Defiling the Temple

June 28

(Psalm 74:1-11 NIV) “Why have you rejected us forever, O God? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture? {2} Remember the people you purchased of old, the tribe of your inheritance, whom you redeemed-- Mount Zion, where you dwelt. {3} Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins, all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary. {4} Your foes roared in the place where you met with us; they set up their standards as signs. {5} They behaved like men wielding axes to cut through a thicket of trees. {6} They smashed all the carved paneling with their axes and hatchets. {7} They burned your sanctuary to the ground; they defiled the dwelling place of your Name. {8} They said in their hearts, "We will crush them completely!" They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land. {9} We are given no miraculous signs; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be. {10} How long will the enemy mock you, O God? Will the foe revile your name forever? {11} Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!”

(1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV) “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; {20} you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”

Nothing could have been worse for the Jewish heart than to see enemies of God ransacking and defiling the temple of the Lord. It must have been horrendous to see pagan banners defiling the place where holy banners were once displayed. Their hearts must have broken as infidel axes and hatchets made firewood out of the altar of God. But as bad as it was for those who had worshipped God there, think of what it must have been like for the holy and sovereign Lord. What restraint the Almighty demonstrated by not sending fire from heaven to destroy His enemies. And what restraint the Lord shows today when enemies of God are allowed to defile His temple. Believer, your body is the temple of God. Do not allow the enemy to place his banner there or wield his axe there. Protect it. Regularly clean it with repentance. Guard the temple of God. It has been placed in your care. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day