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Category: Personal Study
Thread: Game of Thrones
Post Topic: Hidden Prophecies of the Old Testament
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Scripture: Psalm 69:9; John 2:13-17
Bringing the Bible to Life
Today’s culture portrays Jesus as the picture of love and kindness. A man who accepts and tolerates everyone and everything. But John 2 paints a very different portrait. Filled with anger and passion, he deliberately fashions a whip and drives men, women, and livestock out of the temple courtyard. How do we explain this emotion? Perhaps it was something deeper than anger. An Old Testament psalm provides unexpected insight through a hidden prophecy.
Warning – this insight will cause us to inspect the depth of our own convictions.
Key Verses (but read both passages):
Psalm 69:9
zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables… 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
John 2:15; John 2:17
Imagine
Jesse’s Lamb
Jesse led his lamb around the courtyard toward the inspection line, staring at the towering sanctuary in awe. He hadn’t made the pilgrimage to the Holy City and its temple since his childhood. It was even more grandiose than he remembered. The gold plated walls glittered in the sunlight. Smoke rose from the altar inside the inner courts, smelling of blood and death, but Jesse knew those offering brought him life. The thought of it was glorious…
An elbow dug into his shoulder blades. “Don’t just stand there!”
“Sorry.” Jesse shuffled forward.
A priest approached, looking down at Jesse’s lamb. “He’s awful small. Where’d you get him?”
“I brought him with me. He lost weight on the trip.”
The priest lifted the lamb’s ear. He scratched behind it, frowning. “No, this won’t do. It must be an unblemished lamb.”
“But I checked him this morning! I can’t afford-“
“You’re supposed to bring the best of your lot. That’s why they call it a sacrifice. My friend over there will help you. You can trade it for a goat if you can’t afford another sheep. Next!”
I did bring the best of my lot. I bet that friend of the priest is giving him kickbacks. But what can I do? They won’t take my offering. “Father, please know I tried.”
Jesse shuffled toward the main livestock booth, tugging at the lamb. “Well, Zeke, looks like you’ve caught a break.”
Jesse and Zeke both jumped at the sound of a whip cracking through the air. Screams rang out. Bellows and bleats and pounding hooves added to the din. Jesse dove out of the way of a rush of animals, losing his grip on Zeke’s cord.
“Get these out of here!” A red-faced man with a whip ripped at the wood fences, tearing a bigger hole in the pen. “Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”
The whip kept temple guards at bay. Someone called out the name Jesus. This was the Nazarene he’d heard so much about? The love your enemies teacher?
“Hosanna!” a chorus of voices called in support of the Rabbi.
The whip wrapped around the legs of another table. Jesus gave it a powerful jerk, sending coins flying everywhere. “You’ve turned this Holy place into a den of thieves!”
Jesse crawled backward, trying to avoid the stampede of fleeing merchants and animals. Table after table was overturned. He watched the man, full of awe, not sure how to process what he was seeing. And hearing.
“My Father’s house,” the man had said.
One word came to Jesse’s mind. Zeal. Like King David himself had sung. Zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me. Could David have been prophecying about this man?
Observations
The Observation step describes what we notice when reading our passage. The next step, Interpretation, gets into what it means.
As you read the passage, what observations strike you? Don’t make this hard – just make a list. Then, open our observations below and compare. You’re likely to find things we’ve missed.
Our Observations (click to open)
Psalm 69:9
Verse 9 takes a different tone than the rest of the chapter. David talks about his shame, almost certainly thinking about some of his most terrible sins. He talks about how guilty and weak he is, mocked by his enemies. Only in verse 9 does he speak about his zeal for the Lord’s house.
The Cleansing in John 2
- Jesus took time to fashion a whip. This was a deliberate, thought-out act.
- Jesus was angry.
- The disciples witnessed the cleansing. Like Jesse in my story, they recalled the words of David about zeal for the house of the Lord.
Aftermath
- Jesus was asked for a sign to demonstrate his authority.
- He told them that if they destroyed the temple, that in three days he’d raise it back up again.
- They didn’t understand that he was speaking metaphorically. They scoffed, pointing out that it had taken 46 years to build the temple.
- Later, the disciples remembered this conversation. It helped them believe that the resurrection was true.
Context
Psalm 69 is a song of sadness. David is crying out to God for help with his enemies, using the analogy of a shipwrecked man.
This account in John 2 is the first record of Jesus cleansing the temple of the merchants. He does it again late in his ministry, during the final week of his life. On both occasions, it happened during Passover week, when pilgrims from all over Israel would have journeyed to Jerusalem to worship.
Interpretation
Takeaways
Righteous Anger is Biblical
Christians may differ on whether we should ever exhibit anger. It’s clear though that Jesus demonstrated righteous anger in this scene. The temple grounds should have been a place to prepare hearts for worship and sacrifice. Instead, it had become a marketplace where worshippers were often cheated out of their funds. The defilement of this holy place sparked deep emotion in Christ.
Righteous anger should be a rare emotion for us, but it can be a legitimate emotion. If someone is being abused, for example, it is fair to be angry at the abuser. If the Word of God is being misused to lead people away from a relationship with God, that should spark zeal in us too.
Fulfilled prophecy is faith-building
John 2:22 is interesting. The word then is included in the NIV, making it seem as though the disciples didn’t believe in the resurrection until after recalling these words of Jesus. Most other translations state it differently. What’s certain is that Jesus’ prophetic words about his own destruction and resurrection on the third day was faith-building for these men, who all went on to endure severe persecution for their belief.
This is one reason we have begun a new series on fulfilled prophecy. It strengthens our faith to see the fulfillment of God’s plan throughout the ages.
Zeal is intentional
How long do you think it took Jesus to fashion a whip? Zeal is not the same as anger. Anger passes. Our zeal for God should make us intentional every day about finding ways to serve him.
Zeal will lead to persecution
In Psalm 69, David talks about how he is persecuted and mocked for NO REASON except for his zeal for the house of the Lord. The second half of verse 9 says that he will gladly take the insults on his own back rather than to let God be insulted.
In John 2, the disciples recall these words of David. The MacArthur study Bibles notes that the disciples were afraid that Jesus’ actions would precipitate the same type of persecution that David faced.
One of the words is in the verse is consumed. Certainly, Jesus was consumed with zeal when he cleansed the temple. But you could also say that Jesus was consumed because of his zeal, unto death on the cross.
People will mock us and even hate us when we are passionate for Christ.
Correlation
Romans 15:3 – For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”
Here Paul also quotes Psalm 69:9, focusing on the second half of the verse rather than the zeal. In the next verse, Paul goes on to say that all that has been written in the Scriptures is there to encourage us and to give us hope. Clearly, he is pointing to David’s words as messianic in nature. Paul’s reference confirms that Psalm 69:9 was a prophecy about Jesus and the temple.
How does Jesus’ fulfillment of this prophecy bolster your faith?
Application
Generic Applications
Faith and Hope
Remembering the words of Jesus brought hope and faith to the disciples. I pray the fulfillment of Old Testament Scriptures strengthens your faith in Jesus, or if you aren’t yet a believer, that it helps you take another step on your journey in that direction.
Zeal is more effective when paired with humility
Have you ever encountered someone who is full of zeal about something but is also full of themselves? How do you react? I know I would tend to tune them out. What if instead, they had the ability to listen? Would their zeal be more effective?
Jesus was the picture of humility, giving up his place in heaven to take on human form and to die for our sins. But his zeal for his Father’s house and his Father’s honor was unmatched. In Psalm 69, we see that David was also zealous for God’s honor, but at the same time he demonstrated humility, confessing his sins openly in the same psalm.
As we develop zeal for the Lord, let’s practice pairing that with humility.
Personalize it
What should zeal look like in our lives?
For David, it was about defending the honor of God against all haters and mockers. For Jesus at the temple, he was zealous about the holiness of God and his Father’s house. But the zeal of Jesus ran so much deeper. It was so passionate that he sweat blood and went to the cross for us. It truly consumed him.
In our quiet moments, as we reflect on our spiritual journeys, this prophecy illuminates our level of conviction for Christ. Are we willing to defend the honor of the Lord? Will we fight for holiness in our lives and the lives of those close to us? Do we know Scripture and defend it? Most difficult of all-are we willing to suffer for our beliefs?
Share Your Reaction
Does the zeal of David and Jesus inspire you? Have you ever been persecuted or mocked for your faith? Share your experience in comments to help others.
Bible study methodology adapted from Searching the Scriptures with permission from Tyndale House:
Swindoll, Charles, Searching the Scriptures. Tyndale House Publishers, 2016.
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