No table left unturned...

Matthew 21:12-13
"And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves."

Could it be that when Jesus came into the temple, He was disturbed, not because what they were doing was wrong but more so...displaced?

Was it that the moneychangers and the sellers were not doing their business outside of those walls? You see, as long as they sat within the temple...they were gaining something for themselves but in truth, if they didn't get themselves up and take their trade outside those walls, they were stealing from God!

Isaiah 54:2 says,
"Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;"

You see, by remaining inside the four walls of the church...warming the "seats", we are doing an injustice.

As we were praying this morning, I saw a very clear picture of something. There is a variation of this account of Jesus going into the temple and it's found in John 2:12-16. Take a look...

"After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days. And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 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; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise."

Now, Isaiah says that we are to lengthen our cords and I believe that it is not a coincidence that Jesus made a scourge from "small cords". You see, He put in his hand the proof that they had "spared" an rebuked them with it!

Would anyone want to believe that God would say such a thing as "Why are these tables in My house? Why are you sitting here? Get out of My house!"

Perhaps not but this was the message of Jesus!

I pray, "Lord, let there be no table overturned in this personal temple. Don't allow me to be sparing! And Lord, let your church be the House of Prayer that you intended! Reveal the small cords...and get us out!"