Sanctuary Cleaning, Rain and Authority

He said to me, "For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be properly restored." (Daniel 8:14)

And he said to me, "For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed." (Daniel 8:14 NKJV)

And he said unto me, Until two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings: then shall the sanctuary be vindicated. (Daniel 8:14 DBY)

So rejoice, O sons of Zion, And be glad in the LORD your God; For He has given you the early rain for your vindication. And He has poured down for you the rain, The early and latter rain as before. (Joel 2:23)

Look at the parallels seen here.

The first rain was poured out on the early church and may parallel to the first cleansing of the temple by Jesus in some respects.

The second or latter rain will be poured out in our day near the end of time and may parallel the second cleansing of the temple by Jesus.

Just like the latter rain is to be greater than the former rain, there are three records of Jesus' second cleansing of the temple compared to only one record of the first cleansing.

There are interesting differences between these two cleansings that may or may not be significant.

1^st cleansing of sanctuary or temple.

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business." His disciples remembered that it was written, "ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME." (John 2:13-17)

2^nd cleansing of sanctuary or temple.

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, "It is written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER'; but you are making it a ROBBERS' DEN." And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these children are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, 'OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF'?" And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there. (Matthew 21:12-17)

Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. And He began to teach and say to them, "Is it not written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS'? But you have made it a ROBBERS' DEN." The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching. When evening came, they would go out of the city. (Mark 11:15-19)

Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, saying to them, "It is written, 'AND MY HOUSE SHALL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER,' but you have made it a ROBBERS' DEN." And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him, and they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said. (Luke 19:45-48)

Notice some interesting things connected between these events and the prophesies about the early and latter rain.

Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad, For the LORD has done great things. Do not fear, beasts of the field, For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green, For the tree has borne its fruit, The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full. So rejoice, O sons of Zion, And be glad in the LORD your God; For He has given you the early rain for your vindication. And He has poured down for you the rain, The early and latter rain as before. The threshing floors will be full of grain, And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil. "Then I will make up to you for the years That the swarming locust has eaten, The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust, My great army which I sent among you. "You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied And praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; Then My people will never be put to shame. "Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, And that I am the LORD your God, And there is no other; And My people will never be put to shame. "It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. "Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. (Joel 2:21-29)

On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" And His disciples were listening. (Mark 11:12-14)

As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. Being reminded, Peter said to Him, "Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered." And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God. "Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. "Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. "But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions." (Mark 11:20-26)

Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you." And at once the fig tree withered. Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, "How did the fig tree wither all at once?" And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen. "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (Matthew 21:18-22)

The more I think and read about this the more I am beginning to think that possibly Jesus was ready and willing to pour out the early rain of the Holy Spirit right then when He cleansed the temple if the response of the religious leaders had been different from resenting His presence in His own house. Instead of having a dried up, withered fig tree as a symbol of the Jewish nation, the possibility existed that they could have received the Holy Spirit and could have produced abundant fruit like the prophecy in Joel had declared.

So, what made the difference? What postponed the presence of a fruitful fig tree until the day of Pentecost and bestowed on a new group of chosen ones instead of happening when Jesus cleansed the temple?

It seems from the context that part of the core issue was a proper recognition and acknowledgement of authority. Notice the striking contrast in attitudes between the Jewish leaders and the early Christian believers in the upper room when it came to acknowledging the authority of Jesus. This issue of authority shows up both at the first cleansing of the temple and the second.

The Jew's attitude about the authority of Jesus.

(after 1^st cleansing)

The Jews then said to Him, "What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. (John 2:18-22)

The Jew's attitude about the authority of Jesus.

(after 2^nd cleansing)

When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?" Jesus said to them, "I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. "The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?" And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him?' "But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet." And answering Jesus, they said, "We do not know." He also said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. (Matthew 21:23-27)

They came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to Him, and began saying to Him, "By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?" And Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. "Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me." They began reasoning among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Then why did you not believe him?' "But shall we say, 'From men'?" --they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet. Answering Jesus, they said, "We do not know." And Jesus said to them, "Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things." (Mark 11:27-33)

On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him, and they spoke, saying to Him, "Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?" Jesus answered and said to them, "I will also ask you a question, and you tell Me: "Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?" They reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why did you not believe him?' "But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet." So they answered that they did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, "Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things." (Luke 20:1-8)

Now notice the relationship and attitudes of those who came to choose Jesus' authority willingly and entered a much deeper acknowledgement of the real truth about Him from their hearts.

But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (Matthew 28:16-18)

But this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: 'AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,' God says, 'THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS; EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT And they shall prophesy.

"Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know-- this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. "But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.

"This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.

"Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ--this Jesus whom you crucified." Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." (Acts 2: 16-18, 22-24, 32-33, 36-39)

In essence, this whole speech by Peter was simply about who is really to be recognized as having authority in our life. The whole power struggle going on in this world is about who we should recognize as being the authority to which we should submit our lives and our wills. And more importantly, the real core issue is which authority we allow to pervade and dominate the atmosphere within our hearts and permeate our spirit.

And they prayed and said, "You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place." (Acts 1:24-25)

There is another very important thing to understand about this issue of authority. And I believe that a lack of appreciation for this most important aspect of authority may be one of the main reasons we are unable and unready to receive the latter rain ourselves. It prevents us from effectively recognizing and surrendering to the authority of Jesus despite all of our public claims that He is our Lord.

True authority can never be imposed. It must be given freely and from the heart, by those who choose to come under its dominion.

False or counterfeit authority on the other hand, is always attempting to employ force, intimidation, deception and fear to rule over others. This is the normal function carried out in Satan's kingdoms of this world. But God cannot be released to pour out His Spirit in our lives while we are using the methods of His enemy to exercise or impose authority. Just as God could not excuse Moses for using the wrong method and spirit to procure water from the rock, neither can He bless us by entrusting the Holy Spirit to us in its full measure while we are living in confusion about this issue of how to effectively acknowledge and live within His authority.

A large part of what took place in the days leading up to Pentecost was the processing and recognition of this issue of how to rightly understand and relate to the full authority of Jesus Christ in the minds and hearts of those believers. We have often assumed that what prepared them to receive the Holy Spirit was the fact that they spent enough time confessing their sins and putting away their differences, and that somehow they got themselves good enough for God to give them this gift. But that kind of thinking emerges from a legalistic, perfectionistic kind of belief system which is based on a false picture of God in the heart.

While it is true that confessing sins and putting away all differences is an integral part of preparation for the Holy Spirit, it must be understood from a very different perspective than as a means of twisting God's arm or convincing Him that we can be trusted with lots of power. I am starting to see that these things were merely symptoms of a change that was taking place much deeper in the heart of these believers as they saturated their imaginations with the real truths about God as revealed through the life and death of Jesus.

As the real issues became more and more clear to them, they also began to see more clearly their own faults, the ugliness of their own prejudices toward each other, the silliness of their own grudges and the danger of their own faulty concepts of God that had clouded their thinking and appreciation of Jesus the whole time He had been with them on earth. This is what always takes place when light is intensified in a dark place. As they allowed the impressions of the Spirit to reveal to them the real truth about God, about the things Jesus had been trying to show them about reality, and as they remembered so clearly His recent words to them about His having all authority in heaven and on earth, they found themselves ready to surrender fully to His authority at much deeper levels of their heart than they had ever considered doing before.

This surrender was not from a submission to imposed authority over them as we are too familiar with as humans. Jesus never imposed authority on anyone, for God only deals in truth and freedom and values only heart-based obedience that springs from a heart filled with appreciation for Him. God always respects and protects our freedom to choose.

But when a person begins to catch a glimpse of the real truth about God's amazing love for them personally, it naturally follows that they will feel compelled to surrender everything they thought was their own and plunge into a willing, joyful surrender to the service and Lordship of their beautiful, gracious Redeemer who has surrendered everything in heaven for them. Their complete surrender to the authority of Jesus is not from a sense of duty nearly as much as it is a reflection of His demonstration of willing submission to the perfect love and will of His Father while living here on earth as a human.

So what does all of this mean for me? How does this relate to the outpouring of the latter rain and the prophecy of the cleansing of the sanctuary in Daniel 8:14 that was to begin in 1844?

I believe that for God to be allowed to genuinely cleanse the sanctuary, we must come to the place, like the early disciples in the upper room, of properly appreciating the real truth about who God really is and how He feels about us. For it will be impossible to surrender our hearts to His authority in the way God views authority before we have first come to a significant appreciation of the way God exercises authority. We must come to understand the ways of God in His dealings with us much better than what we now believe. We must let go of the misconceptions about how God relates to us and allow His Spirit to reveal His heart to us much more clearly. Otherwise, increased power in our lives would only serve to intensify our ability to spread false ideas about God mingled in with factual truths that we have come to believe.

The issue of belief that I am uncovering in the book of John is also central to this issue of authority. But to properly appreciate the kind of authority that God wants us to understand with Him, we must differentiate between the kinds of authority and their use that we are so familiar with in this world and the kind of authority that Jesus talks about and demonstrates. I believe that when we finally begin to perceive the kind of authority that Jesus wants us to enjoy, then we will eagerly begin to put away our differences, will readily confess the lies and pain and sins that have obscured our view of God's face and will begin to embrace the real truth about God in joyful abandon.

At the same time while this is happening our attitudes towards those around us will also be radically transformed. We will see others through the eyes of heaven instead of through our own prejudices and selfish desires. Our focus will move away from clinging to our possessions and seeking to get things for our own benefit toward spontaneously sharing all things with our fellow believers with a heart full of faith, gratitude and praise for our heavenly family. We we see ourselves as simply siblings who are all sharing the same household and as such, will be eager and willing to help our Father supply all the needs of those who share this family arrangement in the body of Christ.

This authority that Jesus is talking about is the authority that is seen modeled by a loving Father in a healthy family. This is not the kind of abusive, forceful, imposed authority seen in those who exploit their families or their neighbors for their own desires. This is an authority that is freely and joyfully created through the loyalty of those who choose to come under its structure and guidance. It is radically different than any earthly imitation claiming to use this word but which is contaminated by sin and selfishness.

The results of living life under the full authority of Jesus Christ is best described in these verses.

Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:43-47)

Notice the stark contrast between this kind of relationship with those around us compared with the attitude of the Pharisee's in response to the demonstration of Jesus' authority in the temple.

But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became indignant... (Matthew 21:15)

"For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him. (Matthew 21:32)

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet. (Matthew 21:45-46)

And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the people, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away. Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Him in order to trap Him in a statement. (Mark 12:12-13)

"But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to reign over us.' (Luke 19:14)

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." (Luke 19:39)

And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him, and they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said. (Luke 19:47-48)

The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and they feared the people; for they understood that He spoke this parable against them. So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order that they might catch Him in some statement, so that they could deliver Him to the rule and the authority of the governor. (Luke 20:19-20)

Notice how earthly authority is utilized to discount heavenly authority.

I want to know much more and to enter more fully into life under the true and kind authority of Jesus Christ. I want to learn and to experience the real preparation needed for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in my life and those around me that will empower me to speak the glorious truth about God with much greater boldness.