Matt 21:12 “And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves.”
Who were ”them” who sold and bought in the temple? They were not your traders of daily goods and services. When you buy and sell in the temple, you are targeting a specific group of people, those who come to the temple to worship and seek God. They were the Old Testament teachers.
What were they selling?
Matthew 3:16 ”As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.”
Luke 3:22 “and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Doves = Symbol of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is the Master Teacher, provided freely to all who accept Jesus as their Saviour.
Men who sold doves were the old testament teachers, well versed in the Word of God. They are monetizing (money changers) what God gave for free. It does not mean that what they sell has no value; otherwise, God-seeking men would not exchange money for them.
Matt 22: 15-22 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”
But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
Matt 6:24: No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Bible readers, their hearts in love with wealth and money, often quote Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes “A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer to everything.” This quote cannot be taken out of context to satisfy evil intentions. The devil quoted scriptures as well. (Matt 4:6)
Transacting the Word of God with money is so tempting that even a direct disciple of Jesus, Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, exchanged the Word for 30 pieces of silver. Once, an author of ”doves” told me, I am only selling it for a discounted price. Can you imagine Jesus himself sitting on the same table as you, teaching you in person, and you will sell him out for some pieces of silver the next day? Judas was a believer himself! Judas was a Christian. He saw a multitude of signs and wonders in Jesus healing the sick, raising the dead, walking on water and calming the seas, to name a few. The temptation was so great, Matt 6:24 serves as a direct admonition to us not to mix God with money! Yet many today are doing precisely that.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1 Timothy 6 3-5 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine and teaching which is in agreement with godliness (personal integrity, upright behavior), he is conceited and woefully ignorant [understanding nothing]. He has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, which produces envy, quarrels, verbal abuse, evil suspicions, and perpetual friction between men who are corrupted in mind and deprived of the truth, who think that godliness is a source of profit [a lucrative, money-making business—withdraw from them]
Matthew 27:7 The chief priests, picking up the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put these in the treasury [of the temple], because it is the price of blood.” So after consultation they used the money to buy the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore that piece of ground has been called the Field of Blood to this day.
History rhymes and a multitude of New Testament teachers are selling doves today. Many lifelong Christians who believe that they are doing a service for God, are selling books, subscriptions, educational programs to God seeking people. In their mouth, they say that they love God, but in their hearts, they are seeking to profit themselves.
Do the New Testament teachers and modern day sellers of Doves not know that the silver(profit) made, even the chief priests of the Pharisees dare not use it and it ended up exchanging it with the Field Of Blood. How much blood of the unbelievers do they have on their hands?
For every dove you sell in the temple, you are sending a multitude of unbelievers to the field of blood! I often hear unbelievers say, “Look, they are only profiting out of the church, are these the teachings of a real God??”
Mike Ang, 2020