The Gospel According To John

by Richard St.James

The Zeal Of Thine House

John 2:12 “After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.
13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;
16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.
17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”

The Vengance Of His Temple

In the Bible there is something called the “vengeance of his temple.” This vengeance is very tightly related to the “vengeance of the Lord our God.” Jesus Christ had seen something very, very abominable [the merchandise] to HIM from His vantage point in the ivory palaces above … long before he came to this earth the first time in the flesh. [The First Advent]

In Ezekiel 8:6, “He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, [The TEMPLE] that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.”

Read Ezekiel chapter eight, and see how bad it gets [SPIRALING DOWNWARDS]. Now let’s zero in on this “vengeance of his temple.” Where in the BOOK do we find this? According to the Holy Ghost in Jeremiah chapter fifty, there is located there in that book a thing called the “vengeance of his temple.”

Let’s read in verse twenty-eight: “The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple.”

The Lamb … The First Time!

What Jesus Christ did in the temple at his [FIRST ADVENT] was a precursor to the real vengeance to be displayed in [JACOB’S TRIAL] soon coming to this earth. “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.” [The Great Tribulation] [Jeremiah 30:7] Here in John chapter two, [the first run-in with the money changers] is a fulfillment of [Psalm 69:9]. “For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.” Indeed, Jesus Christ came to have our reproaches against God fall on HIM at [Calvary’s CROSS].

The Diminishing Dispersion!

In another later incident in “the house of prayer” [in Luke nineteen], we will need to go to [Luke 19:41-46]. Jesus Christ foretells of the coming DIMINISHING.

“And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.”

In Ezekiel chapter five we see the prophecy given that GOD would judge [diminish] Israel for defiling his Temple by pestilence, by famine and with the sword, and if that wasn’t enough, cause them to be dispersed throughout the nations of the world. This prophecy is in verses eleven through thirteen]. Let’s read there.

“Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord God; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity. A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the Lord have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury in them.”

This was all fulfilled, when Titus the Roman emperor destroyed Jerusalem, in 71A.D. Israel was cast out of the LAND to the four quadrants of the earth! This exile is not to be confused with the exile of the Babylonian Captivity. [Remember Ezekiel wrote of a coming judgment after the northern kingdom of Israel, and the southern kingdom of Judah were already out of THE LAND … IN EXILE.] Yes, the Jews wandered this earth, being persecuted at every turn, for almost two thousands years.

Today, they [Israel] are finally coming home from the ends of the earth! Since 1917, and because of the Balfour Agreement, the Jews are coming back to THE LAND. Yea, God is drawing them [Israel] back. GOD is in the affairs of men.

The Lion … The Second Time!

Yet the ZEAL of God’s house eating HIM [Jesus Christ] up, in [Psalm 119:139-140], is still … unfulfilled prophecy. “My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words. Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.” Jesus Christ came the first time as the Lamb of God to die for our sins, but HE is coming the second time as a LION to judge HIS people [ISRAEL] and the Gentiles [THE WORLD].

Go to [Isaiah 59:17-21], “For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence. So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.”

This is, then, what we have here, in John chapter two. “For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.” Jesus Christ has made a down payment [A FORETASTE] in the temple that day against a future day when real vengeance will be brought down on the pates of all men [in the near future] in the seven years of The Tribulation.

Maybe, [peradventure] [perhaps … perhaps], because God’s grace is in your lives, [SAVED] the BOOK here has dispelled false notions of the manner and ways of the LORD, and HIS ZEAL for HIS HOUSE. Amen! Verse 17: “And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.” We need to remember this also, Amen!

Jews Require Signs

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The Gospel According To John

John 2:1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:

John 2:2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.

John 2:3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

John 2:4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.

John 2:5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

John 2:6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.

John 2:7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.

John 2:8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.

John 2:9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

John 2:10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

John 2:11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

John 2:12 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.

John 2:13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,

John 2:14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

John 2:15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers'
money, and overthrew the tables;

John 2:16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.

John 2:17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

John 2:18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?

John 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

John 2:20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?

John 2:21 But he spake of the temple of his body.

John 2:22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

John 2:23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.

John 2:24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men.

John 2:25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.