The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and workers from Byblos cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple. – 1 Kings 5:18

Today's Scripture Reading (November 28, 2025): 1 Kings 5

During Passover week, Jesus entered the Temple in Jerusalem and was not pleased with what he found. We often seem to think that the problem Jesus discovered was that commerce, the buying and selling of stuff, was taking place inside the Temple. As a result, some churches have become hesitant to allow the buying and selling of anything within the church. But the truth was much worse. What was being sold in the Temple were the specific things needed for the worship of the God of Israel: the sacrifices and Temple coins. It was not mere commerce about which Jesus was upset.

The Mosaic Law made it clear that sacrifices needed to be perfect. The people were not to bring their leftovers or unwanted items into the Temple for sacrifice. God wants our best (and He still requires our best). Sure, you could offer a newborn lamb from your flock at home, which was the original intent of the Law, but the sacrifice experts at the Temple had become specialists at finding imperfections in a sacrifice. So, if you brought that firstborn lamb from your flock to be sacrificed at the Temple, there was an excellent possibility that you would be returning home with the same lamb because the priests had rejected your sacrifice. Instead, the priests would offer to sell sacrifices from their own herds. The lamb you could purchase from these experts would be pre-approved and guaranteed to pass the Temple inspection. But it was going to cost you. These sacrifices were being sold at a highly inflated price.

The same was true for the Temple coinage. The Temple Tax had to be paid with Temple currency. Wherever you came from, that currency would need to be exchanged for a Temple coin, and again, the money changers at the Temple inflated the prices of the Temple Coin, which meant that paying the Temple tax was going to cost you significantly more than it should have.

All of this had one significant effect: it often stopped people experiencing poverty from fulfilling their religious obligations. They simply couldn't afford the inflated prices they were being forced to pay. So, they didn't. They didn't partake in the sacrificial system; some didn't bother to come to the Temple even during compulsory days, and they didn't believe that it was even possible for them to be full-fledged worshipers of the God of Israel. Some came, but they were made to feel like second-class citizens, not worthy of God's attention. Being an observant Jew had become a privilege of the wealthy.

Enter Jesus. He entered the Temple and declared the charge he had against these Temple merchants to all who were present. "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'" (Mark 11:17). The quote is actually from Isaiah, spoken sometime near the end of the Babylonian Exile. At the time it was written, the Second Temple, also known as Zerubbabel's Temple, was the prophet's primary focus, and later it would become the place where Jesus would drive out the money changers. But Isaiah had written:

And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord
    to minister to him,
to love the name of the Lord,
    and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
    and who hold fast to my covenant—
these I will bring to my holy mountain
    and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
    will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
    a house of prayer for all nations" (Isaiah 56:6-7)

Once again, we are confronted with the idea that the Temple in Jerusalem, both Solomon's and Zerubbabel's, was intended not just for the Jews but for the world. It was to be a Temple for the Nations, all of them. Isaiah insists that Gentiles or non-Jewish people would be brought to God's holy mountain. These Gentiles would love God, keep the Sabbath, and hold fast to the Covenant of God. Because of this, the Temple would be a House of Prayer for the nations, not just a House of Prayer for Israel. It was to be a place of worship for both the rich and the poor. So, perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that foreigners also played a significant role in the construction of Solomon's Temple. The Temple used both material and men foreign to Israel in its construction. From the very beginning, the Temple was embraced by both those living in Israel and those outside the Jewish religious system.

It was a Temple for all of us. And today, the church is to reflect that purpose. The Christian Church exists for all the people, and everyone is welcome within its walls.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 6

See also 2 Chronicles 2:18