"It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"

 

"It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"

 

Luke 19:45–46: "Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, 'It is written, "My house shall be a house of prayer," but you have made it a "den of thieves."'"

Isaiah 56:6–7 states: "For thus says the Lord: 'To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant—even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord... I will bring them 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.'"

While observing the Sabbath—dedicating one day out of the week—might seem like a small commitment, Exodus 31 reveals that the Sabbath served as a sign of an everlasting covenant between God and the children of Israel. This is because keeping the Sabbath required them to reorganize their lives each week, centering them around God. Furthermore, observing the Sabbath entailed upholding justice and practicing righteousness—which meant abstaining from all forms of evil. Such individuals are declared to be blessed.

This leads us to the question: should we, living today, observe the Lord’s Day in the same manner as the Sabbath? Regarding this, the Apostle Paul provides testimony in Romans 14. In verse 5, it is written: "One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Let each of them be fully convinced in their own mind." For Paul, the Sabbath is no longer a binding obligation; rather, it is a matter to be determined by the conviction of one who is in Christ—for those in Christ already enjoy rest within Him.

Furthermore, it is stated that those who uphold justice and practice righteousness—that is, those who are truly blessed—are not defined by their lineage. While the Law of Moses was generally understood to imply that only those of pure Israelite descent could enter the assembly of the Lord, this is no longer the case. Isaiah expands the category of "God’s people" to include foreigners and eunuchs. They are described as those who "hold fast to My covenant"—that is, to God’s covenant. In other words, anyone who observes God’s Sabbath and refrains from all evil is considered one of God’s people.

To such people, God promises a memorial and a name better than that of having biological descendants; He grants them an everlasting name—a name that shall never be cut off. For a eunuch—one without offspring—the absence of descendants might signify the disappearance of his name from history; yet, God promises to engrave his name upon a monument and bestow upon him an everlasting name. Though he may vanish from the annals of earthly history, he is granted a higher, transcendent promise: his name shall endure within eternity.

The passage continues by addressing foreigners. They, too, shall be brought to God’s holy mountain—the place where He dwells—and shall find joy in His house of prayer, the very place where God’s people gather to worship; their burnt offerings and... It is stated that sacrifices will be accepted upon God’s altar. Ultimately, this means that the privilege of offering sacrifices to God is not restricted by lineage; rather, God will gladly receive offerings from Gentiles who love Him, desire in their hearts to serve Him, and obey the Law of Moses. As this brief discussion concludes, it emphasizes even more clearly that the scope of God’s salvation is not limited to Israel but extends to the Gentiles as well.

Jeremiah makes a similar point in Jeremiah 7:11: “Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? But I have seen it—yes, I have seen it! declares the Lord.”

God addresses those who disgrace and defile His temple, asking if they have turned His house into a “den of robbers.” Following God’s command, Jeremiah stands at the temple gate and denounces the hypocritical people of Judah—those who live as they please in their daily lives yet assume that everything is fine simply because they come to the temple.

He points out the corruption of the “chosen people” linked to a distorted temple faith, warns of their ruin, and declares judgment as a consequence of the contamination of their faith. God even gives a startling instruction to the prophet Jeremiah: do not pray for the people who have fallen into syncretism. Jeremiah 7:16–18 reads: “So do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you. Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?” “Do you not see what they are doing? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the ‘queen of heaven.’ They also pour out drink offerings to other gods, provoking Me to anger.”

In the past, God allowed Abraham to pray for the corrupt cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He also sent the prophet Jonah to Nineveh—the capital of Assyria, a nation notorious for its extreme cruelty—to bring about its salvation. Yet, He commanded the prophet Isaiah not to pray for Israel, the people He had chosen as His own. This serves as evidence of just how vehemently Israel—God’s chosen people—had rejected and deceived Him.

The repeated use of similar expressions—“do not pray,” “do not cry out,” “do not intercede”—emphasizes that this was not a temporary prohibition, but a lasting one. Jeremiah had likely been interceding earnestly for the restoration of Israel long before this command was given. However, God had already decreed judgment upon Judah, determining that restoration could only come after that judgment had taken place.

The repeated insistence that no further prayers be offered underscores the magnitude of Israel’s sin and confirms that God’s judgment for that sin would inevitably be carried out. God could no longer tolerate a people who, in their abandonment of Him and their turn toward idolatry, did not merely practice these things in hidden places or secluded corners, but engaged in such corrupt worship openly—in the very streets and public squares of their cities. Even though they were the people He had chosen... Even if one claims to follow God, if one fails to obey His Word and refuses to turn away from a path of sin, God will inevitably hold that person accountable through judgment.

When Jesus went up to the temple, He found many people conducting business there. He drove them out, commanding them not to turn His Father’s house into a marketplace. In the Gospel of Matthew, the Jews ask Him, "What sign can You show us to justify Your actions?" Jesus replies, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Scriptures clarify that He was speaking of His own body—the true temple. Even the disciples did not grasp the meaning at the time; the implication was that the existing temple was no longer necessary, as He would provide the true temple.

It was only after Jesus’ resurrection that the disciples came to understand this. A temple is defined by the presence of God. With the arrival of the true temple, the old temple—which served merely as a shadow bearing God’s name—had to pass away. On one occasion, as the disciples walked with Jesus and remarked on the beauty of the temple, He told them, "Not one stone of this temple will be left standing; it will all be torn down."

The true temple is Jesus Christ, and believers who are in Christ receive power from Him, becoming temples themselves. Thus, a new temple is established within the hearts of believers, where Christ dwells upon His return. The old temple must inevitably fall, for it has become an idol—a manifestation of the human desire to be like God. In the days of Isaiah and Jeremiah, God lamented the placement of idols within the temple, even going so far as to call it a "den of thieves." Today, the hearts of believers in whom this new temple has not yet been established remain, in effect, places of commerce. It is a den of thieves.