DBG - March 5 - Deuteronomy 12-14

In this chapter we see the command for a place of centralized worship to be established in the Promised Land.

vs. 1-3 – Israel is supposed to completely eradicate any vestige of idolatry from Canaan when they take possession.

vs. 4-14 – While in the wilderness, Israel camped around the Tabernacle and it was the united and central place of worship.  When they took possession of Canaan, God would direct them to set up a place to set up the Tabernacle and it would ne the new central place of worship.  There was not to be private altars or sanctuaries.  God desired the nation to be united in worship.

vs. 15-28 – The slaughtering of animals for food is allowed separate from the Tabernacle, but the eating of anything devoted to God was restricted to the location of Tabernacle.  We note again the emphasis on not eating blood.

vs. 29-32 – The chapter closes as it opens, with a warning to not fall into idolatry.

In this chapter there are three cases where Israelites may be enticed to embrace idolatry.  I must emphasize that these are civil laws for Israel and not something we are to follow in our day.

vs. 1-5 – Israel is warned to not follow any false prophet, even if they work miracles, if they try to turn their hearts from God.  These are not to be tolerated and be put to death.

vs. 6-11 – The death penalty is also announced for any Israelite that attempts to entice a Jew into idolatry.

vs. 12-18 – The final case is that of an Israelite city that turns to idolatry.  It is to be defeated and destroyed.  In vs. 13 is the first appearance of one of my favorite words in the Old Testament, “Belial”.  It literally means “worthless”.  It is not the name of any specific pagan deity, but rather a euphemism used by the Jews.  When we see phrases like “children of Belial” or “sons of Belial” it is a code for idolators.

In this chapter Moses deals with holiness in diet and giving.

vs. 1-2 – The chapter beings with a call for Israel to be a holy people, separate and different from the idolators around them.  Specifically mentioned here are a couple of mourning rituals (cutting flesh and shaving eyebrows) that God forbids His people from following.  These types of customs are seen later in I Kings 18:28 and Jeremiah 16:6.

vs. 3-21 – We have here a list of clean and unclean animals, similar to the one in Leviticus 11.  I will refer you to those notes for details, though there are a few different animals listed when you compare the two lists.

vs. 22-29 – While Deuteronomy often repeats past history or regulations, this passage is something unique.  There has already been mentioned a tithe in Numbers 18:24-28.  Here is the second tithe to be made.  In the first and second year, it was to be eaten at the Tabernacle in something like a “Thanksgiving” feast.  In the third year, it was given to the Levites for their support and to the poor.  In the fourth and fifth years, it was again eaten at the Tabernacle.  The sixth year seems to repeat the custom of the third year, and the seventh year would see the fields be left fallow as a Sabbath rest for the land (Leviticus 25:1-11)

I think the importance of the centralized worship in Chapter 12 is not emphasized enough.  God did not desire the Israelites to each serve Him according to their own consciences or tastes.  He had directed exactly how He was to be worshipped, and that worship was centered at the Tabernacle and later the Temple.  Yet we will read in later history many instances were the Jews worship on their own outside of the Tabernacle/Temple.  There are some justifications in a few cases (such as when the Ark was separated from the Tabernacle in Samuel’s day), but for the most part individualized worship is a sign of the people turning away from God.  Let it be a warning to us.  Christians were not made to be “lone wolves”, surviving on our own.  We are to be united into a church family.  There is danger when we drift into individualized worship and neglect centralized worship with other believers. 

Our hymn today is was written by Joseph Hart and first published in 1759.  It is directly based on the first verses of Deuteronomy 13. 

No prophet, nor dreamer of dreams,
No master of plausible speech,
To live like an angel who seems,
Or like an apostle to preach;
No tempter, without or within,
No spirit, tho’ ever so bright,
That comes crying out against sin,
And looks like an angel of light;

Tho’ reason, tho’ fitness he urge,
Or plead with the words of a friend,
Or wonders of argument forge,
Or deep revelations pretend,
Should meet with a moment’s regard,
But rather be boldly withstood,
If any thing, easy or hard,
He teach, save the Lamb and His blood.

Remember, O Christian, with heed,
When sunk under sentence of death,
How first thou from bondage wast freed;
Say, was it by works, or by faith?
On Christ thy affections then fixed,
What conjugal truth didst thou vow!
With Him was there any thing mixed?
Then what wouldst thou mix with Him now?

If close to the Lord thou wouldst cleave,
Depend on His promise alone;
His righteousness wouldst thou receive,
Then learn to renounce all thy own;
The faith of a Christian indeed
Is more than mere notion or whim;
United to Jesus, his head,
He draws life and virtue from Him.

Deceived by the father of lies,
Blind guides cry, "Lo here!" and "Lo there!"
By these our Redeemer us tries,
And warns us of such to beware.
Poor comfort to mourners they give,
Who set us to labor in vain;
And strive, with a "Do this and live"
To drive us to Egypt again.

But what says our Shepherd divine?
For His blessèd word we should keep;
"This flock has My Father made Mine,
I lay down My life for My sheep;
’Tis life everlasting I give,
My blood was the price that it cost;
Not one that on Me shall believe,
Shall ever be finally lost."

This God is the God we adore,
Our faithful, unchangeable friend,
Whose love is as large as His power,
And neither knows measure nor end;
’Tis Jesus, the first and the last,
Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home;
We’ll praise Him for all that is past,
And trust Him for all that’s to come.