Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” – Genesis 22:14 (NLT)
The Temple – The Holy Week Series – Part 2
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6
How does one prepare for a week that, by its end, will see everything changed?
The city was overflowing with pilgrims; the temple had an endless stream of pray-ers and sacrifice-ers and those preparing for the feast.
The Temple was built on the same spot that God had asked Abraham to sacrifice his firstborn son, Isaac, to him. For Jew and non-jew alike, it was a central part of the community. It always had been. It was where one met with God.
Under Roman occupation, Roman coins had to be used to make purchases in the marketplace. However, certain temple traditions and practices required the use of traditional Jewish coins. Lenders and money changers were set up in the Temple to exchange Roman coins for the ones needed. They started selling sacrificial animals just in case people who traveled to Jerusalem couldn’t bring their own, and in case someone's sacrifice was found to be unclean.
All these practices began with the motivation to help people; to ensure no one was without a sacrifice. But over time, it was polluted by greed. A fee was charged to change from Roman coins to the Jewish needed, and animal prices climbed beyond what was fair. It became near impossible for the poor to keep sacrifice, while “money-lenders” and “sacrifice merchants” lined their pockets off the back of religious custom and tradition.
The place for prayer had been turned into a den of profit.
Have you ever wondered why Abraham so willingly climbed Mount Moriah all those years prior, leading his son to what he thought would be his death? Sure, maybe he protested a little, but he made no show of resistance to God’s request. I’ve heard preachers say that that was because Abraham was obedient and full of faith. An example for us all. But if God asked me to do that, there’s only one answer I would give him:
NO.
All the no’s in all the world.
But human sacrifice wasn't an uncommon practice during Abrahams time. Perhaps he thought that it was a sign that God was just like all the other Gods, requiring what was most dear to us to be offered up; killed and sacrificed.
So Abraham did what everyone did when asked by a God to do something: He packed up Isaac, journeyed to the Mount, and arrived at the spot. Genesis 22 tells us that as he prepared to do this, he looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of Isaac. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Now, this same site had become a place where men were profiting from other people's desire and desperation to connect with the Divine.
The temple, The Lord's house of prayer, had become a place where negotiations were bargained and sacrifices were turned away if the price was not right.
It's no wonder that after teaching at the Temple that day, Jesus drove out these people and their practices. He wanted to remind everyone of what had happened in that very place years ago… God provided. It was a prophetic act announcing the availability of the Divine.
Just a few days later, the 4-inch thick curtain sectioning off the Holy of Holies within this very temple would be torn right down the middle revealing an empty stage. God cannot be bought, bribed or bargained for. He can only be found whenever and wherever you look for him.
This is our Holy Week Series from 2017 – Join us in our App for a fresh look at the week leading up to Easter.
Go to Blessed Are The Powerful – The Holy Week Series – Part 3 »
Written by Liz Milani
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