Deuteronomy 12-13 Worshipping God's Way

Intro:

In chapters 5-11 Moses gave the 10 commandments followed by exhortations to be faithful to them

With chapter 12 we start part two of Moses’ second speech which cover chapters 12-26

This will take specific laws and explain them in detail so that the people will know how to live in a covenant community

All of these laws are given to a theocratic state, where God is the ruler and the word of God is the national constitution, many of the laws cannot be directly applied by us today.

But because each law is a reflection of the mind of God, we can glean principles that are relevant to all of God’s people in every generation.

The key to this passage is that because the Israelites are God’s holy people, they are to be different from the Canaanites.

Read Deuteronomy 12:1-7

I. Seek the Place of the Lord vs. 1-7

Chris Wright calls this a sandwich structure that gives us the key to understanding what the chapter is about.

On the front end, verses 2–4 say that all vestiges of Canaanite worship must be destroyed.

On the back end verses 29–32 say that they must have nothing to do with any form of Canaanite worship.

Verses 4 and 31a say the same thing: “You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way”; or putting it more literally, “You shall not act like this toward the Lord your God”

Moses first commands that all places of Canaanite worship should be destroyed when they go into the promised land.

We live in multi-religious societies and not in theocracies like Israel today, we do not have to destroy the idols of people of other faiths but should demonstrate through persuasion that there is no valid case for idols.

However, when idols and the like appear within the church, then total physical destruction is necessary.

vs. 4 says something that will be repeated often

You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way

It’s just as important to know how not to worship God as it is how to

The Canaanites were evil people and their worship was an abomination to the Lord

It was about self-pleasure like temple prostitution

In today’s church people fall into the same trap

There isn’t prostitution, but people make it all about themselves

Vs. 5 Seek the place that the Lord Your God will choose

They weren’t allowed to worship anywhere

They had to listen to God for the specific place and make His habitation there

God decides the best way for them to worship.

Scripture is very clear on how we are to worship

As God’s temple we must be morally pure.

In a passage on sexual immorality in the church Paul says,

1 Cor 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body”

As we are the temple of God, all of our life is one act of worship. And that worship needs to be “in spirit and truth”

Jesus said this to the Samaritan woman

John 4: 23-24 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Some people take this too far and others look like they have no life in them

When God establishes that place they will bring their burnt offerings there

We see this in 1 Samuel

1 Sam 1:3-4 Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. 4 On the day when Elkanah sacrificed

II. Right in His Own Eyes vs. 8-14

This section repeats itself and so I want to focus on two verses

Repetition is good, but we are going to get a lot of it in the coming chapters

Vs. 8 says you shall not do according to what we are doing here today.

The emphasis is that the Israelites weren’t going to do thing any way they wanted

Things are going to change with the cross the Jordan

Rules for long term effectiveness hadn’t been established therefore the people did as they saw fit

One thing in vs. 11-12 Bring your offerings with joy

When they brought their tithes and offerings they were do it with joy

We will see this in 2 Corinthians as well

Our giving to the Lord shouldn’t be reluctantly or out of obligation but out of joy

2 Cor 9:6-7 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

One of the greatest joys a Christians can experience is when they learn how to give joyously

vs. 13 Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see, but at the place that the Lord will choose

The final instruction in this section is worship God’s way and not your won

The focus in verse 14 is on submission to God’s will at all times. The sphere in which this is applied is worship.

III. Feel Free to Eat Meat vs. 15-28

The first fourteen verses of chapter 12 brought in some restrictions that were necessary for proper worship in the promised land.

The next section is not about restrictions but about the removal of restrictions because of practical considerations.

The laws of the Old Testament are given for practical reasons and are not just restrictions of people’s freedom so that they learn the discipline of obedience.

This section bears in mind people who crave for meat and does not condemn their craving but shows them ways to satisfy these cravings.

This chapter shows us that the Old Testament Law is not some dreary list of dos and don’ts but is a way to lead people to the full enjoyment of life with God and with each other.

The next section is about eating meat.

Again we have two parallel passages, the second (12:20–28) elaborating somewhat on the first (12:15–19).

According to the regulations described in Leviticus 17, meat from the kinds of animals used for sacrifices, like sheep and cattle, could be eaten only during meals in connection with the sacrificial ritual.

And only those who were ceremonially clean could eat this meat.

Hunted animals like the deer and the gazelle could be consumed at any time by ceremonially clean and unclean people.

This was because during the wilderness travels there weren’t many cattle and sheep, and also because everyone was near to the tabernacle where the sacrifices were offered.

When they go to the promised land, all people will not be near the place of sacrifice.

As there will be opportunity to have large herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, there won’t be a shortage of sacrificial animals. So the restrictions are removed

Desire is not something to deny; it is something to surrender to God so that he will redeem it and will help us enjoy fulfilling it in his way.

And this is the path to fullest enjoyment because it was God who created our capacity to desire and to enjoy.

vs. 20 “When the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he has promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because you crave meat, you may eat meat whenever you desire.

V. Worshipping Idols vs. 29-32

Verses 29–31 bring us back to the theme that forms the framework of this chapter: the dangers of foreign religions.

They talk of what could happen after the nations of Canaan have been cut off and the Israelites go and “dwell in their land”

vs. 30 shows us the word Shamar again

This time it is important to take care not to be ensnared by the gods of the dispossessed nations

When they want something done and God does not seem to be acting quickly enough, they can lose their security in God, get impatient, and go to some other god or try some new technique to look for relief.

When Moses delayed coming from the mountain, the people made a golden calf and worshipped it

VI. False Prophets vs. 1-5

VII. Families Led Astray vs. 6-11

VIII. Avoid Worthless Fellows vs. 12-18