Moed Ministries International
The video version
of this teaching is available at:
The scripture reading for this
teaching is Mark 11:12-21
Yeshua traveled to Jerusalem and
specifically to the Temple many times in his lifetime. The earliest account recorded in the gospels
is when He is just twelve years old and astounds the scribes and Pharisees with
His knowledge of the scriptures.
Luke
2:46-47 NKJV 46 Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the
temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking
them questions. 47 And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding
and answers.
Throughout the gospels, the Temple is
a central focal point of Yeshua’s ministry as well as the center of Jewish
faith and practices of the day. Yeshua
observes all the festivals and holidays by making the pilgrimage from His
headquarters in the Galilee to Jerusalem.
Along the road He constantly brings the message of repentance for the
kingdom of God is at hand.
But this time, as He approaches
Jerusalem from the East, something was different. Yeshua stops and weeps over the city as it
comes into view from atop the Mount of Olives. Before entering the city, he
approaches a fig tree looking for its fruit, and seeing none, He curses the fig
tree, forbidding it from bearing fruit in the future. What is different about this trip to
Jerusalem? Why does Yeshua weep when He
sees the city? And what is the
significance of cursing the fig tree?
The
curse of the fig tree, which we discussed at length in our last teaching was,
in essence a prophetic sign of the judgement that was to come upon the city and
the Jewish people. It was not, as much
of Christianity has taught, a repudiation of the Old Testament, of Judaism and
Jewish religious practices, but was a judgment on that generation for their
failure to repent and return to God.
Up
to this time Yeshua’s entire ministry was about repentance and the kingdom of
God, not only coming but being obtainable in the here and now. But this
generation had failed to repent, and disaster was no longer avoidable. The cursing of the fig tree harkens back to a
parable involving a fig tree.
Luke 13:6-9 NKJV 6 He also spoke this
parable: "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he
came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 "Then he said to the keeper of
his vineyard, 'Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree
and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?' 8 "But he
answered and said to him, 'Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around
it and fertilize it. 9 'And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you
can cut it down.'"
Just
as the owner of the vineyard and the fig tree in this parable searched for the
fruit of the tree, so too was the Master Yeshua looking to find the first fruit
of the fig tree that day.
This
prophetic sign was not unlike those of the prophets of old; Jeramiah and his
belt, Ezekiel with two sticks, etc. The
words of the prophet Micha may have come to the mind of the disciples when
Yeshua encountered the fig tree.
Micah 7:1-3 NKJV 1 Woe is me! For I am
like those who gather summer fruits, Like those who glean vintage grapes; There
is no cluster to eat Of the first-ripe fruit which my soul desires. 2 The
faithful man has perished from the earth, And there is no one upright among
men. They all lie in wait for blood; Every man hunts his brother with a net. 3
That they may successfully do evil with both hands-The prince asks for gifts,
The judge seeks a bribe, And the great man utters his evil desire; So they
scheme together.
Yeshua
was looking for repentance and righteousness in this generation, but what He
found was violence, corruption and greed.
Yeshua did not curse the fig tree out of anger at not finding something
to eat, but to illustrate the failure of this generation to bear the fruit of
repentance.
Habakkuk 3:16-17 NKJV 16 When I heard,
my body trembled; My lips quivered at the voice; Rottenness entered my bones;
And I trembled in myself, That I might rest in the day of trouble. When he
comes up to the people, He will invade them with his troops. 17 Though the fig
tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive
may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from
the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls-
At
this point, the Jewish people had a long history of failing to follow God and
His Torah. Many times judgment had
befallen them. The temple had already been
destroyed once before and the people exiled from the land. Their more recent
iniquity dated back to the time of the Hasmonaean kings, an era that was filled
with civil wars where many thousands of Jews were killed in battles between
rival factions and contenders for the throne.
Under
the current Roman rule, the violence and corruption continued. The Herodians and Hellenists, themselves
Jews, brought a mixing of the culture and pagan practices of Greeks and a
blending of the worship of idols with the worship of God. All this being the very same things which
resulted in past judgments and exile.
With
the failure of this generation to repent, the coming judgment was inevitable. Yeshua stood on the Mount of Olives, with a
panoramic view of Jerusalem before him, and He wept! This generation did not
recognize their peril; they refused to heed the call to repentance; they did
not recognize the day of their visitation!
Following
Yeshua’s triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem, He proceeded to the Temple
to have a look around. He would have
observed that the southern portico had been transformed into a market
place. It was the beginning of the preparations
for Passover. Thousands of pilgrims were
already arriving. The temple courts
would be filled with people looking to purchase their Passover lambs and other
sacrificial items. The annual Temple Tax
of the half Shekel was due and by order of the Sanhedrin, could only be paid
with a certain type of coin not in common circulation. Money changers were present to make the exchange
of currency convenient but somewhat expensive. The apostle John describes the
scene.
John 2:13-14 NKJV 13 Now the Passover
of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And He found in the
temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers doing
business.
After
Yeshua’s initial observations, He returned to Bethany with the rest of His disciples
for the night.
Mark 11:11 NKJV 11 And Jesus went into
Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as
the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.
The
next morning Yeshua returned to the Temple and began to throw out the merchants
and money changers.
Mark 11:15-17 NKJV 15 So they came to
Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who
bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers
and the seats of those who sold doves. 16 And He would not allow anyone to
carry wares through the temple. 17 Then He taught, saying to them, "Is it
not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But
you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"
Contrary
to much of the traditional church teaching, Yeshua did not object to the temple
worship practices and, by extension, the sacrificial system. On the contrary He upheld it! His actions go to the heart of this
unrepentant generation and the judgment that awaits them. Yeshua sought to
cleanout the Temple, His Father’s house, of the blatant commercialism and
corruption which had taken up residence there. Just as with the practices of
the days of preparation before Passover, where one’s home is cleaned of all
leaven, Yeshua was cleansing His Father’s house of the leaven, that is the sin,
which was present in its courts.
Merchants
in the Temple courts would provide livestock, grain, flour, oil, and wine for
libations, selling them at a premium to the arriving pilgrims. The items sold by these merchants would have
been “pre-approved” by the priests thereby avoiding the long and arduous
process of have one’s own supply “certified” by the priests for use as their sacrifices
and offerings.
These
merchants and moneychangers operated under license of the high priest and
charged a large fee with profits lining the pockets of the high priest, his
co-conspirators, and other high-ranking officials.
It
probably took some time for Yeshua to go through the Temple courts, chasing the
merchants and scattering the moneychangers. and all that time, no one laid a
hand on Him. News of Yeshua’s rampage through the Temple courts quickly reached
the high priest and the religious leaders.
Mark 11:18-19 NKJV 18 And the scribes
and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they
feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching. 19 When
evening had come, He went out of the city.
Yeshua
was certainly not the only one to have objections to the rampant marketing and
commercialization of the Temple. Those
of His followers who came to Jerusalem with Him on this journey up from Jericho
would also have been at the temple that morning preparing for their own
Passover celebration. They would certainly
have witnessed Yeshua’s rampage through the Temple courts and perhaps even
cheered Him on.
The
Pharisees, who were bitter rivals of the Sadducees, and especially of Annas and
his son-in-law Caiaphas, the current high priest, were not unhappy with Yeshua’s
actions and probably supported it in some ways as well.
Yeshua’s
disruption of the merchants and moneychangers was a direct assault on the
corrupt leadership of the high priest and the Sanhedrin. The prophets Jeremiah
and Ezekiel wrote of the corruption of the high priesthood.
Jeremiah 6:12-13 NKJV 12 And their
houses shall be turned over to others, Fields and wives together; For I will
stretch out My hand Against the inhabitants of the land," says the LORD.
13 "Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone
is given to covetousness; And from the prophet even to the priest, Everyone
deals falsely.
And
the prophet Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 22:26 NKJV 26 "Her
priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished
between the holy and the unholy, nor have they made known the difference
between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My
Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
Some
forty years later, during the first Jewish revolt, the corrupt Sadducees were
all but wiped out when they became the first targets of the Zealots. They were killed for their collusion with the
Romans.
Yeshua’s
cleaning out of His Father’s house calls to mind Psalm 69:9
Psalms 69:9 NKJV 9 Because zeal for Your
house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen
on me.
Much
of traditional church doctrine looks upon Yeshua’s actions in the Temple that
day as a disdain for the Temple and its practices. But just the opposite is the
case. Yeshua’s love for the Temple is
what is demonstrated by His actions! The
prophet Malachi speaks of the refining fire of the Messiah.
Malachi 3:1-5 NKJV 1 "Behold, I
send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom
you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," Says the LORD of hosts. 2
"But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He
appears? For He is like a refiner's fire And like launderer's soap. 3 He will
sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And
purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the LORD An offering in
righteousness. 4 "Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem Will be
pleasant to the LORD, As in the days of old, As in former years. 5 And I will
come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers,
Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners
and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien-Because they
do not fear Me," Says the LORD of hosts.
The
Master Yeshua quoted the prophet Isaiah to declare the Court of the Gentiles to
be a sanctified and holy part of the Temple.
This area was a more recent addition to the Temple mount, and was built
by Herod the Great. Perhaps Annas and Caiaphas justified holding a public
market there because it was outside the boundaries of the original Temple area.
Yeshua was demonstrating that the Court of the Gentiles, by its very nature and
existence was a fulfilment of the Isaiah prophecy.
Isaiah 56:6-7 NKJV 6 "Also the
sons of the foreigner Who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, And to
love the name of the LORD, to be His servants-Everyone who keeps from defiling
the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant- 7 Even them I will bring to My holy
mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and
their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a
house of prayer for all nations."
Clearly
Yeshua was declaring the court of the Gentiles was indeed a sanctified part of
His Father’s house!
After
He had finished his work of clearing out the merchants and moneychangers,
Yeshua began to teach.
Mark 11:17 NKJV 17 Then He taught,
saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of
prayer for all nations'? But you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"
In
this teaching, Yeshua is quoting from two of the prophets. The first is found in Isaiah 56:7 which we
just read, the other is found in Jeremiah 7:11
Jeremiah 7:11 NKJV 11 "Has this
house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes?
Behold, I, even I, have seen it," says the LORD.
Jeremiah
was warning the priesthood of his day that their abuses and apostacy would
result in severe judgment and ultimately the destruction of the House of
God. By quoting Jeremiah, Yeshua was
giving the same warning to Annas, Caiaphas and the corrupt priesthood and
leadership of this time as well. The
remainder of Jeremiah’s warning is also recalled here.
Jeremiah 7:12-14 NKJV 12 "But go
now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see
what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. 13 "And
now, because you have done all these works," says the LORD, "and I
spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called
you, but you did not answer, 14 "therefore I will do to the house which is
called by My name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you
and your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
The
priesthood of Yeshua’s day had turned the Temple and its courts into their own
“den of thieves!” Yeshua’s actions certainly angered the leaders but they
feared to act on the account of the people’s support for Yeshua of Nazareth.
Mark 11:18 NKJV 18 And the scribes and
chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared
Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.
Yeshua’s
attack on the merchants and moneychangers may not have had a lasting
effect. Later that same day or the next,
it would have been business as usual.
But the effect on the chief priests and leaders was profound and
lasting. They certainly had an even
greater motivation after this to have Yeshua arrested and killed. They would have attempted to arrest Yeshua that
very day if it were not for the multitudes who adored Him.
Luke 19:47-48 NKJV 47 And He was
teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the
leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, 48 and were unable to do anything;
for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.
It
appears that Yeshua’s actions in the Temple along with His teaching took a
major part of the day because it became evening and He left the city once
again.
Mark 11:19 NKJV 19 When evening had come, He went out of the city.
The
next morning, Yeshua once again entered Jerusalem, this time for the last
time! As they were on the short journey,
they again passed the fig tree which Yeshua had sought fruit to eat, the
disciples noticed that it had withered.
Mark 11:20-21 NKJV 20 Now in the
morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21
And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You
cursed has withered away."
In
just one day the fig tree had withered! The fig tree is often used as a metaphor
to represent the nation of Israel. Each year, as the trees bear fruit, it is
like a generation has come and gone. The generation of this fig tree had born
no fruit. But there is a promise for
another generation. Yeshua taught His
disciples using another parable concerning a fig tree found in Mark chapter 13
verses 28 through 31.
Mark 13:28-31 NKJV 28 "Now learn
this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and
puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 "So you also, when you
see these things happening, know that it is near--at the doors! 30
"Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till
all these things take place. 31 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My
words will by no means pass away.
This
generation of Israel had rejected Yeshua’s message of repentance and the coming
of the kingdom of God. They had turned
away from the hour of their visitation.
But we can hold onto this promise and when we see the tender leaves of
the fig tree, look up to the mountain of the LORD because our hour of
visitation has come once again!
Study Questions:
1. In this teaching, we demonstrated that Yeshua
considered the entire Temple Mount to be the sanctified House of God. The merchants and moneychangers set up shop
inside the Court of the Gentiles. Compare this situation with the prophecy in
Zechariah 14:16-21 where he said there would be no Canaanite in the House of
God. Isaiah 56:7 says that the House of
God is for “all nations,” Jew and Gentile.
How are these two prophecies not in conflict with each other?
2. Using the fig tree, Yeshua illustrates for his
followers that judgement is coming to that generation because of their lack of
repentance. However, many individuals
believed in Yeshua as Messiah but also, to some degree suffered the effects of
the coming judgment. What are some other examples in the Bible where judgement
was executed on Israel as a whole, while individuals were saved? How were their lives affected by the national
judgment?
3. In the prophecy spoken by Yeshua in Mark
13:28-31, verse 30 is often singled out and quoted by prophecy teachers as
referring to our own generation today. For instance, the generation born from
the time of the founding of the modern nation of Israel (1948) or the retaking
of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount (1967). In the broader context of the
passage, and in the scope of Yeshua’s other parables and teachings as well as
considering the generational aspect of the sign of the cursing of the fig tree,
is this common interpretation valid?
What would be an alternate interpretation and perhaps a more likely
future fulfillment of this prophecy?
4. In removing the merchants and moneychangers,
Yeshua was directing His righteous judgment, not necessarily against them, but
against the corruption of the priesthood.
What are the words of the prophets regarding a corrupt and greedy Levites
and priesthood?
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