Deuteronomy 12 – The Worship God Commands

A. The place of worship.

1. (1-4) The command to destroy Canaanite places of worship.

“These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. You shall not worship the LORD your God with such things.

a. You shall utterly destroy all the places: For Israel to honor God with their worship, there had to be places where they would refuse to worship. When Israel came into the land, they had to destroy the wicked, idolatrous places where the Canaanites worshipped their gods.

i. The normal practice in the ancient world was to take a nice building such as a temple previously used to worship a prior god, and simply make it a place to worship one’s own god. Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel, wanted none of that in His own worship. He commanded that the places of pagan worship be destroyed, and that His people should not worship Him with such things.

ii. The worship of many of those who think of themselves as God’s people is corrupted this way. It isn’t that they worship too little; they worship too much. They worship the LORD and the things of the world. God doesn’t want such worship. It is an abomination to Him.

iii. Many people could really begin to worship God in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24), if they would only “destroy” in their hearts their pagan places of worship. Because they give their hearts to so many other things, there is little to give to the LORD.

b. On the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree: Much of the pagan worship of the Canaanites was a sexualized veneration of fertility and nature. Therefore, their shrines and temples were often in pleasant outdoor settings. God didn’t want Israel to adopt this approach of worshipping the creature rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25).

i. “The custom of placing shrines on mountains and hills and under leafy trees is referred to elsewhere in the Old Testament as a common practice of the Canaanites. It was copied by Israel in times of apostasy (1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 16:4; 17:10; 2 Chronicles 28:4; Isaiah 57:5; Jeremiah 2:20; 3:6, 13), making reform necessary.” (Thompson)

2. (5-9) The command to worship at God’s appointed place.

“But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.

“You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes—for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you.

a. You shall seek the place: There was a specific place God chose where Israel was to worship Him. It wasn’t left up to their feelings or preferences. At Mount Sinai, Israel build the tabernacle according to the pattern God gave them. That God-ordained place of sacrifice and worship was carried by Israel to where God guided them. Like the worship of believers today, Israel’s worship was based on what pleased God, not on what pleased the worshipper. Worship was a community activity, not only an individual activity.

i. The place where the LORD your God chooses: “It has been argued that in pre-monarchic times the central sanctuary moved from place to place, Shechem (Joshua 24:1), Bethel (Judges 20:18, 26, 27) and Shiloh (Judges 18:31; 1 Samuel 1:3, 21; 4:3-4), and that each place became in turn the place which Yahweh your God will choose.” (Thompson)

b. There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices: The place of worship was to be a place of atonement, confession (which was made when hands were laid on the head of the sacrificial victim), and cleansing.

c. There you shall take…your tithes: The place of worship was to be a place of giving. There were other places where an Israelite could give and be generous but giving had to begin at the place of worship God had appointed.

i. Some have thought that because Deuteronomy 12:6 mentions your tithes, that this was an additional tithe that was commanded of Israel, on top of the tithe commanded in Numbers 18. Some even call this the “festival tithe.” But in context, this passage is only speaking of where to bring the tithe, not commanding the bringing of an additional tithe.

d. There you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice: The place of worship is to be a place of joyful fellowship with God and others.

i. “The particular value of these words is that they reveal the Divine thought of worship. It is an exercise of rejoicing, resulting from blessedness. God blesses men, and in that blessedness they rejoice before Him.” (Morgan)

ii. “No one duty is more pressed in both the Testaments, than this of rejoicing in the Lord always.” (Trapp)

e. Not at all do as we are doing here today – every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes: During their wilderness years and before crossing the Jordan, it seems that each Israelite pretty much conducted their own worship as they pleased. But God was not ultimately pleased with this; worship was not a matter left up to whatever pleased the individual. Real worship is concerned with what pleases God.

i. “Everyone doing ‘as he sees fit’ (Deuteronomy 12:8) indicates that the camp life of the desert years was less controlled than the settled life in Canaan under the regimen of the covenant-treaty stipulations was to be. The messages of Deuteronomy were needed as preparation for that new life to come.” (Kalland)

ii. Much of what is called worship in today’s church really isn’t worship. It is self-focused, man-focused, and personal experience-focused instead of being God-focused. Much of today’s worship is measured by how the worshipper feels instead of being measured by how God is honored and worshipped.

iii. “Singing should be congregational, but it should never be performed for the credit of the congregation. ‘Such remarkable singing! The place is quite renowned for its musical performances!’ This is a poor achievement. Our singing should be such that God hears it with pleasure—singing in which there is not so much art as heart, not so much of musical sound as of spiritual emotion.” (Spurgeon)

3. (10-14) The joy of real worship in God’s appointed place.

But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, then there will be the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the LORD. And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you. Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; but in the place which the LORD chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.

a. There will be the place where the LORD your God chooses: A particular place is important to worship. The man who tells himself, “I can worship God just as well out on the golf course” is a man doing whatever is right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6, 21:25) It is fine for anyone to worship God out on the golf course; but there must also be a specific place where one comes to worship with God’s people.

i. This goes against the trend of our times. Studies find that among baby-boomers, 70% say that you should attend worship services not out of a sense of duty, but only if it “meets your needs.” 80% say you can be a good Christian without attending church. A staggering percentage of those who claim to be evangelical Christians rarely attend church.

b. And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God: Worship at God’s appointed place should be marked with joy. It is a good thing to come and honor our God and should be done with pleasure and joy.

i. “All Christian duties should be done joyfully; but especially the work of praising the Lord. I have been in congregations where the tune was dolorous to the very last degree; where the time was so dreadfully slow that one wondered whether they would ever be able to sing through the 119 Psalm; whether, to use Watt’s expression, eternity would not be too short from them to get through it; and altogether, the spirit of the people has seemed to be so damp, so heavy, so dead, that we might have supposed that they were met to prepare their minds for a hanging rather than for blessing the ever-gracious God.” (Spurgeon)

ii. “We ought not to worship God in a half-hearted sort of way; as if it were now our duty to bless God, but we felt it to be a weary business, and we would get it through as quickly as we could, and have done with it; and the sooner the better. No, no; ‘All that is within me, bless his holy name.’ Come, my heart, wake up, and summon all the powers which wait upon thee! Mechanical worship is easy, but worthless. Come rouse yourself, my brother! Rouse thyself, O my own soul!” (Spurgeon)

c. And you shall rejoice: The emphasis on shall shows that rejoicing is commanded. It is also commanded in the New Testament; Rejoice always (1 Thessalonians 5:16); Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! (Philippians 4:4). If a believer can’t rejoice out of feeling like it, they should then rejoice out of being commanded.

i. “No one duty is more pressed in both the Testaments, than this of rejoicing in the Lord always, but specially in his immediate services.” (Trapp)

B. The practice of worship.

1. (15-28) Things permitted and prohibited regarding butchering animals, sacrificing animals, and respecting the sanctity of blood.

“However, you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, of the gazelle and the deer alike. Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water. You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or your new wine or your oil, of the firstborn of your herd or your flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or of the heave offering of your hand. But you must eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all to which you put your hands. Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.

“When the LORD your God enlarges your border as He has promised you, and you say, ‘Let me eat meat,’ because you long to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires. If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter from your herd and from your flock which the LORD has given you, just as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your gates as much as your heart desires. Just as the gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you may eat them; the unclean and the clean alike may eat them. Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with the meat. You shall not eat it; you shall pour it on the earth like water. You shall not eat it, that it may go well with you and your children after you, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD. Only the holy things which you have, and your vowed offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the LORD chooses. And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, and you shall eat the meat. Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.

a. You may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates: In the ancient world, almost every time an animal was butchered it was also sacrificed to a god. Here, the LORD made it clear that not every slaughtered animal was considered a sacrifice to Him. It was permitted to slaughter and eat meat apart from sacrifice.

b. You may not eat within your gates the tithe…the firstborn of your herd…your freewill offerings, or of the heave offering: In several sacrifices described in the Law of Moses, a portion of the meat was given to the one who brought the offering. As a family, they would enjoy the meat at the tabernacle in a celebration feast. This command instructed Israel that all such sacrifices had to be made and eaten at the tabernacle, and nowhere else.

i. “Sacred meals, such as those set out here, are to be eaten at the central sanctuary and there alone. These are to be shared with the members of the family and with any Levite who may be in the town, in a spirit of happy rejoicing.” (Thompson)

ii. “What was sacrifice becomes food. The same Person and facts, apprehended by faith, are, in regard to their bearing on the divine government, the ground of pardon, and in regard to their operation within us, the source of spiritual sustenance. Christ for us is our pardon; Christ in us is our life.” (Maclaren)

iii. Do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land: “These had no inheritance, and were to live by the sanctuary: if therefore the offerings were withheld by which the Levites were supported, they of course must perish. Those who have devoted themselves to the service of God in ministering to the salvation of the souls of men, should certainly be furnished at least with all the necessaries of life. Those who withhold this from them sin against their own mercies, and that ordinance of God by which a ministry is established for the salvation of souls.” (Clarke)

c. Only be sure that you do not eat the blood: Since the blood was the picture of life in any animal or man (for the blood is the life), God would not allow Israel to eat meat that had not been properly bled. Instead, it was to be given to God by pouring it out on the earth. This was an illustration of the principle that all life belongs to God.

i. Commentators suggest different reasons why God commanded that the blood be poured out on the earth like water in honor of the idea that blood represented the life of the creature. Thompson said it was to prevent the blood from being poured out on a pagan altar. Merrill said it was to return it to the earth from which the Creator brought forth life.

2. (29-32) The worship of God must be pure.

“When the LORD your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

“Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.

a. That you do not inquire after their gods: When God gave Israel the land, they were commanded to guard against a sinful curiosity (How did these nations serve their gods?). An old proverb warns against excessive curiosity: curiosity killed the cat. Ungodly curiosity has also killed many spiritual lives.

i. Israel’s attraction to the Canaanite gods was especially strange, given that Yahweh had clearly conquered them in the days of Joshua. It was strange to worship inferior gods. “Over and over again in Israel’s history they showed their proclivity to follow after gods that were defeated and discredited in the face of the Lord’s powerful displays of sovereignty.” (Merrill)

b. You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way: God would not accept just any offering of worship. The LORD had to be worshipped in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

c. They burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods: This referred to the practice of Molech worship, where Canaanites offered up their children by placing them alive on a burning hot statue of Molech, while the sound of beating drums drowned out the screams of the tortured infants.

i. “While all pagan practices were excluded, the sacrifice of children is mentioned specially. This was one of the most ancient religious practices of Syria-Palestine. Already at the beginning of the second millennium BC it seems that infant sacrifice was practised in the land.” (Thompson)

ii. Israel had a tragic history of following this horrible god Molech.

· At the least, Solomon sanctioned the worship of Molech, building a temple to this idol (1 Kings 11:7).

· King Ahaz of Judah gave his own son to Molech (2 Kings 16:3).

· One of the great crimes of the northern tribes of Israel was their worship of Molech, leading to the Assyrian captivity (2 Kings 17:17).

· King Manasseh of Judah gave his son to Molech (2 Kings 21:6).

· Up to the days of King Josiah of Judah, Molech worship continued, because he destroyed a place of worship to that idol (2 Kings 23:10).

d. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it: The standard for worship was reflected in God’s word – not in human preference or opinion.

© 2017-2024 The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – [email protected]