What the Bible says about Cleansing of the Temple
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Haggai 2:10-23 The Bible contains the record of one extended family of people and its checkered history with God. The book of Genesis reveals the beginning of Israel through the fathers, and Exodus shows their first faltering steps. Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy define what God required of them—namely, for them to be holy. Joshua through II Chronicles contain their many adventures and misadventures as they continually turned from God. God also inspired seventeen prophetic books in the Old Testament to instruct His people, to correct them, and to warn them. These books were penned mostly before their captivity, but several were written after the Babylonian captivity of the Kingdom of Judah. The book of Haggai is one such post-exilic work. The immediate application of the prophecies it contains is the work on the Second Temple, but they incorporate definite dualities with end-time events. Of note in the last two prophecies of Haggai is God's desire to bless His covenant people, even when they do not deserve it. They stress that God blesses to improve the condition of His people, especially spiritually. Haggai received the last two prophecies on the same day. Haggai 2:10 and 20 identify that day as the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, which is called Kislev (or Chislev). Kislev falls during November and December on the Gregorian calendar, near the beginning of winter. This date—Kislev 24—is easy to find on the calendar because it is always the day before the Jews celebrate Hanukkah on the twenty-fifth of Kislev. These prophecies in Haggai were given on, and refer to, the previous day. Historically, this date has been highly significant on several occasions. It was on Kislev 24 that the Temple was freed from its desecration by Antiochus IV (“Epiphanes”). The cleansing of the Temple began that evening, which, since it was after sunset, was technically Kislev 25. That is the origin of Hanukkah. A lesser-known fact is that it was also on Kislev 24 in 1917, during WWI, that British troops liberated Jerusalem from the Ottoman Empire. We can see that this is a significant date in Jerusalem's history, and considering the dualities of these prophecies, it may be significant again. David C. Grabbe Cleansing God's People Related Topics: | Babylonian Captivity | Cleansing God's People | Cleansing of Sanctuary | Cleansing of the Temple | Desecration of Temple | Dualism | Haggai | Hanukkah | Israel's Failure as a Nation | Israel's Failure in the Wilderness | Israel's Faithlessness | Israel's Unfaithfulness | Ottoman Empire | Prophetic Duality | Prophetic Events, Timing of | Second Temple

Haggai 2:19 God does not specify explicitly what the blessing will be in this first Kislev 24 prophecy, though verse 19 (“Is the seed still in the barn?”) hints at it. Certainly, it was a blessing to have a Temple again to restore the proper worship of God. On later dates, it was also a blessing to have the Temple liberated and cleansed, and it was likewise a blessing to have Jerusalem freed from the Ottoman Empire early in the twentieth century. But these are all lesser applications of the blessing that was truly needed. Verse 19 becomes clear with the next Kislev 24 prophecy, which is about divine leadership, ultimately found in Jesus Christ. David C. Grabbe Cleansing God's People Related Topics: Christ's Cleansing of the Heavenly Sanctuary | Cleansing God's People | Cleansing of Sanctuary | Cleansing of the Temple | Duality of Prophecy | Ottoman Empire

Matthew 21:18-22 Jesus' miracle involving the fig tree (Matthew 21:18-22; Mark 11:12-14, 20-24) is the only one in which He brings judgment by a miracle. All the other miracles are acts of goodness and mercy. This miracle, which can also be classified as a parable, is recorded in more detail in Mark than in Matthew. Mark's chronology is also more detailed, showing its correlation with other events, clarifying, for instance, that this miracle and the cleansing of the Temple took place within two days. Having gone through several days of conflict and tension, Jesus now needed to find a place of love, gratitude, and peace to rest and meditate on soon-coming events. He found it with His friends in Bethany. This setting contrasted markedly to Satan's world, designed to be hectic with its constant pressure to keep people from thinking deeply about anything of true value. Satan knows that if he can make us busy, it is easier to make us sin. Martin G. Collins The Miracles of Jesus Christ: The Withering of a Fig Tree Related Topics: Cleansing of the Temple | Miracles of Christ :Withering of Fig Tree | Miracles of Christ: Withering the Fig Tree

 

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