Deuteronomy 12:1-32
1 These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.
2 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possessa served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:
3 And ye shall overthrowb their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.
4 Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God.
5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:
6 And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:
7 And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee.
8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.
9 For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you.
10 But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;
11 Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choicec vows which ye vow unto the LORD:
12 And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you.
13 Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest:
14 But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.
15 Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.
16 Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.
17 Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand:
18 But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto.
19 Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth.
20 When the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.
21 If the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.
22 Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.
23 Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.
24 Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water.
25 Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.
26 Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the LORD shall choose:
27 And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh.
28 Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God.
29 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedestd them, and dwellest in their land;
30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
Deuteronomy 12:5. The place which the Lord shall choose. No place is here named; for the Lord was content, and most significantly, to dwell in the tent. He sojourned in the desert; and afterwards removed his abode to Gilgal, to Shiloh, to Nob, and to Jerusalem, which he chose by the falling of fire from heaven. 1 Chronicles 21:26. In all these places he recorded his name; and the people usually looked towards his holy place when they called on his name.
Deuteronomy 12:17. Thou mayest not eat the tithe of thy corn. The tithe was assigned to the levites, out of which they gave a tenth part to the priests. Numbers 18:21. Yet one part of the tithe was consumed in the sacred festivals, in which the worshipper participated. Tob 1:7.
REFLECTIONS.
Having already spoken of the commands to destroy the Canaanites, let us fix our eye on the place so frequently mentioned in this book, which God would choose for the residence of his ark and of his glory. Heaven most assuredly is the city and habitation of the Most High: there his temple and altar abide for ever. Carnal Israel being a figure of God's spiritual Israel, it was requisite that their worship should bear a resemblance to the heavenly glory. Hence they must have but one altar, but one highpriest, but one sanctuary. This restriction did not extend to the devotional exercises of prayer and praise, and public instruction; for these purposes synagogues were erected in every city. But the christian church, having their altar and their Saviour in heaven, and being a nation of priests, may everywhere offer up the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, and everywhere worship the Father in spirit and in truth.
Though the patriarchal liberty of sacrificing in any place was now removed; yet Israel acquired advantages by the change, which more than compensated for its loss. By bringing all their victims to one altar, care would be taken that no corruptions, no deviations should tarnish the glory of the ritual code, and render the service displeasing to God. No vestige of idolatry, no superstitious practices would be allowed to degrade the altar of JEHOVAH. By approaching him three times a year in his chosen residence, and between the more laborious periods of agricultural toil, they would be preserved from idleness, and all its consequences; for the Jews were never distinguished as a commercial people. They would derive superior instruction, for the liberty of prophesying and teaching was fully allowed. They would in fine become acquainted with all the great and good men of every tribe, and be united by the bonds of sacred and national affection.
This injunction to present oblations and victims only in one place, is not however to be understood as restrictive of the Almighty on special occasions. Few dispositions in religion have a worse effect than to be narrow and uncharitable in our views. The Lord accepted the sacrifice of Gideon. Judges 6. The levites offered kine on a stone in Bethshemesh, which was a complicated breach of the law. 1 Samuel 6. Samuel also offered a sucking lamb in Mizpeh. 1 Samuel 7. David at the threshingfloor of Araunah, and Elijah on mount Cannel, indulged the same liberty, and with the divine approbation. 1 Kings 18 1 Kings 18. It follows of course, that the church of Christ, a blessed and fruitful mother, is not to be too straitlaced with the cords of discipline. In revivals of religion, and on extraordinary occasions, God often works in an extraordinary way. But while we invariably adhere to the doctrine of Christ, let us abide as near as possible by the apostolic discipline of the church. From the divine laws, and the diligent worship of the Israelites, christians may learn how assiduous they should be to improve the abundant means of grace they have always at hand. They who are most constant in the courts of the Lord, are generally found to have the sincerest love for his cause.