Deuteronomy 12
From Deuteronomy 12 through
Deuteronomy 25:19, Moses gave Laws from God about one sanctuary, one God, and
one holy people. In the Bible passage of this study, Moses expounded on the law
of the single sanctuary. Before we study this though, I must bring a
theological theory about the authorship of Deuteronomy to light. Many modern
theologians believe Moses did not write all or part of Deuteronomy. The modern
theologians of this group state that parts of Deuteronomy are included in the
writings of a few of the prophets’ later in the Bible. They give eight other
points to back up their belief that several writers added to what Moses
preached in Deuteronomy 5-11. Other modern theologians believe Moses wrote all
of Deuteronomy except the ending that tells of Moses’ death. I agree with the
latter stance. I believe that where parts of Deuteronomy are included in later
Old Testament texts the authors of those books of the Bible used Moses’ writing
for their teaching. As to the other eight arguments for multiple authors of
Deuteronomy, this Bible study is not the vehicle for discussing historical
theological matters. This Bible study is aimed at teaching what Moses wrote in
Deuteronomy, for whom, and for what purpose. Moses, in Deuteronomy, revisited
for the Israelites their covenant with God and all His statutes, laws, and
judgments. By doing this, they would remember their covenant with God before
they took possession of the Promised Land. As Moses did for the Israelites,
later biblical authors did for the people of their era. They edited and
reapplied God’s commands to the people of their time so that its truth was not
lost, but was applicable to the people. That is the job of every Bible teacher
today.
Because the love and reverence of
God through worship and obedience to His laws and commandments is the supreme
purpose for the faith of the followers of the LORD, the place and method of
worship was of supreme importance. Moses commanded the Israelites often to “utterly
destroy” the nations in the land to which God was giving them. He restated this
again in 12:2. Moses further told them completely destroy the Canaanite places
of worship (Deuteronomy. 7:5, 12:3, Numbers 33:52). Why would a God of love,
who wants relationship, demand whole nations of people and their worship sites
be annihilated? People often query how God can be loving and yet destroy a
people/nation. This is a quandary to them. To understand this, one must
understand about the gods of Canaan that the people worshipped. In ancient
Canaan, the people worshipped a Mesopotamian deity associated with agriculture,
but who later became their greatest god, the giver of life. This god’s name was
Baal, which means “lord” or “master.” Baal had three mistresses - Anath, Astartem,
and Asherah, sisters. These goddesses governed fertility and war. In the Old
Testament, Asherah appeared as the goddess by the side of Baal. Most biblical
references to Asherah point to a cult object of wood. The gods required of their
devotees many things that Yahweh considered abominable - sacred prostitution
for fertility of the land, flocks, and herd, sacrifices of bulls and sheep, and
sacrifices of first-born children who were burnt alive (Leviticus 18:23-24,
20:3). Instead of people enjoying their sexual nature in ways God planned, the
Baals and Asherim required the licentious use of the sexual nature the LORD
gave them. These actions used and abused people. The attractiveness of the
licentious character of the worship of these gods would be a temptation for the
Israelites so they would stop following the LORD. As to the burning alive of
the first-born, the Old Testament often told of the burning of people alive by
saying the victim “passed through the fire” (1 Kings 16:3, 21:6). These were
common acts of obedience and a reverence to Baal and Asherah in Canaan from
fear, not respect, honor, and awe. The Ugaritic texts uncovered at Ras Shamra
speak of these gods of Canaan and their required acts of worship. Because of
the detestable acts of the Baal and Asherah worship and the worship of false
gods (broken first commandment), God judged the Canaanites. Added to this,
because the Canaanite people did not turn to the LORD God after seeing His
actions with and for the Israelites for
the forty years of their wandering, God’s judgment fell on them. These explain
why God commanded the Israelites “utterly destroy” the people and their places
of worship. It was not impossible for the Canaanites to see God’s hand guiding
and protecting the Israelites. Rahab saw God’s hand and believed (Joshua 2:10-14).
As we read further in the Bible of the Israelites’ history, we note they succumbed
to the attraction of the fertility rituals. This led to a weakened faith in
YAHWEH and a weakened ethic. The LORD told the Israelites before they entered
the Promised Land that they may wonder what god made the land so fertile and
the people wealthy and be tempted to worship the god of the Canaanites because
of it. God said, though, that He is the one who watered the land (Deuteronomy
11:2-7). He is the one who led, protected, and fed them from Egypt until the
Promised Land and He would continue to be their great, mighty, and awesome God.
So why did the God of love command the Israelites utterly destroy the
Canaanites? The Canaanites were to be dispossessed from the land to prevent
Israel and the rest of the world from being corrupted (Deuteronomy 20:16-18).
They worshipped false gods and committed detestable sins.
Now that the religion in Canaan and Deuteromonic
authorship is understood, let us look at Deuteronomy 12. There is an outline in
this chapter which begins with the common statement to the Israelites that
these are God’s commands and they “shall carefully observe” them in the land
where the LORD was taking them (Deut. 12:1). Before we go further into this
Bible study, notice that Moses used the word “shall” repeatedly when preaching
this chapter to the Israelites. He used the word “may” in just three verses,
15, 21, and 21. Moses was adamant the Israelites knew the commands from God.
From verse one’s command to “carefully observe” (shamar- hear, listen, and obey; to take heed), the general command
comes to “utterly destroy” the places where the Canaanite nations served their
gods (vs. 2). Next God told them what to do to the places of worship. Moses
said it in Deuteronomy 7:5, too (Deuteronomy 12:3). After the destruction of
the Canaanites’ gods’ altars and temples, Moses taught them how to worship the LORD
God, including what and where they could eat flesh (12:4-14). He further
explained what flesh they could eat (12:14-16, 20-22). In this section, regarding
the eating of flesh outside the temple, Moses used the word “may” instead of
the command “shall.” Further in this passage, Moses re-emphasized what was not
to be eaten except in the temple (12:17-19, 26-27) and what to do if the temple
was too distant too travel to often (12:21-25). At the end of the chapter,
Moses gave them a final warning about inquiring after and becoming ensnared by
other gods. He told them not to act before the LORD God like the Canaanites do
before Baal and Asherah. Moses gave a final imperative, like at the beginning,
with an addition. Now, let us dig deeper into this chapter.
Moses began with the basis of the first
commandment - there is only one true God - and expounded and extrapolated it
for the immediate future benefit of the Israelites. He gave them rules by which
to worship and serve God. Moses began by saying the Israelites should carefully
observe God’s statutes and judgments in the land He gave them to possess for as
long as they live (12:1). For their immediate present, when they overtook the
Canaanites, that meant removing the temptation to follow the gods of those seven
nations. Moses commanded them saying,
You shall utterly
destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their
gods…You shall tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn their
Asherim with fire and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and
obliterate their name from that place.
These
acts were intentional, not accidental, while they took over the Promised Land.
To “tear down,” in this passage, means to break and cast down the altars - their
temples and holy places. They were to smash (break into pieces and crush) the
sacred pillars (monuments and places where the idols stood). The Israelites
were to burn the Asherim (the wooden image of Asherah or the groves where idol
worship occurred). They were to chop into two the engraved/graven images and
idols of their gods. Numbers 33:52 and Deuteronomy 7:5 give these instructions,
too. We know from Judges 2:2 that the Israelites did not destroy all the
Canaanites and the angel of the LORD rebuked them. One added instruction Moses
gave them was to obliterate the gods’ names from Canaan. The Israelites did not
do this either. Read Exodus 23:13, Psalm 16:4, and Zechariah 13:2 to confirm
this.
Moses commanded them that the way
the Canaanites served and worshipped their gods was not the way they were to
act toward the LORD God (vs. 4). God did not want their abominable rituals and
rites to taint the true worship of the true LORD, Himself. Moses taught them
how to worship God in verses five through seven. First, Moses said, the LORD would
choose the place from the midst of the Israelite tribes to make His dwelling (shakan – residence). The Israelites would
worship Him there (12:5). “Establish” in verse five comes from the Hebrew word suwm and means to appoint, make, or
place. God appointed the place for His glory to rest and for the worship of Him.
Judah was to be the place of His temple (Psalm 78:68). To God’s place of
abiding, Moses commanded the Israelites bring six kinds of offerings – burnt
offerings, sacrifices, tithes, contributions of your hand, votive offerings,
freewill offerings, and the firstborn of their herd and flock. Each of these
offerings to God had importance. The “burnt offering” is called olah in Hebrew. This offering was for
atonement of which God received the whole thing - the body and blood. The
Israelites were to offer the body of a ritually clean animal on the altar
completely for God. “Sacrifices” are zebach
in Hebrew and were sacrifices of righteousness where the priest slaughtered an
animal brought by the person and offered it to the LORD for the forgiveness of
sin (Leviticus 17:11). This sacrifice was like what the Israelites did at the
Passover in Egypt. Moses instructed about tithes in Deuteronomy 14:22. Tithes were
to be one tenth of what the head of household earned. God instructed His people
to give back to Him first as His due and as thanks. The “contributions of your
hand” were called teruwmah in Hebrew
and were the heave offering. This
offering was a present made to the temple or priest for the priests. The “votive
offering” was a neder offering. This
offering was a vow a person made to abstain from enjoying specific things. The “freewill
offerings” are nedabah and were
voluntary offerings. The offerings of the firstborn of the herd and flock were like
the tithe. Even though the Israelite did not earn money from having his flock
or herd increase in number, God commanded he give the firstborn of each animal to
Him. After offering the firstborn animal to God and pouring its blood out on
the altar, the family and servants could eat from it with the LORD while
rejoicing in what their hand did and how God blessed their work. Verse 17
explains what of the offerings the Israelites could eat at the temple – the
tithe, the firstborn animal, the votive offering, the freewill offering, and
the heave offering. The final instruction Moses gave the people was they must
not do what “was being done” at that point in time, each man worshipping in whatever
means they thought best. When they arrived in the Promised Land, God mandated
the way the Israelites were to worship Him. Before then, while the Israelites were
not in the land of their resting place and inheritance, God did not command a particular
method of worship. This implies then that when they arrived in the Promised
Land and God chose where His name would abide, the Israelites were to worship Him
at that place in the prescribed way of verses five through seven. This verse
shows a unification of worship practices to one God at one place. There was to
be one sanctuary worshipping, eating, and rejoicing with and to the one true
God.
From this point in the sermon, Moses
reiterated in verses ten through twelve what he said in verses five through
seven. This time though, Moses spoke about when the Israelites rested from
their enemies and lived in security (vs. 10-12). When people feel secure, they
are more apt to let their worship of and obedience to God lapse. Moses told them
not to let that happen. Instead, God required them to bring the offerings and
sacrifices mentioned in verse six to the temple to worship and praise God.
Moses expanded the command this time by including the head of household, his
family, servants, slaves, and the Levite in his town or city’s gate. God
required each of these people together to rejoice before the LORD. Earlier
Moses told the Israelites to rejoice with their household. God provided for His
chosen priests, the Levites, by giving them food as they rejoiced with their neighbor
in the temple. With this command came a warning, this time at the end. Moses
said, “Be careful that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every cultic
place you see, but in the place the LORD chooses in one of your tribes. There
you shall offer your burnt offerings and there you shall do all that I command”
(vs. 13-14). The word Moses used for our English interpretation of “careful”
was shamar, which means hear, listen,
and obey; to take heed. Take heed, Moses said, that the Canaanite worship sites
not be used to worship God. Instead, go where God will choose and do everything
Moses commanded regarding sacrifices and offerings.
God provided animals for meat to eat
for the Israelites, just as he did plants for food. He provided for them to eat
meat within their town/city gates so they could eat meat more often than when
they went to the temple. Verses 15-19 tell of this part of God’s law. God
allowed the Israelites to slaughter any meat within their town’s gates, as they
desired with the LORD’s blessing. He warned them, though, that they must not
eat the blood, but instead, pour it out on the ground. Blood represented life.
By it, they atoned for their sin. The Bible states this in Genesis 9:4,
Leviticus 7:26 and 17:10-12, 1 Samuel 14:33f, and Acts 15:20 and 29. As a
reminder to the Israelites, Moses said the items set apart for God as sacrifice
or offering in verses six and eleven must not be eaten within the gates of the
Israelites’ towns/cities, but be saved for temple worship (vs. 17). God
permitted them to eat all other flesh. The holy things set aside for God must
be eaten in God’s presence by the head of the home, His family, servants,
slaves, and the Levite who resided within in town’s gates. While eating those
things, they would rejoice at the LORD’s blessing their endeavors. Moses gave a
reminder warning here, too. He told the Israelites, “Be careful that you do not
forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land” (vs. 19). Moses commanded
the Israelites not to forsake the commands of God about the holy things set
apart for Him and not to forsake the Levite whose inheritance came from the
things of God, just as the temple priests received their inheritance from God.
As
God extended the boundary of the Israelites’ land with the gradual conquering
of the Canaanites, the distance between Judah (Mount Zion – Psalm 78:68) and
the homes of many of the Israelites was too far to walk often. God knew this
and provided an exception to eating flesh in verses twenty-one through
twenty-five. He reiterated what he said in verses fifteen and sixteen. The
Israelites could eat meat within their gates, but not the blood. God added in
verses twenty-six and twenty-seven the caveat He commanded in verses seventeen
and eighteen about the holy things set apart for God. The Israelites must not
eat the things set apart for God as sacrifice and offering as Moses stated in
verses six and eleven. As in the last two commands, which involve the eating of
meat, Moses warned them at the end of this command to be careful (vs. 28). This
time the warning came with a promise. Moses said, “Be careful (shamar - take heed to hear, listen, and
obey) to listen to all these words which I command you so that it may be well
with you and your sons forever.” The promise of joy and pleasantness awaited
the people who obeyed God’s commands. On top of that was the reward of doing
good and right in the LORD’s sight. The other reward was the LORD’s pleasure at
His children’s obedience. Imagine how parents feel when they watch their child
do the right thing. There is satisfaction, contentment, and gladness when a
child does right and good. God feels that way when His children follow His
commands.
Moses closed this sermon about the
one sanctuary and the worship of God with a final warning and command in verses
twenty-nine through thirty- thirty-two. He said, “Beware that you are not
ensnared to follow them (the Canaanites they destroyed) after they are
destroyed before you and do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these
nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’” Moses commanded them completely
follow the commands of the LORD God. Be rid of the corrupting influence of the
Canaanites and their culture, including their gods. There was a reason God
dispossessed them. The Canaanites were abominable and detestable to the LORD because
of their service to their gods and because of their choice of Baal and Asherah,
not the LORD God. The Canaanites saw for forty-years the LORD God’s hand
protecting, leading, and providing for the Israelites as they wandered. They
could have been like Rahab and admitted the Israelites served the one true God.
The Canaanites continued to worship detestable gods in detestable ways. They
did not value God’s gift of life when they murdered people for sacrifice. The
Canaanites showed no value for human life when they corrupted the purpose God
gave for sexual relations. This people filled their cup with sin and God’s
judgment came upon them. Moses commanded them not to become ensnared/trapped
into following them and asking about their gods. God commanded the Israelites remove
every trace of the Canaanites from the land and their lives. Moses said in
verse thirty-one, “You shall not behave thus toward the LORD your God, for
every abominable act which the LORD hates, they have done for their gods; for
they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.” In case the
Israelites considered how to stretch the laws of God, Moses added in verse
thirty-two, “Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not
add to nor take away from it.” This makes it plain with no wiggle room. Do not
ask after or serve other gods of whichever land you call home.
The Israelites were not the only
people ever to encounter foreign gods. Our world is shrinking because of the mobility
we have in the twenty-first century. We do not even have to move physically to encounter
ideas about gods in other countries. We just have to turn on the computer or
television to face them. There is good news though. The LORD God of the
Israelites in 1400BC is the same God who is supreme today. No matter what or whom
a person chooses to be god to them, the LORD God is greater. He made the whole
world and keeps it in balance so we have rain and sun, night and day, and
summer and winter. God keeps us from floating out of control in the universe so
we are not too close to the sun and burn up or too far from the sun and freeze.
This same awesome God is the one who chooses to love each one of us from the
moment He thought and breathed us into being. He continues to choose us. He
made a way for us to return to Him through His holy and blameless Son, Jesus
Christ. As Moses taught and told the Israelites about the one true Lord God,
and as Joshua told them to choose whom they would serve (Joshua 24:14-15), we
can choose whom we will serve, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the God
of humankind. God leaves the choice to us to turn to Him. He promises that when
we ask and seek for Him with all our heart, He will be found by us (Matthew 7:7-8).
What is keeping you from seeking God and following Him? Jesus made the way for
us to return to Him, what excuse gets in your way. Maybe today is the day to
surrender all yourself, your plans, and your ideas to God and His best plan.
Seek Him with all your heart and come to know the LORD of lords and the KING of
kings forever.
