles and the coming of the Most High and the deliverance from the nations it would then become understandable why in response to Yeshua riding in on a ass [thus recalling the Prophecy in Zechariah 9:9] the crowd act as though it was the time of the Feast of Tabernacles.

In the time of the Maccabees the Feast of Tabernacles is also associated with the cleansing of the Temple. In 2 Maccabees 10:6, after the Temple was cleansed, the people observed an eight day festival 'as in the Feast of Tabernacles' where they 'bare branches, and fair boughs, and palms also and sang Psalms' [2 Maccabees 10:7]. Even though it was not the time of Tabernacles the people acted as though it were, and so, again, noting the Prophetic significance of Zechariah 9:9 and the closeness to the Mount Olives the people seem to be associating Yeshua to the eschatological events in Zechariah 14 and within this contextual backdrop we have an interesting response by Yeshua.

In the Gospel of John we also have another allusion to Zechariah 14 within the account of the cleansing of the Temple. In John 2:16 Yeshua reprimands those in the Temple and tells them not to make His Fathers House a House of merchandise. As there are already indications of a Tabernacles connection in the other Gospels this also seems to be a reference to Zechariah 14.

In Zechariah 14:21 it looks forward to a Day when 'there should not be a trader in the House of YHWH of Hosts any more' and the Targum of Zechariah also interprets it to mean there will not be 'someone carrying on trade'. By casting out the merchants from the Temple Yeshua is calling to mind the eschatological hopes of Zechariah 14:21. The nations in that Day will be observing the Feast of Tabernacles and serving the King [Zechariah 14:16-19], which leads us to the expectation that the Prophet Isaiah gives in Isaiah 56:7.

In Isaiah 56:7 the Prophet looks forward to the Day when the House of YHWH 'shall be called a House of prayer for all nations'. Just as the Prophet Zechariah looks forward to the Day when the nations come and observe the Feast of Tabernacles and worship the Most High the Prophet Isaiah also connects the nations not only to the Temple but also to the observance of the shabbat [Isaiah 56:6].

By cleansing the Temple of its merchants Yeshua is indicating the in-breaking of the time when the nations will turn from their own idols and worship the Most High, and by citing Isaiah 56:7 [Matthew 21:13] the time when the Temple becomes a House of prayer for all nations in accordance with the Hope of the Prophets.

[nazarene]

שלום!

The inbreaking of the messianic age and the gentiles...

In Matthew the magi come and present some gifts;

Mat 2:11 and having come to the house, they found the child with Mary his mother, and having fallen down they bowed to him, and having opened their treasures, they presented to him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh,

Why these gifts? In the Prophets there is an expectation that the gentiles will bring certain gifts when Zion is restored;

Isa 60:1 Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
Isa 60:2 For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but upon thee the LORD will arise, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.
Isa 60:3 And nations shall walk at thy light, and kings at the brightness of thy rising.
Isa 60:4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: they all are gathered together, and come to thee; thy sons come from far, and thy daughters are borne on the side.
Isa 60:5 Then thou shalt see and be radiant, and thy heart shall throb and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned unto thee, the wealth of the nations shall come unto thee.
Isa 60:6 The caravan of camels shall cover thee, and of the young camels of Midian and Ephah, all coming from Sheba; they shall bring gold and incense, and shall proclaim the praises of the LORD.

They would bring 'gold and incense', the Septuagint further elaborates by what it means by incense;

Isa 60:6 and the camels of Madiam and Gaepha shall cover thee: all from Saba shall come bearing gold, and shall bring frankincense, and they shall publish the salvation of the Lord.

The Targum of Isaiah also interprets incense here as frankincense;

Isaiah 60:6 A multitude of Arabians shall cover thee round about, the dromedaries of Midian and Holad, all of them from Sheba shall come: they shall be laden with gold and frankincense, and those that are coming with them, shall shew forth the praises of the Lord.

By the bringing of the gifts the magi are indicating the restoration of Zion and the time when the nations shall come to it and walk in its light.

This sets the scene for the citation of Isaiah 56:7 and the allusion to Zechariah 14:21 in the Gospel of Yochanan.

Mat 21:13 And He said to them, It has been written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer," but you have "made it a den of plunderers." Isa. 56:7; Jer. 7:11

Yeshua looks to the time when the Temple would become a House of prayer for all nations, as Isaiah speaks of;

Isa 56:4 For so says Jehovah to the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths and choose things I am pleased with, and take hold of My covenant:
Isa 56:5 I, even I will give to them in My house and in My walls a hand and a name better than sons and than daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which shall not be cut off.
Isa 56:6 And the sons of the alien who join themselves on Jehovah to serve Him, and to love the name of Jehovah, to be His servants, everyone who keeps from defiling the sabbath, and takes hold of My covenant:
Isa 56:7 even them I will bring to My holy mount and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted on My altar, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the peoples,
Isa 56:8 states the Lord Jehovah, who gathers the outcasts of Israel; I will yet gather beside him his gathered ones.

The expectation that “My House shall be called a House of Prayer for all the peoples” is connected to the previous verses, and attached with the expectation is that the gentiles would “join themselves to YHWH” and also “keeps from defiling the shabbat”, in these verses there is an expectation that the gentiles would observe the shabbat.

Matthew 21 is not the only place in the Gospels which looks forward to a time when gentiles will observe the shabbat and even observe shabbats in relation to feasts;

Mar 9:47 And if thine eye causes thee to fall, pluck it out; it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into hell,
Mar 9:48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is never quenched.

Mark 9:48 speaks of the worm not dying and the fire not being quenched, the only place in the Scriptures which has this kind of expectation is in Isaiah;

Isa 66:22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.
Isa 66:23 And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another and from one sabbath to another all flesh shall come to worship before me, said the LORD.
Isa 66:24 And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that rebelled against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Yeshua is looking forward to the time of the coming Kingdom, and allusion to Isaiah 66:24 is very evident, looking again at the preceding verses again there is an expectation that “all flesh shall come to worship” and this worship is taking place from “one new moon to another and from one shabbat to another”. Given that Isaiah has already indicated that gentiles would be coming to the Temple and observing the shabbat, it makes sense to speak in terms of “one shabbat to another”. “All flesh” would then include even the gentiles.

The coming of the nations to serve and worship the Most High within the context of the shabbats is then alluded too in the Gospel of Yochanan;

Joh 2:16 and said unto those that sold the doves, Take these things away from here; do not make my Father's house a house of merchandise.

A house of merchandise is an allusion to Zechariah;

Zec 14:16 And every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of the hosts, and to celebrate the feast of the tabernacles.
Zec 14:17 And it shall be that whoever will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of the hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
Zec 14:18 And if the family of Egypt does not go up and does not come, there shall be no rain upon them; instead there shall be the plague, with which the LORD will smite the Gentiles that do not come up to celebrate the feast of the tabernacles.
Zec 14:19 This shall be the punishment of the sin of Egypt and of the sin of all the Gentiles that do not come up to celebrate the feast of the tabernacles.
Zec 14:20 In that day there shall be written upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD's house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
Zec 14:21 And every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of the hosts; and all those that sacrifice shall come and take of them and cook therein; and in that time there shall be no more merchandizing in the house of the LORD of the hosts.

If we include the citation of Isaiah 56:7 which would bring to mind the nations worshipping in the Temple and observing the shabbat it would make sense to connect the expectation of Zechariah that those of the nations would be observing the Feast of Tabernacles within their context of worship.

These three places [Matthew 21:13, Mark 9:48, John 2:16] combined demonstrate the expectation that Yeshua had about the shabbat, that it had not been done away with, far from it, but it still has a very special place in the Plan of the Most High.