What other scriptures emphasize the importance of keeping God's house pure? Nehemiah 13:9 — Keeping the Storerooms Clean “Because of this, I commanded that the rooms be purified, and I brought back into them the articles of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the frankincense.” Old-Testament House-Cleaning Moments • Exodus 30:17-21 – Priests had to wash “so that they will not die,” underscoring non-negotiable purity before entering the tent. • 2 Chronicles 29:5 – Hezekiah: “Consecrate yourselves … Remove all defilement from the holy place.” Revival started with a broom. • 2 Kings 23:4-7 – Josiah cleared every Baal article from the temple, then burned them. Holiness required hard choices. • Ezra 6:21 – Returnees “separated themselves from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land” before Passover in the rebuilt house. Prophetic Alarms About a Defiled Sanctuary • Isaiah 52:11 – “Depart, depart … Touch no unclean thing. … Purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD.” • Jeremiah 7:30 – “They have set their abominations in the house that is called by My name, to defile it.” • Ezekiel 44:6-9 – Foreigners “uncircumcised in heart or flesh” must stay out of God’s sanctuary; purity is a boundary line. Jesus and Zeal for a Pure House • Matthew 21:12-13 – Tables overturned: “My house will be called a house of prayer,” not profit. • John 2:16-17 – “Get these out of here! Stop turning My Father’s house into a marketplace!” Psalm 69:9 fulfilled: zeal consumes Him. We Are God’s Temple Today • 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 – “God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” Defile it and God responds. • 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 – “We are the temple of the living God … come out … be separate.” Holiness = separation from idolatry. • Ephesians 2:21-22 – In Christ “the whole building … is growing into a holy temple.” Each believer’s life affects the house. • 1 Peter 2:5 – “Living stones … a holy priesthood.” Personal holiness safeguards corporate worship. Ultimate Purity Ahead • Revelation 21:27 – “Nothing unclean will ever enter” the new Jerusalem. God’s final house will be spotless forever. Keeping God’s house pure—whether a storeroom in Nehemiah’s day, the temple courts in Jesus’ day, or our lives and assemblies today—remains a clear, unchanging mandate from Genesis to Revelation. |
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