ETB Deuteronomy 12:1-11,29-32

Session 10: Undivided Worship p.91

Our book starts with the statement, “We’ve all heard the statements. “I don’t need to go to church to worship. I can worship just as well while walking on the beach, working in my garden, or hiking in the mountains.” [Lifeway Adults (2025). (p. Page 91). Explore the Bible: Adult Personal Study Guide - CSB - Fall 2025. Lifeway Press. Retrieved from https://read.lifeway.com]

What are some other places that you have heard people says was “just as good as a church?”

This statement reveals a misconception that New Testament worship is about a particular place. As we will read today in our passage, that was true in the Old Testament, but it was for a different reason and different dispensation.

ASK: Do you think God cares about where and how people worship Him? (p.91)

Today we can worship in all those places mentioned but it is not the place that makes it worshipful, but a heart focused on the Lord.

Understand the Context

After being given the Shema which we looked at briefly last week, Moses reminds the people that that were chosen by God to be “His people” (Chp. 7).They were reminded again to do these commandments but then also told of how they were chosen not because of their righteousness or their power to overcome the people in the land. Moses reminds them of their disobedience with the golden calf and how he had to go and get two more tablets from the Lord. He then reminds them of the need for a “circumcised heart” and this is the only way that could truly love and serve the Lord. Chapter 11 ends with reminder of both the blessings and curses for obedience and disobedience.

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 12

Deuteronomy 12

Explore the Text

Deuteronomy 12:1–7 ESV

1 “These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. 2 You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. 4 You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way. 5 But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go, 6 and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. 7 And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.

you shall be careful to do in the land

The Hebrew highlights the enduring nature of His statutes and rules. While they were written in stone, they also needed to be written on people’s hearts. God expected faithful obedience. [ETB:ALG Fall '25]

If you take this verse as it is, one may conclude that these laws do not apply to us as we do not live “in the land”. Even the Jews when exiled later could have made that claim.

Why is this not an accurate interpretation of this verse?

The end of the verse expands the context for us well beyond the limits of the Promise Land. All our days, all the earth.

As we read through the rest of these rules today and in the weeks to come, we need to remember that sometimes the lists and items noted are “descriptive” but not “exhaustive.” They will help us grasp the context of vastness or limitations but not give us every instance. This is why Scripture is still relevant and applicable today, its principles and ethics continue to be valid as we are still His people and in His land for He has bought us with a price and adopted us as sons while letting us remain on the earth for the remainder of our days. All the earth is His and there is nowhere on earth or heaven that we can go that He is not.

destroy all the places

How many place of worship of other gods are to be destroyed?

To explain the “all,” three places are given where to begin looking.

Trees in that region typically grow naturally near water sources, you could say the valleys.

They were to look high up on mountains, in the middle grounds on the hills, and down in the valleys. The words also have connotations of up, beside, and under. The search for these places was to be thorough. We might say “no stone unturned.”

The next verse describes in similar fashion what “destroy” includes.

tear down... dash to pieces… burn… chop down.

Did God leave out any methods of destruction?

Just like the places and the destruction, God gives a descriptive list of what “items” to be found and destroyed: altars, pillars, totems, and carved images.

Ask: Why was it important for the Israelites to focus first on ridding the land of the pagan worship sites and related objects?

destroy their name

CSB has “wipe out their names.” When I first read this, I did not know that it was talking about the god names, I thought it was talking about the Canaanites names.

Archeologists use artifacts they find to theorize about or “prove” things about civilizations.

What if one civilization or nation was determined to “wipe out their names” from the face of the earth? What would happen to those archeologist theories and timelines?

Did you know that there are many scholars that say that the Bible’s record of the conquering of Canaan is not accurate because they cannot find evidence of the peoples that were supposedly displaced? I think the Bible tells us exactly what happened. The people did what God commanded and not only “wiped out” the names of the gods but the worshippers too.

You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way

In what way?

If you list them out again, it can sound Dr. Seuss like.

You shall not worship on mountain or hill. You shall not worship under the tree.

You shall not worship with pillar. Do not use a totem to worship Me.

Why was God being so thorough about how the people were “not” to worship and removing all the “wrong” things?

Remember the Shema from last week, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.” As unique as God is so should the worship of Him be equally exclusive and different.

you shall seek the place

How long from this promise to the Temple by Solomon?

About 480 years.

1 Kings 6:1 “1 In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord.”

From Solomon to Christ?

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Temple, Jerusalem

The first temple was built by King Solomon around 950 BC and was destroyed in 587/6 BC by the Babylonians. After the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, Jewish exiles returned to Jerusalem and, led by Zerubbabel, began to rebuild the temple. The second temple was completed around 518/17 BC and was extensively renovated by Herod the Great starting in 20 BC. The Romans destroyed the second temple in AD 70 during the First Jewish Revolt.

That would eventually be the place of worship for all the “Chosen” people, but they had not acquired the land much less the city and mountain top where it would be.

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 12

Requiring a single, central place of worship would demand changes in the way the Israelites ordered their life, even to the point of changing the observance of holy days as described in the book of Exodus. This passage of Deuteronomy seems to indicate that the purpose of the centralized sanctuary was to ensure that Israel worshiped Yahweh correctly.

Much like the tabernacle and the temple took massive amounts of materials and preparations to build, God directs His people to “prepare” to worship Him by bringing things to Him.

there you shall bring

How many “things” does God list here that should be brought?

Burnt offerings

Sacrifices

Tithes or tenths

Personal Contributions

Vow or Votive offerings

Freewill offerings

Firstborn of your flock

Seven is God’s number for completeness. Regardless of what items are described, what does this tell us about how much we are to give to God

there you shall eat before the LORD

If eating is a form of worship, then some of us have become a little over zealous but this was not just any meal.

Implicit in the idea of eating before the Lord was the idea that the Israelites would not worship in this manner elsewhere. Moses commanded them to rejoice in their worship. The wording suggests that worship and feasting were family events. All family members should celebrate the blessing of their relationship with God and with one another. [ETB:ALG Fall '25]

Transition: The Lord knew that pagan influences would compromise Israel’s worship. He also knew that adopting His standards would help Israel avoid idolatry in the future.

Deuteronomy 12:8–11 ESV

8 “You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes, 9 for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the Lord your God is giving you. 10 But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, 11 then to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the Lord.

You shall not do

Does God say how they are currently worshipping is wrong for their current location?

When and where does He says this new pattern should start?

The words Moses gave the Israelites pointed them toward the future. The people had received God’s commands at Sinai and had committed themselves to Him (Ex. 19–24). Yet, they had not entered the land where they could apply fully these commands. [ETB:ALG Fall '25]

He gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety

This is another reference to a specific time in the life of the nation of Israel but even during Solomon’s reign there was not peace with all the surrounding nations. I think this is another descriptive concept instead of a definitive one. Since this phrase is in a list with others about the Promise Land, it probably refers to that time when they have purged all the current people out of the land. Unfortunately, this did not happen, and they never fully realized the “rest” they could have had. This did not stop the Lord’s plans, and He still chose “a place” for His name.

Ask: Why did God want to designate a certain place for His people to worship Him? Why was that important to Him—and to them? (p. 96)

the place that the Lord your God will choose

Some suggest this refers to where the tabernacle was set up in multiple cities until the Temple was built. I disagree because the more exclusive God’s commands are the more they point us toward His “one and only Son.” Christ was unique, God is unique, “the place” should also be unique. Shechem & Shiloh were precursors to final structure in Jerusalem like Moses and the Prophets were precursors to Christ.

The ESV Study Bible Chapter 12

Access to God at a single location (Jerusalem,

The book then skips over a few verses regarding some of the participants and specifics about the offerings to be made at “the place.”

Deuteronomy 12:29–32 ESV

29 “When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, 30 take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ 31 You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. 32 “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.

“Having promised His people military victory, God knew the Israelites faced another threat—spiritual defeat. He did not want His people to go after foreign gods. A concern was that the Hebrews would attempt to incorporate some of the Canaanites’ religious practices and beliefs into Judaism. The word for this type of mixing is ‘syncretism.” [ETB:PSG Fall '25, p. 97]

take care that you be not ensnared

CSB Study Bible: Notes Chapter 12

The residual effects of the wicked nations of Canaan would be so powerful that even after their expulsion from the land, the Israelites would be tempted to inquire about their gods. The human heart is fickle, always in danger of yielding to a downward pull (

That is probably a good word of caution for us today. There are so many different ways that we can get “ensnared” or “entangled” by the things of this world. God is warning the people of Israel that the things which may entrap them did not prevent those people from being destroyed so they are not worth giving heed to. For us in the New Testament era, those things for which Christ died to free us from should not be taken up again.

Galatians 5:1 “1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

Later in the same chapter Paul tells the Galatians how to prevent from being “ensnared.”

Galatians 5:16–17 “16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

Jesus warns that worse than being ensnared by temptations is to “be the snare.”

Matthew 18:7 “7 “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!”

We must be very careful not only in our own worship but in how we direct others to obey God and His Word.

For the Israelites, they were to only worship God in the way that He prescribed, in the place that He chooses. It did not matter what any other nation was doing, they were not to be like them as God is unique, so should their worship be. Like the next verse states.

You shall not worship… that way

Earlier God had told them not to worship like they had been (what was right in their eyes) now He tells them to also not worship as they have seen others (what was right in their eyes). God wants them to be different, unique, set apart, holy. A Holy God requires holy worship that is distinct from any other.

When you read your Bible, do you read like any other book?

Sometimes worship is a little thing, with big impact.

In college a missionary came and spoke to our group about his time in another country. He said that after he had been there a few months the people began to share why they believed him when they had not listened to others who had come before him with the same message. When the others came to preach, they would bring several books and notes and place them on the table and pull the bible out from the middle of the stack and then start reading from it. The natives had noticed that this man never put anything on top of his Bible, it was always on top. Even when he went to put things down, he would pick up his Bible, put the other things down, and put the Bible on top. The missionary worshipped the Word of God so fully that it visibly took precedent over every other thing, and that made his message from it more precious and believable to the people of that country.

Worship can take many forms, all of them need to point toward and be directed at The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

ASK: In what ways are we tempted to draw the world’s practices and beliefs into our worship experiences today? How do we draw the line so we practice only what God finds acceptable in worship? [ETB:PSG Fall '25, p. 98]

The command be careful to do again repeats the Hebrew word that occurred in verses 1 and 30. The Israelites’ absolute loyalty to God was crucial. Moses encouraged the people to pay attention to and obey everything that I command you. God’s ways led to life as He intended, while the Canaanites’ way led to death. His words were all they needed, not Canaan’s idols.

Regarding God’s commands, Moses told them not to add to it, including pagan practices. He also told them not to take from it, lest they become the ones who decided which of God’s commands they would follow and which they would ignore. His instruction—no more and no less—was all they needed. [ETB:ALG Fall '25]

Apply the Text

The NIV Application Commentary on the Bible Deuteronomy 12:1–14

Worship must be designed to please the object of worship, not the worshipers. If Moses had to call a stop to the Israelites of his day worshiping in any way they pleased (12:8), the same is true today. In the end, the divine verdict on our worship is the only verdict that matters. Contrary to some, ultimately acceptable forms and styles of worship are not determined by worshipers, let alone the unregenerate or marginally spiritual.

Pray: Heavenly Father thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to guide our hearts and minds to recognize and avoid false gods. Lord, we want to always bring the offerings of our hearts, resources, and abilities to You for You gave them all to us. Help us to grow more devoted and steadfast in out worship of You in more and more of our daily routines. Lord, help us honor You and Your Word through genuine worship. May we be careful to do all that You command us and not take away or add to Your Word.