Rightly Dividing Scripture

Rightly dividing the Scriptures is very important to me.

God calls us to it in 2 Timothy 2:15 when he tells us,  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (NIV)

When I see someone misquote or misapply Scripture I get very concerned for them; I fear they’re being misled by the enemy.

Taking verses out of context or using only part of a Scripture so that it seems to say something different than it’s actual meaning is a favorite tactic of his.

Seeing people fall for it worries me for their sake.

If it happens in person I will typically try to lead the conversation to a place where I can gently and politely correct them without embarrassing them.

If it’s online I typically just let it go.

Either way, I pray for the person, asking God to educate and correct their understanding so they can learn and be closer to Him.

 

But then –

The world turned upside down.

A lot of people turned to social media and started posting a lot of things about what’s going on concerning the riots.

To be clear – racism in any form is WRONG!

But, so is destructive rioting.

Protesting is a valid and important way of making your beliefs known.

The people need to be heard and this is a good way to make that happen.

 

Part of the conversation on these riots has been with social media posts.

These can be good and helpful tools for communicating and for sharing information.

Sometimes, though, not so much.

 

Which brings me back to my original comments about misquoting Scripture.

 

Recently someone posted this graphic:

 

They care deeply about the plight of the black community and the oppression they’ve dealt with.

To be sure progress has been made since the days of Jim Crow, but we’re still not there yet.

This is what they had in their heart when they posted it.

They were hinting that the riots are a necessary tool to get people’s attention and that even Jesus once destroyed some things as a protest to what was going on.

Unfortunately, that’s not what happened at all.

The story in this graphic comes from Mark 11:15-17:

¹⁵ On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, ¹⁶ and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. ¹⁷ And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

 

Jesus overturned the tables as part of ridding the temple of those people who had invaded it for impure reasons.

They were in the temple to sell animals for sacrifice and to make money off of banking activities instead of being in the temple to worship.

The temple was built specifically as a place to worship God and offer sacrifices.

Anything else that happened in there was disrespectful to God and not permitted.

Jesus was insisting they conduct their business outside the temple where it belonged.

Jesus ran the people out of the temple, not in a display of violence or damage to their property, but to remove the contamination and improper items from the temple.

He was removing anyone who was there for the wrong reason or doing the wrong thing.

Because Jesus is the Son of God, He was removing bad guys from His Father’s house.

He was doing this to protect the integrity and holiness of the temple.

This is akin to shop owners in the modern day riots standing their ground, protecting their shops, and refusing to allow looters in.

 

Notice the phrase “den of robbers”.

Jesus used this phrase because that is what the money changers and those selling doves were trying to make it.

They were using it as a place where they could cheat and take advantage of people.

Israelites from far away would come to the temple to offer sacrifices.

Because they were from other places they would have to exchange their money so they could give to the temple in shekels and ½ shekels, instead of their native currency. The money changers would charge them a large percentage fee (interest) for doing this. They then kept the fee for themselves.

Old Testament law specifically forbids charging interest to fellow Israelites. It permitted charging foreigners. Presumably, they were considering Jews who lived far away as foreigners, despite the fact they were fellow Israelites. (Deuteronomy 23:19-20)

 

The travelers would also have to buy the animals needed for sacrifice once they got there.

The verse specifically mentions those who sell doves.

Those who could afford it would give a lamb for the sacrifice.

Those who were poor and couldn’t afford a lamb could bring doves.

The doves were cheaper and therefore more affordable to poor people.

The ones selling the animals were charging a percentage fee for them on top of the actual price. This made it even harder on the people to be able to participate in proper worship.

This practice also violated the instructions of Deuteronomy 23:19-20

Many of these people were very poor and made the trip to the temple at great personal and financial cost. Yet, they came because they were faithful to God.

The unfair practice of charging fees/interest on top of the selling price made it unnecessarily hard on these people groups and put them at a disadvantage.

Jesus saw this and had it in mind when He removed the merchants from the temple.

He was speaking up for the disadvantaged people groups in a healthy and meaningful way that honored God.

 

Jesus cleared the temple because He knew the truth.

It’s not about money or stuff.

It’s not about taking advantage of disadvantaged people groups.

It’s about honoring God above all else.

 

So, yes, Jesus turned the tables over to defend marginalized people, but it wasn’t the same thing as the current rioters are doing.

It wasn’t a lawless act of destruction.

Jesus wasn’t trying to cause destruction, harm, or financial ruin.

He wasn’t trying to stop people from running their own business.

Jesus didn’t destroy people’s livelihoods or property.

He didn’t take merchandise that wasn’t His.

Instead, Jesus spoke up for His Father’s house – He insisted people honor God and His temple.

He  spoke up in defense of marginalized/disadvantaged people groups and insisted they be treated fairly.

He insisted people stop cheating other people in business.

All of this is a far cry from the looting and burning down of businesses currently being done in the name of protest.

 

Jesus wasn’t causing destruction.

He was giving them boundaries on what they could do and how and where they could do it in a healthy and God-honoring way.

BIG difference.

 

 

For further reading:

The same story is mentioned in Matthew 21:12-13 and John 2:13-17

 

For a very good explanation of this issue, please see this article from the National Catholic Register: Why Jesus Opposed the Moneychangers In the Temple.