Korea Part 2: Division, War, and Two Nations Under Heaven

Hello, and welcome back to Nations 4 Jesus. This is part two of our series on the Korean church. In our last episode, we talked about how Christianity came to Korea and how believers stood firm during the brutal Japanese occupation from 1937 to 1945. Today, we're going to look at what happened after liberation—and it's both heartbreaking and miraculous.

When our family lived in Seoul from 2006 to 2008 with the U.S. Air Force, one of the most striking things we experienced was the constant awareness of North Korea just 35 miles away. You could feel the tension, see the military presence, sense the pain of families still separated after more than 50 years. At our church, Jubilee, we regularly prayed for North Korean believers suffering persecution we could barely imagine. We also had an outreach to the North Koreans who somehow escaped to South Korea. They had been so brainwashed about the rest of the world, believing that what they saw in North Korea was better than anything, that when they saw the wonder of Seoul, many fell into such despair that they would take their own lives. Our church brought them the hope and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ. 

So today I want to tell you how one nation became two—how Pyongyang, once called the "Jerusalem of the East," became the world's worst persecutor of Christians, while Seoul became home to some of the largest churches on earth. It's a story of division, devastating war, and God's faithfulness in both suffering and blessing.

[Liberation and hope - 1945]

When Japan surrendered in August 1945, Koreans erupted in celebration. After 35 years of brutal occupation, they were finally free! Churches that had been driven underground emerged. Believers who'd been imprisoned were released. There was incredible hope that Korea would finally become an independent, unified nation again.

But that hope was quickly shattered. The Allied powers—the United States and Soviet Union—divided Korea along the 38th parallel as a temporary measure. The Soviets would oversee the surrender of Japanese forces in the North, and the Americans would do the same in the South. Everyone assumed this division would be temporary. No one imagined it would still exist 80 years later.

[Two very different occupations]

But the two occupying powers had very different visions for Korea. In the South, the Americans supported the formation of a democratic government and allowed freedom of religion. Churches flourished. Missionaries returned. Christian schools and hospitals reopened. The church that had survived Japanese persecution now had freedom to grow.

In the North, the Soviets installed a Communist government led by Kim Il-Sung, a guerrilla fighter who had spent years in the Soviet Union. Kim Il-Sung immediately began implementing Soviet-style policies: collectivization of agriculture, nationalization of industry, and most devastatingly for Christians—state atheism and suppression of all religion.

[Pyongyang - from Jerusalem to persecution]

Pyongyang, where Robert Thomas had died throwing Bibles from a burning ship, where Pastor Joo Ki-Chul had preached until his martyrdom, was the center of Korean Christianity. Before the division, Pyongyang had over 100 churches and was home to one of the most vibrant Christian communities in Asia. It was literally called the "Jerusalem of the East."

But under Communist rule, everything changed. Churches were forcibly closed. Pastors were arrested. Christian schools and hospitals were seized by the state. Church members faced a terrible choice: publicly renounce your faith and pledge loyalty to the Communist Party, or face imprisonment, torture, and death.

Many chose to flee south. In the years between 1945 and 1950, hundreds of thousands of North Korean Christians made the dangerous journey across the 38th parallel, leaving everything behind—their homes, their land, their extended families. They carried only what they could pack and their faith in Christ. These refugees would become the foundation of South Korea's explosive church growth.

[The Korean War - devastation and division sealed]

But for those who stayed in the North, the situation got even worse. On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, launching the Korean War. For three years, the peninsula was devastated by fighting. Millions died—soldiers and civilians alike. Churches were destroyed. Entire cities were leveled. Families were permanently separated.

When the armistice was signed in 1953, the division that was supposed to be temporary became permanent. The Demilitarized Zone—the DMZ—became one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world. And on either side of that border, two completely different stories unfolded for Christians.

[North Korea - the hidden church emerges]

In North Korea, Kim Il-Sung established what can only be described as a religious cult with himself as god. He created the Juche ideology, which demanded total loyalty to the Kim family above all else. Any competing loyalty—to God, to family, to truth—was considered treason.

Christians who remained in North Korea faced systematic persecution unlike anywhere else on earth. They were sent to political prison camps—gulags where entire families, including children, were imprisoned for the "crime" of believing in God. Estimates suggest that between 50,000 and 70,000 Christians are currently imprisoned in these camps, enduring forced labor, starvation, torture, and execution.

But here's what's remarkable: The church in North Korea didn't die. It went deeper underground than it had even under Japanese occupation. North Korean Christians developed an incredibly sophisticated system of secret worship. They memorize Scripture because owning a Bible means death. They pray silently. They sing hymns in their hearts. They pass faith to their children through whispered stories and Bible verses shared in absolute secrecy.

[Stories from the hidden church]

Let me share some stories that have come out from North Korean defectors. One woman reported that her grandmother would take her into the forest as a child, pretending to gather firewood. Once they were alone, Grandmother would whisper Bible verses she'd memorized decades earlier. "This is our greatest treasure," she told her granddaughter. "More valuable than food. Guard it in your heart."

Another defector reported that his father was executed for owning a Bible. Before his execution, his father told him, "I'm going to meet Jesus. Don't be sad. And never forget—Jesus is real, and He's worth dying for." That father's faithfulness meant his son carried the Gospel in his heart even after escaping to South Korea years later.

A North Korean woman who escaped told of underground house churches where believers would gather—never more than three or four at a time, rotating locations constantly, meeting in the middle of the night. They would whisper worship songs, share communion using whatever they could find, and pray for each other's survival. One betrayal to authorities would mean death for everyone present. Yet they continued to gather because their hunger for fellowship and worship was stronger than their fear of death.

[North Korea today - worst place to be Christian]

Today, North Korea ranks #1 on Open Doors' World Watch List as the worst place on earth to be a Christian—a position it has held for over 20 years. The regime considers Christianity the greatest threat to its power because Christians give their ultimate loyalty to God, not to the Kim family.

If you're discovered to be a Christian in North Korea, you and three generations of your family are sent to prison camps. Your children, your parents, your grandparents—all imprisoned because of your faith. The regime uses this policy to terrorize believers and ensure that even if someone comes to faith, they'll keep it secret to protect their family.

Yet despite seven decades of brutal persecution, despite the prison camps and executions, despite the complete absence of religious freedom, there are an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 underground Christians in North Korea today. That's less than 2% of the population, but it's a miracle that any believers survive at all under such conditions.

[South Korea - explosive growth]

Meanwhile, in South Korea, the exact opposite was happening. The Christians who had fled from the North, who had survived Japanese occupation and then Communist persecution, brought an intensity of faith that ignited South Korean Christianity. They had lost everything except Jesus—and they discovered that Jesus was enough.

In the 1950s and 60s, massive evangelistic crusades swept South Korea. The Billy Graham crusade in 1973 drew over 1 million people to Yoido Plaza in Seoul—one of the largest Christian gatherings in history! Churches grew explosively. By the 1970s and 80s, South Korea was experiencing revival unlike anywhere else in the modern world.

Prayer became the distinctive mark of Korean Christianity. Churches hold all-night prayer meetings—not monthly, but weekly! Some churches have prayer meetings that last for days. When we attended Jubilee Church in Seoul, we were amazed by the prayer culture. Pastor Dave would give a message and then everyone would stand at the end. He would pick out 4-5 main points from the message. For each point, he would pray for a few minutes followed by the entire congregation praying over each point. This went on for an additional 20 minutes each Sunday. It was amazing to hear all these voices raised…Korean, English, tongues. The intensity, the passion, the expectation that God would actually answer—it challenged everything we thought we knew about prayer!

[The megachurch phenomenon]

South Korea also became home to some of the largest churches in world history. Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, founded by Pastor David Yonggi Cho, grew to over 580,000 members—the largest single congregation in the world! I’ve visited this church twice. People literally run into the services…thousands every Sunday! Listening to all of these people sing at one time…I can only imagine what Heaven will be like, but I think it will be a bit like Yoido. Other churches in Seoul have memberships in the hundreds of thousands.

But it's not just about size. Korean churches are known for their commitment to missions, their emphasis on Bible study, their cell group systems, and their expectation that every believer should evangelize. South Korea, with only about 10 million Christians in a population of 51 million, sends out the second-highest number of missionaries in the world—over 27,000 serving in more than 170 countries! Only the United States sends more.

[Why such different outcomes?]

So how did one nation produce such radically different results? Both North and South Korea started from the same place in 1945—same people, same culture, same church history. What made the difference?

The difference was freedom. In the South, Christians had the freedom to worship, to evangelize, to build churches, to train leaders. That freedom, combined with the intense faith of believers who had survived persecution, produced explosive growth.

In the North, brutal persecution drove the church underground but couldn't kill it. In fact, persecution may have purified North Korean Christianity. When the cost of following Christ is three generations in a prison camp, only those with genuine faith remain. There are no nominal Christians in North Korea. Every believer there has counted the cost and decided Jesus is worth it.

[The refugee connection]

Here's something remarkable: When North Korean refugees escape to South Korea or China, many of them encounter Christianity for the first time through Christians who help them. Organizations run by South Korean Christians provide safe houses, food, medical care, and the Gospel to North Korean refugees. Many come to faith through the kindness shown by believers.

And when these North Korean refugees become Christians, they often become the most passionate believers! They've seen the darkness of life without God. They've experienced the emptiness of the Juche ideology. And when they encounter Jesus, they embrace Him with wholehearted devotion. Some even risk going back into North Korea as missionaries to share the Gospel with their people!

[Personal reflection - living with the division]

Living in Seoul from 2006 to 2008, we became acutely aware of this tragedy. We could see the mountains to the north where North Korea lay just 35 miles away. We knew that while we worshiped freely at Jubilee Church with hundreds of passionate believers, there were Christians in the North who couldn't even whisper a prayer out loud without risking death.

Our Korean friends at church all had family members they'd never met—grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins separated by the division. They prayed for reunification not just politically, but spiritually—that one day the Gospel would spread freely throughout the entire peninsula again. And now our daughter will be going to Korea next March for five months of missions training with YWAM, continuing to pray and prepare for the day when North Korea opens to the Gospel.

[Hope for the future - what lies ahead]

So what lies ahead for Korea? No one knows when or how North Korea will change. But Christians around the world are praying and preparing for that day. South Korean churches are training thousands of missionaries specifically to go to North Korea when it opens. They're preparing Korean-language Bibles by the millions. They're developing strategies for how to rebuild churches and disciple new believers.

Because history shows us that when Communist regimes fall, the underground church emerges incredibly strong. We saw it in the Soviet Union. We saw it in Eastern Europe. We're seeing it in China. And we believe we'll see it in North Korea too. The seed that Robert Thomas planted in 1866, the faithfulness of believers under Japanese occupation, the courage of underground Christians in the North for 70 years—all of it will bear fruit when North Korea finally opens.

[Closing challenge and prayer]

In our next episode, we'll look at South Korean Christianity today—what makes it unique, what we can learn from it, and how Korean missionaries are impacting the world. But for today, I want to challenge you to pray for North Korea. Pray for the hidden church there. Pray for believers in prison camps. Pray for the day when the Gospel can be preached freely in Pyongyang again.

Let me pray: 

Thank you for joining me today. This has been a heavy episode, but these are our family members in North Korea suffering for Jesus. We can't forget them.

Until next time, remember—keep your eyes on the nations and pray for our suffering family in North Korea!

Episode Description: After 1945, Korea divided—Pyongyang ("Jerusalem of the East" with 100+ churches) faced Communist persecution. Churches closed, pastors arrested, Christians fled south or faced death. North Korea now holds 50,000-70,000 Christians in prison camps, ranks #1 on Open Doors World Watch List for 20+ years. Yet 200,000-400,000 underground believers survive through whispered worship and memorized Scripture. Meanwhile, South Korea experienced explosive growth—now sends 27,000+ missionaries to 170 countries (2nd globally). The gates of hell have NOT prevailed.

Scripture: Matthew 16:18, Hebrews 13:3

Sources: Open Doors, Voice of the Martyrs

Read more: nations4jesus.blogspot.com

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Korea Part 1: From Hermit Kingdom to Christianity's Greatest Miracle

Hello, and welcome back to Nations 4 Jesus. Today I'm starting a three-part series that's very close to my heart—the story of the Korean church. My family lived in Seoul, South Korea from 2006 to 2008 during Jeff's service with the U.S. Air Force, and we absolutely loved it! We loved the people, the culture, the food, and especially our amazing church, Jubilee. Korea captured our hearts in a way few places have.

And next March, our youngest daughter is going to Seoul to participate in a Youth With A Mission Discipleship Training School for five months. So as I researched and prepared this series, I found myself even more passionate about sharing Korea's remarkable story with you.

How did a nation that once called itself the "Hermit Kingdom," closed off from the world and hostile to Christianity, become home to some of the most vibrant churches on earth? How did brutal persecution under Japanese occupation produce heroes of the faith whose courage rivals any martyr in church history? This is a story of suffering and triumph, of faithfulness under fire—and it begins with a Welsh missionary who threw Bibles from a burning ship as he died.

[Robert Jermain Thomas - the seed that died]

In 1866, a Welsh missionary named Robert Jermain Thomas felt a powerful call to bring the Bible to Korea. At that time, Korea was completely closed to foreigners and Christianity was illegal—both foreigners and local converts faced execution. But Thomas couldn't shake his burden for this isolated nation.

He joined a U.S. merchant ship called the General Sherman, which sailed up the Taedong River toward Pyongyang. Thomas brought along Bibles written in Chinese—the only script Koreans could read. When Korean officials stopped the ship and tensions escalated, fighting broke out. The Koreans set the ship on fire, killing the crew as it burned.

But as the ship burned, witnesses later recounted something remarkable: Thomas threw Bibles to people on the shore, shouting for them to take and read. When he was captured, he reportedly handed his last Bible to a Korean soldier before being executed—praying for Korea as he died.

[The Bible House - God's sovereign preparation]

Years later, in the village of Pyongyang, locals used the pages of Thomas's Bibles as wallpaper inside a small house. Over time, visitors began reading the words printed on the walls, and some came to faith through them. That house became known as the "Bible House." Though Thomas never saw a single Korean convert, his death and those Bible pages became legendary. He was "the seed of the Korean church," fulfilling Jesus' words in John 12:24: "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."

[Christianity arrives officially - 1880s opening]

It wasn't until the 1880s that Korea officially opened to foreign missionaries. The first Protestant missionaries arrived in 1884—medical missionaries and Bible translators including Horace Underwood, a Presbyterian who came in 1885. What they found stunned them: some people in Pyongyang had already read portions of Scripture—from Robert Thomas's Bible pages!

Christianity grew explosively because it offered something revolutionary in Korean society: the idea that all people—regardless of class, gender, or family background—were equal before God. In a culture dominated by strict Confucian hierarchy, this message was dynamite. Women especially embraced Christianity because it gave them dignity and education they'd never had.

[Rapid growth through education and independence]

By the early 1900s, Christianity was tied to education, modernization, and national independence. Missionaries established schools and universities, teaching not just the Bible but reading, science, and democratic ideals. When Japan annexed Korea in 1910, ending Korean independence, the church became a center of resistance. The famous March 1st Movement of 1919, where millions peacefully demonstrated for independence, was organized largely by Christian leaders. Japan responded with brutal crackdown, but the connection between Christianity and Korean nationalism was firmly established.

[The Dark Ages begin - 1937 Japanization]

Everything changed in 1937 when Japan launched full-scale war with China and decided to completely erase Korean identity. This period from 1937 to 1945 became known as the "Dark Ages." Japan implemented Japanization: forced Japanese names in 1939, banned Korean language, erased Korean history from education, and conscripted hundreds of thousands into forced labor.

But for Christians, the worst policy was forced Shinto worship. Beginning in the late 1930s, all citizens had to participate in Shinto shrine worship. The Japanese called it patriotic duty, not religion. But Christians knew this was idolatry—bowing before idols, worshiping the Emperor as a god. Churches faced an impossible choice: comply and survive, or resist and face destruction.

[Esther Ahn Kim - refusing to bow]

Esther Ahn Kim was a music teacher who, in 1939, was ordered to take her students to bow at a Shinto shrine. She refused, believing it violated the First Commandment. Her defiance cost her job and made her a fugitive. She spent years hiding in mountain villages, memorizing entire books of the Bible, preparing for the imprisonment she knew was coming.

In 1943, she was arrested for helping others resist shrine worship. She was imprisoned for six years, enduring cold, starvation, and beatings. But instead of breaking, Esther sang hymns in her cell, shared Scripture with fellow prisoners, and led women to faith—including some of her Japanese guards! After liberation in 1945, she wrote "If I Perish," which became a Christian classic. Her words still challenge us: "If I am to die, I will die for the Lord. If I am to live, I will live for the Lord."

[Pastor Joo Ki-Chul - no compromise]

Pastor Joo Ki-Chul, a Presbyterian pastor in Pyongyang—the very city where Robert Thomas had died decades earlier—boldly preached that Christians could not worship at Shinto shrines. He called it idolatry. The Japanese repeatedly imprisoned and tortured him. Each time he emerged and continued preaching: "If I serve two masters, am I a true servant of Christ?" In 1944, he died under torture rather than deny his faith. Today he's memorialized as one of Korea's greatest martyrs.

[Rev. Son Yang-won - grace and forgiveness]

Reverend Son Yang-won was also imprisoned for rejecting shrine worship. But what makes his story remarkable is what happened after liberation. During the Korean War, Communists killed his two sons. When the murderer was captured, Rev. Son did something stunning—he adopted the man who had killed his sons and forgave him publicly. His writings on grace became famous worldwide.

[Underground church and the fruit of faithfulness]

While these heroes became famous, thousands of ordinary believers worshiped secretly in forests and mountains, reading the Bible in whispers, teaching children hymns when Korean was banned. This underground network sustained the faith through the Dark Ages. The Japanization campaign sought to erase Christianity, but through believers who refused to bow, the faith not only survived—it deepened.

After liberation in 1945, the Korean church exploded in growth. Churches that had gone underground emerged stronger. Young people who'd watched their parents stand firm became passionate believers. The seed that Robert Thomas planted by dying in 1866, the faithfulness of believers who refused Shinto worship—all of it produced an incredible harvest.

[The division and preview]

But liberation brought new challenges. Korea was divided along the 38th parallel—North occupied by Soviets, South by Americans. Pyongyang, once called the "Jerusalem of the East" because of its many churches, became capital of the world's most oppressive Communist regime. Christians who survived Japanese occupation now faced even worse persecution. Meanwhile, South Korea's church continued explosive growth.

Today, South Korea is over 30% Christian with some of the world's largest churches. When we lived in Seoul from 2006-2008, we experienced this vibrant Christianity firsthand at Jubilee Church. The passion, the prayer culture, the commitment to missions—it was unlike anything we'd experienced in America! Korean missionaries now serve in over 170 countries. The Korean church that suffered so much has become one of the greatest missionary-sending forces in the world!

In our next episode, we'll look at Korea's division and how North Korea became the worst persecutor of believers while the South became a Christian powerhouse.

[Closing challenge]

Let the example of Robert Thomas, Esther Ahn Kim, Pastor Joo, and Rev. Son challenge you. Would you be willing to lose everything for Christ? Would you choose faithfulness over survival? These believers did—and their witness still inspires us today.

Let me pray: 

Until next time, remember—keep your eyes on the nations and never compromise your witness for Christ!

Episode Description: 1866: Welsh missionary Robert Jermain Thomas threw Bibles from his burning ship as he died praying for Korea—pages became wallpaper in "Bible House" where Koreans first read Scripture. Japan's 1937-1945 campaign forced Shinto shrine worship—the ultimate test of faith. Esther Ahn Kim refused to bow, imprisoned 6 years, sang hymns and led guards to Christ. Pastor Joo Ki-Chul died under torture in Pyongyang. Their faithfulness under Japan's "Dark Ages" produced Korea's explosive post-1945 revival—Christianity's greatest Asian success story. The seed Thomas planted bore extraordinary fruit.

Scripture: John 12:24, Exodus 20:3, Matthew 16:18

Book: "If I Perish" by Esther Ahn Kim

Read more: nations4jesus.blogspot.com

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Why Was Jesus So Angry?

Hello, friends, and welcome back to Nations 4 Jesus. Today I want to talk about the only time in all of Scripture when Jesus is portrayed as passionately, actively angry.

If you've watched The Chosen, you might remember the powerful scene where Jesus clears the temple. It's dramatic, it's shocking, and it might have made you a bit uncomfortable. But friends, have you ever stopped to ask why? Why did Jesus get so angry that day? What was it about the temple that provoked such righteous fury in the One who came full of grace and truth?

[Setting the scene - the temple clearing]

All four Gospel accounts record this event—Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19, and John 2. Jesus entered the temple in Jerusalem and saw the buying, selling, cheating, and utter chaos that was going on. He took a whip and drove out all those who were selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers. He sent animals scattering. This wasn't a gentle correction. This was righteous anger on full display.

And I used to wonder at this. Why did He get so angry at the moneychangers and sellers of sacrificial animals? Shouldn't He be more angry about the injustice to people He saw every day—slavery, treatment of lepers, shunning of children, corruption of the religious leaders? But His righteous anger at the temple points to a truth that we need to understand.

[The primary reason Jesus came - God's glory]

Here's the truth: Jesus did not come to earth primarily for us, as we like to believe and are often taught. Now stay with me here—yes, He came to earth to show us God, to teach us how to live, and to die for our sins, purchasing salvation for all who would believe. But His primary reason for coming to earth was to bring glory to God.

Listen to Jesus's own words in John 17:4-6: "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do." And what was the work? "I manifested Your name to the men You gave Me out of the world." Jesus's main concern was that His Father in Heaven might be worshipped fully and completely by those He had created.

Friends, God is the creator of all things. He is so incredibly holy, mighty, just, beautiful—truly beyond words. He made us and sustains us and deserves all our thankfulness, praise, wonder, and worship. Jesus recognized that more than any other human being on earth, and He was jealous for His Father's glory and worship.

[What Jesus saw in the temple - the Court of the Gentiles]

So when Jesus entered the temple that day—whose actual building was directed by God "to establish His name there for His dwelling" according to Deuteronomy 12—His anger was roused by what He saw. Now here's what many people miss about this story: All this buying and selling was happening in the Court of the Gentiles.

The Court of the Gentiles was the place set apart for non-Jews to encounter God, worship Him, pray to Him, and find relationship with Him. This was the only part of the temple where Gentiles were allowed. And what did Jesus find there? Noisy, smelly, deceiving distractions to relationship, prayer, and worship!

How could people encounter God and worship Him amidst the buying and selling of animals? How could they pray with hundreds of pilgrims yelling and arguing with money changers who were doing their best to make a profit and cheat country folks out of their meager earnings? Friends, it was impossible! The very place designed for Gentiles to meet God had been turned into a marketplace.

[The deeper issue - lack of concern for the nations]

And here's what really provoked Jesus's anger: The fact that all this was being done in the Court of the Gentiles showed the lack of concern and love that the Jewish leadership had for non-Jews. Time and again, Jesus had seen their lack of concern for the Gentiles surrounding them. Like Jonah—remember our last episode?—they hoarded their "privileged" status as followers of God and were not eager to see Gentiles coming to faith in the one true God.

This didn't reflect the mentality of all Jews, but it certainly seemed to be the mentality of the temple leadership who would allow such a cacophony of noise and corruption in the very place set aside by God for the prayers and worship of foreigners. This angered Jesus! How dare they prevent people from coming and worshipping the Lord? The Lord deserves all praise and glory, and anything that hindered that—anything that hindered the salvation of Gentiles—needed to be destroyed.

[No one challenged Him - they knew it was wrong]

Here's something fascinating: I believe that everyone who was there knew in their hearts that what was going on in the Court of the Gentiles was wrong, even before Jesus so publicly pointed it out. How do I know? Because no one challenged what He had done. No one tried to stop Him. He was justified in His anger and His actions, and they knew it!

God deserved every bit of praise and worship, and all people deserved an opportunity to meet Him, fall in love with Him, and worship Him. The religious leaders had forgotten this. They had made God's house into a house of commerce instead of a house of prayer for all nations—which is exactly what Jesus called them out for.

[Biblical foundation - a house of prayer for all nations]

In Mark 11:17, Jesus quotes from Isaiah 56:7 when He says, "Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" Friends, did you catch that? A house of prayer for ALL NATIONS. Not just for Jews. Not just for the privileged. For all nations!

God's heart has always been for the nations. We talked about this in our Jonah episode. From Abraham to Israel to the temple itself—God designed it all with the nations in mind. The Court of the Gentiles was supposed to be a place where people from every nation could come and encounter the one true God. But instead, it had become a barrier to worship, a hindrance to the very purpose God intended.

[The application for us today - a challenging question]

Here's where this gets uncomfortable. I wonder what Jesus would do today if He stepped into some of our churches? Would He find congregations totally focused on prayer and the worship of Him? Congregations that welcome all who would seek Him, causing no hindrances to the worship of Him?

Or would He find churches eager to show off their wealth? Eager to sell the latest best-selling Christian novel in the lobby? Eager to entertain the congregation and the visitor rather than challenge them to serve God more wholeheartedly? Would He find red-hot worship of God—people whose primary goal in life is to glorify the Lord and find total satisfaction in Him? Or would He find lukewarm, self-serving, self-focused weekly gatherings of people who call themselves Christians but are living lives no different from the world around them?

[Modern barriers to worship - what distracts us?]

Let's get really specific. What are the modern equivalents of money changers in the Court of the Gentiles? What are we allowing in our churches—or in our own lives—that hinders genuine worship and keeps people from encountering God?

Is it the obsession with building programs and fundraising that overshadows prayer and missions? Is it the focus on comfortable seating and coffee bars while ignoring the unreached nations? Is it the celebrity pastor culture that draws attention to personalities instead of pointing to God? Is it the entertainment-driven services that tickle ears but don't transform hearts?

Or on a personal level—what's cluttering our own "court of the Gentiles"? What's taking up the space in our life that should be reserved for encountering God and helping others encounter Him? Is it busyness? Entertainment? Comfort? The pursuit of wealth? Friends, Jesus is still zealous for His Father's glory. And anything that hinders worship—anything that keeps us or others from glorifying God—should make us angry too.

[The global perspective - do we care about the nations?]

And here's the missions angle we can't ignore: The Jewish leaders didn't care that they were hindering Gentiles from worshiping God. Do we care that there are 3.4 billion people in unreached people groups who have never had the chance to encounter God? Do we care enough to do something about it?

According to recent data, only about 3% of missionary efforts and resources are focused on reaching unreached people groups. That means 97% of our efforts are going to places that have already been reached! If Jesus was angry about money changers blocking Gentiles in Jerusalem, how does He feel about our neglect of billions who have never even heard His name?

[Closing encouragement and prayer]

Friends, Jesus got angry—passionately, righteously angry—because people were being prevented from worshiping His Father. He cared more about God's glory than about keeping the peace or maintaining the status quo. May we have that same holy jealousy for God's glory. May we remove any barriers in our own lives that hinder worship. And may we be zealous to see all nations come to know and worship the one true God.

Let me pray: 

Thank you for joining me today. May we never forget what Jesus was willing to get angry about—and may we share that same passion for God's glory among all nations.

Until next time, remember—keep your eyes on the nations remembering that God deserves all praise and glory, and all people deserve the opportunity to worship Him.

Episode Description: Only once in Scripture is Jesus passionately angry—when He cleared the temple. Why? The money changers were operating in the Court of the Gentiles, the only place where non-Jews could encounter God, blocking the nations from worship. Today, with 3.4 billion unreached people and only 3% of missions focused on them, what would Jesus do if He walked into our churches? Would He find passionate concern for the nations, or comfortable, entertainment-driven gatherings? Five ways to align with Jesus's zeal for God's glory and the nations' worship.

Scripture: Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17, John 17:4-6, Isaiah 56:7

Read more: nations4jesus.blogspot.com

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