SCRIPTURE: DEUTERONOMY 12
IMPORTANT VERSES:
“Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. (Deuteronomy 12:2-3)
“Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 12:28)
THE ONE PLACE OF WORSHIP (vs. 1-32)
These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the Lord, a the God of your fathers, has given you to possess – as long as you live in the land. Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.
You must not worship the Lord your God in their way. But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes, and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.
You are not to do as we do here today, everyone as he sees fit, since you have not yet reached the resting place and the inheritance the Lord your God is giving you. But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety. Then to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Named – there you are to bring everything I command you your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you have vowed to the Lord. And there rejoice before the Lord you God, you , your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites from your towns, who have no allotment or inheritance of their own. Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you please. Offer them only at the place the Lord will choose in one of your tribes and there observe everything I command you.
Nevertheless, you may slaughter your animals in any of your towns and eat as much of the meat as your want, as if it were gazelle or deer, according to the blessing the Lord your God gives you. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it. But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water. You must not eat in your own towns the tithe of your grain and new wine and oil, or the firstborn of your herds and flocks, or whatever you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts. Instead, you are to eat them in the presence of the lord your God at the place the Lord your God will choose – you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites from you towns – and you are to rejoice before the lord your God in everything you put your hand to. Be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land.
When the Lord your God has enlarged your territory as he promise you, and you crave meat and say, “I would like some meat,” then you may eat as much of it as you want. if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his Name is too far away from you, you may slaughter animals from the hers and flocks the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you, and in your own towns you may eat as much of them as you want. Eat them as you would gazelle or deer. Both the clean may eat. But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water. Do not eat it, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord.
But take your consecrated things and whatever you have vowed to give, and go to the place the Lord will choose. Present your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God, both the meat and the blood, The blood of your sacrifices must be poured beside the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat the meat. Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.
The Lord your God will cut off before you the nations y8oua re about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.” You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
See that you do all I command you;. do not add to it or take away from it.
THOUGHTS: (From Life Application Study Bible)
When taking over a nation, the Israelites were supposed to destroy every pagan altar and idol in the land. God knew it would be easy for them to change their beliefs if they started using those altars, so nothing was to remain that might tempt them to worship idols. We too, should ruthlessly find and remove any center of false worship in our lives. These may be activities, attitudes, possessions, relationships., places or habits – anything that tempts us to turn our hearts from God and do wrong. We should never flatter ourselves by thinking we are too strong to be tempted.
The Hebrews placed great emphasis on family worship. Whether offering a sacrifice or attending as great festival, the family was often together. This gave the children a healthy attitude toward worship and it put extra meaning into it for the adults. We must also encourage our children to worship with us together at church services.
Easting blood was forbidden for several reasons:
- It was an integral part of the pagan practices of the land the Israelites were about to enter.
- It represented life, which is sacred to God
- It was a symbol of the sacrifice that had to be made for sin.
God did not want the Israelites even to ask about the pagan religions surrounding them. Idolatry completely permeated the land of Canaan. It was too easy to get drawn into the subtle temptations of seemingly harmless practices. Sometimes curiosity can cause us to stumble. Knowledge of evil is harmful if the evil becomes too tempting to resist. To resist curiosity about harmful practices shows discretion and obedience.