Deuteronomy 12:1 - Meaning and Application

From these great original truths, that there is a God, and that there is only one God, come two basic laws: that this God must be worshiped, and worshiped alone. So we are commanded to have no other gods before him. This is the first commandment, and the second protects it, like a guard or hedge around it. To keep people from turning back to false gods, they are forbidden to worship the true God in the same way the false gods were worshiped. Instead, they must follow the worship God has set in place, so they stay faithful to the right object of worship.

For that reason, Moses gives a fuller explanation of the second commandment. What is said in this chapter and the next four chapters mostly relates to it. These are the statutes and judgments they must obey, to do them (Deuteronomy 12:1). They must keep them in two settings: in days of rest and success, when they would be masters of Canaan, and throughout all their days, as long as they lived on earth. We should not think religion is only for times of hardship, lonely seasons, or early training. No, when we come into a good land, we still must keep God’s worship in Canaan as well as in the wilderness, when we are grown as well as when we are children, and when we are busy as well as when we have little else to do. While we are here in this time of testing, we must keep obeying to the end, never leave our duty, and never grow tired of doing good.

First, they are commanded to tear down and destroy everything the Canaanites used in the worship of their idol gods (Deuteronomy 12:2, 3). There is no mention here of idol temples, which supports the view of some that the tabernacle Moses built in the wilderness was the first building ever made for religious use, and that temples later came from it. The places that were to be leveled were enclosures for worship on mountains and hills, as if higher ground helped people reach their devotions more easily, and under green trees, because such places felt pleasant or impressive. Anything that made the mind quiet and serious was thought to help worship.

The calm shade and silence of a grove are still admired by people who like to reflect. But the real advantage of these secluded places for idol worship was that they hid deeds of darkness that could not stand the light. So all of them had to be destroyed, along with the altars, pillars, and images used by the natives in worshiping their gods. Even the names of those things were to be wiped out and forgotten. They had to do this, first, for the honor of their land, so it would never be said that this holy land had been polluted in that way. Let all those filthy places be carried away as things they should be ashamed of. Second, they had to do it for the safety of their religion, so nothing would be left behind for careless or godless people, especially in later, worse times, to use in the worship of the God of Israel. Let those dangerous places be torn down as things they should fear.

He begins the laws about worship with this command because there must first be a hatred of evil before there can be a firm hold on what is good (Romans 12:9). The kingdom of God must be established in both people and places on the ruins of the devil’s kingdom, because the two cannot stand together, and there can be no true fellowship between Christ and Belial.

Second, they are warned not to bring the customs and rituals of idol worship into the worship of God, even if they claim to make worship more beautiful or better (Deuteronomy 12:4). “You shall not do so to the Lord your God” means, “Do not think you honor him by offering sacrifices on mountains and hills, by setting up pillars, planting groves, or making images.” They must not let a showy taste rule their worship, or assume that whatever pleases people will please God. He is above all gods, and he will not be worshiped like the false gods are.