From Deuteronomy 11-13
What kinds of things do you do when you want to thank God?
Overview
Dt 11.1-7 Story; Moses urges Israel to remember the acts of God and to therefore love the LORD
Dt 11.8-32 Story; Moses instructs them with blessings and curses for obedience when entering the promised land
Dt 12.1-14 Story; On entering the promised land Israel is to destroy all other forms of worship, and worship God with sacrifices at the chosen location.
Dt 12.15-28 Story; Instructions for eating various foods and sacrifices with respect to the location of the place the LORD will choose.
Dt 12.29-31 Story; Warnings against apostasy
Dt 12.32 Story; Summary statement for all the repeated instructions
Dt 13.1-18 Story; Warnings against idolatry and apostasy. Instructions on how to deal with it.
Passage and Comments
There are a lot of repeated instructions given to Israel and they are interwoven with Israel’s instruction to enter and take the promised land. This is why I haven’t described them as law in my overview. Moses instructs Israel on what they are to do when they enter.
12 “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. (Dt 12.1-4)They are to destroy all rival forms of worship that could lead to them abandoning their faith and worship of God. In contrast to these places of worship Moses alludes to another location for their worship.
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. (Dt 12.5-7)The place is the tabernacle and eventually it will be set up in Jerusalem.
Story of Jesus
I’ve mentioned a few times in the past that Jesus is the new location where God dwells among us. Today I would like to comment on another aspect of worship. The fact that Christians now are no longer bound to worship God at a single location. Rather we can worship God wherever we are in an unimaginable number of ways. Moses said;
‘you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the LORD your God has blessed you’ (Dt 12.7)Let us thank God for the ability and desire to worship him for who he is and what he has done. Lets consider how we can worship and please him in what we think, do and say.