Deuteronomy 12:5 - Meaning and Application

There is no single command in Moses’ law, as far as I remember, that is pressed more often than this one. All Israel was bound to bring their sacrifices to the one altar set up in the tabernacle court, and there to carry out all the outward acts of their worship. This did not apply to moral duties, for in those matters people could pray anywhere, as they did in their synagogues.

The command is repeated again and again, almost as we might repeat a lesson to children. Yet Scripture never repeats anything needlessly. This charge is stressed for three reasons. First, the people were very inclined toward idolatry and false worship, and they would face many temptations. Second, keeping this rule would help prevent corrupt customs from entering their worship, and it would preserve unity and brotherly love, since all would meet in one place and continue in one way and one heart. Third, the command had deep meaning. By staying with one place, they showed their belief in the two great truths summed up in (1 Timothy 2:5), that there is one God, and one Mediator, that is, one go-between who brings God and man together. It not only upheld the truth that God is one, but also pointed, though dimly, to the one way of coming near to God through the Messiah.

So let us reduce this long command to its main parts. First, God promises that when they are settled in Canaan, after they have rest from their enemies and live in safety, he will choose a certain place. That place will be the center of their unity, and there they must bring all their offerings (Deuteronomy 12:10, Deuteronomy 12:11). If they were to be tied to one place, they should not be left unsure about which place it was. If Christ had meant, under the gospel, to set up one place of power like Rome claims to be, we would not have been left so ignorant about it.

God did not let them choose the place themselves, because the tribes might have quarreled over it. Each tribe might have tried to secure it for its own advantage. Instead, he kept the choice for himself, just as he does with the appointment of the Redeemer and the setting up of holy worship. He did not name the place at once, as he had done with Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal for blessings and curses (Deuteronomy 11:29). He waited so that they would keep expecting more direction from heaven after Moses was gone.

The place God would choose is called the place where he would put his name. That means the place he would claim as his own, where his honor would dwell, where he would show himself to his people, and where he would make himself known, as people are known by their names. It would also be the place where he received prayer and praise. In that sense, it was to be his dwelling place, his royal court in Israel, where all who sought him reverently could find him. The ark was the sign of God’s presence, and wherever it was placed, there God put his name. The ark held the tablets of the law, which reminds us that no one should expect God’s blessings unless he is willing to receive God’s law. The first place God chose for the ark was Shiloh. After Shiloh lost its honor through sin, the ark was later found at Kirjath-jearim and other places. At last, in David’s time, it was fixed at Jerusalem, and God spoke even more clearly about Solomon’s temple: “This I have chosen for a house of sacrifice” (2 Chronicles 7:12). Compare (2 Chronicles 6:5).

Under the gospel, we have no temple that makes the gold holy, or altar that makes the gift holy. Only Christ does that. As for places of worship, the prophets foretold that spiritual incense would be offered in every place (Malachi 1:11). And our Savior said that true worshipers are accepted when they worship God in spirit and in truth, without being tied to this mountain or Jerusalem (John 4:23).

Second, they are commanded to bring all their burnt offerings and sacrifices to the place God would choose (Deuteronomy 12:6, Deuteronomy 12:11). “There you shall bring all that I command you” (Deuteronomy 12:6). “There you shall offer your burnt offerings” (Deuteronomy 12:14). “The flesh and the blood must be offered on the altar of the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 12:27). Even with their peace offerings, here called sacrifices, the people might eat the meat, but the blood still had to be poured out on the altar.

This taught them that God did not value sacrifices for their own sake, or because of any worth in the animals themselves. They were not pleasing to him merely as natural acts of honor. Their value came only from the altar where they were offered, since that altar pointed to Christ. At the same time, prayers and praises, which are even more necessary and valuable, were to be offered every day wherever God’s people lived. A faithful Israelite could still honor God, stay in fellowship with him, and receive mercy from him, even if months passed without bringing a sacrifice to the altar. All this also points to the duty of Christians, who must offer spiritual sacrifices to God in the name of Jesus Christ, looking for acceptance only through his mediation, that is, his interceding work between God and us (1 Peter 2:5).

Third, they are commanded to feast on their holy things before the Lord, with holy joy. They were not only to bring to the altar the sacrifices that were offered to God, but also to bring to that place all the things they were to eat and drink in honor of God, as a sign that they shared fellowship with him (Deuteronomy 12:6). This included their tithes, their heave offerings, that is, the first produce lifted up in offering, their vows, their freewill offerings, and the firstborn of their animals, all those things that were to be used in a religious way either by themselves or by the priests and Levites. They were to be brought to the place God chose, just as the revenues of a kingdom are gathered into the treasury.

Then, they were told, “There you shall eat before the Lord, and rejoice in all that you put your hand to” (Deuteronomy 12:7). Again, “You shall rejoice before the Lord, you, and your sons, and your daughters” (Deuteronomy 12:12). We learn here that what we do in God’s service and for his glory becomes a benefit to us, if we do not spoil it ourselves. Those who sacrifice to God are welcome to eat before him and rejoice at his table. He eats with us, and we eat with him (Revelation 3:20).

If we honor God, we also build ourselves up. By his grace, our minds grow in knowledge and faith, our holy desires are stirred, and good habits and firm resolutions are strengthened. In that way, the soul is fed and refreshed.

Their work for God was also to be done with holy joy and cheerfulness. “You shall eat and rejoice” (Deuteronomy 12:7), and again in verses 12 and 18. While they stood before the Lord, they were to rejoice, because it is God’s will that we serve him gladly. Nothing offended him more than those who covered his altar with tears (Malachi 2:13). We can see what a good Master we have, since he has made it our duty to sing as we work. Even the children and servants were to rejoice with them before God, so that religion would feel like a delight, not a burden.

They were also to carry that joy back into daily life. They were to rejoice in everything they put their hand to, taking some of the comfort of worship into ordinary duties (Deuteronomy 12:7). When the soul is strengthened in this way, whatever we do can be done with a willing heart. This holy joy in God and his goodness, the joy we are told to have always, is the best protection against empty worldly pleasure. It is also a relief from the sorrows of this world.

They are also commanded to be kind to the Levites, the men set apart for religious service and teaching. If they feasted with joy, the Levites were to feast with them and rejoice with them (Deuteronomy 12:12, 18). They were warned, “Take heed that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live” (Deuteronomy 12:19). Some Levites served at the altar as helpers to the priests, and they must not be neglected. But this seems especially to refer to the Levites living among the people, teaching God’s law and helping them in worship. It was a great mercy to have Levites within their gates, so they could ask them for God’s law and be guarded at their feasts from excess. It is the duty of God’s people to be kind to their ministers, who give good instruction and set good examples.

The reason is plain: the Levite had no inheritance with them, so he could not become rich by farming or trade. Therefore he was to share in the comfort of their prosperity. They were to give the Levites the tithes and offerings assigned to them by law, since that was their support. We still see the same principle today, that those who serve God’s people should not be left without care.

They were allowed to eat ordinary meat in their own houses, wherever they lived, but not the flesh of their offerings. Anything devoted to God was not to be eaten at home (Deuteronomy 12:13, 17). But what was not devoted in that way they could kill and eat as they wished (Deuteronomy 12:15, 20-22). In the wilderness, it seems they did not eat meat from these sacrificial animals unless it was brought to the tabernacle door and part of it offered to God as a peace offering (Leviticus 17:3, 4). But once they came into Canaan, where many lived far from the tabernacle, they could kill animals from their flocks and herds for their own use without bringing part to the altar.

This permission is repeated carefully so that Satan would not use the law against them. He must not suggest, as he did to Eve, that God was being stingy and denying them good things. Instead, they were told plainly, “You may eat whatever you desire.” A natural and orderly appetite is lawful to satisfy with temperance and self-control. They were not to make an idol of eating, nor be troubled if their desires were limited.

Even the unclean, who could not eat holy things, were allowed to eat the same kind of meat when it was only common food. The difference between clean and unclean persons was sacred, and it was meant to protect the honor of their holy meals. That distinction should not be brought into everyday meals.

This allowance had two limits. First, they were to eat according to the blessing God had given them (Deuteronomy 12:15). It is not only wise, but also right, to live within our means and not spend more than we have. It is wrong to save what should be used, and it is even more wrong to spend what we do not have, since that belongs to someone else and is therefore stolen. It is easier to make up for money that should have been spent than for money wrongly spent on a wife, children, and creditors. Wisdom must find the middle path, and watchfulness and resolve must keep us there.

Second, they must not eat blood (Deuteronomy 12:16, 23-25). “Only be sure that you do not eat the blood.” If they could not bring the blood to the altar to pour it out before the Lord, where it belonged, they were to pour it out on the ground. Blood was the life, and so it belonged to God, who gives life. It also pointed to atonement, because life is forfeited to him because of sin. Bishop Patrick thinks one reason for this strict command was to keep Israel away from the superstitions of older idolaters, who thought demons delighted in the blood of sacrifices and that eating it brought communion with them.

They were also forbidden to keep up either their own corrupt habits from the wilderness or the corrupt customs of the nations in Canaan. They must not continue the improper practices that had arisen in the wilderness and were overlooked because of their unsettled life there (Deuteronomy 12:8, 9). “You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today.” Moses was a very good ruler, and one might think there could have been no better time for order than when Israel was camped closely together under his watch. Yet even then much was wrong, and many irregularities had crept in.

We should never expect any community to be fully pure and orderly until we come to the heavenly Canaan.

They had sacrifices, public worship, courts of justice, and civil government. The stoning of the man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath day shows how strictly the most serious parts of the law were guarded. Yet because they kept moving from place to place and never knew where they would be next, two problems arose.

First, they could not keep the solemn feasts and cleansing rites with the full care the law required. Second, anyone inclined to do evil had more chances to hide it, because their frequent moves interrupted the work of justice. But Moses says that when they come into Canaan, they must not do as they do there now. When God’s people are unsettled, some things may be allowed for a time that would not be allowed later.

We must think about cases of necessity while that necessity lasts, but what belongs to the wilderness must not be carried into Canaan. While a house is being built, much dirt and rubble may be left around it, but all of that must be cleared away when the house is finished. Moses was about to die and give up leadership, and it would have comforted him to know that Israel would be better under the next leader than they had been under him.

They also must not worship the Lord by any of the rites or ceremonies that the people of Canaan used in serving their gods (Deuteronomy 12:29-32). They must not even ask about the forms of idol worship. What good would it do to know those deep secrets of Satan? (Revelation 2:24). It is better to stay away from what might infect us with evil.

They must not copy the customs of idolaters for three reasons. First, it would be foolish to make their patterns people whom God had made slaves, captives, and destroyed before them. The Canaanites had not prospered through the service of their gods in any way that should attract Israel to follow them. People are deeply deceived if they walk in the way of sinners after they have seen how those sinners end.

Second, some of those customs were cruel and inhuman. They went against not only the light and law of nature, but even natural family feeling. One example was burning their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods (Deuteronomy 12:31). Just naming such a practice is enough to make it hateful and to fill us with horror.

Third, those idolatrous customs were disgusting to the Lord. If Israel brought those practices into his worship, they would make even the worship meant to honor him into something hateful and offensive. It is a terrible thing when the sacrifice itself becomes an abomination (Proverbs 15:8). Moses closes with the same warning he had already given about God’s word in (Deuteronomy 4:2): they must not add their own ideas, as if making God’s command more meaningful or impressive, and they must not take away from it, as if making it easier or leaving out what seems unnecessary. They must do all that God has commanded, and only what he has commanded.

We can hope for God’s approval in worship only when we follow his instructions. God wants his own work done in his own way.