THE PLACE GOD CHOOSES. Deuteronomy 12 Whatever one seeks most is the object of their devotion and desire. The place where the Lord has chosen to place His name is where those who love and obey Him seek to be. The place is only a place, but God Himself, who meets His people there, is whom we long for and is the object of our devotion. That is where we offer our sacrifices and our worship as His people. Sharing worship, thanksgiving, praise, and offerings with other people “of like precious faith” moves us to go farther in our thoughts and expressions than we can alone.
Focusing on a common objective, in this case – on the Lord- brings unique enjoyment to our lives and a significant sense of fellowship with the Lord. Such a gathering motivates us to be faithful and obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ. Commitment to an assembly of believers and the authority of godly leadership keeps each person who is a part of that fellowship from idolatry that is all around us. Every time we put our trust in something that is not of God, it is an act or a potential act of idolatry.
Idolatry imitates faith and the dependence we should have on God alone. By choosing a useless “placebo,” we commit the ultimate form of unbelief as it makes God out to be powerless and unable to meet our needs, whatever they may be. Such action is a snare that seems innocent until we realize we are actually trusting in that idolatrous form or object. Money and materialism, in general, are modern idols.
God intended the Israelites to unite at the Tabernacle to worship, sacrifice, and make their vows. Some aspects of worship in Israel were designed and designated to be shared by them rather than in a private or family setting. There are checks and balances that can only be maintained through the accountability that comes through fellowship with God’s people. Moses' instructions at this ceremony could not all be carried out in the wilderness, as is mentioned in verse eight, but would be their responsibility when they got to the promised land. To many people today, there is no difference as to where they come to worship God collectively. Choices are made where they go to worship as to what is convenient to them geographically, what appeals to them and their friends, and where they feel comfortable. If people who go there are nice to them and can find a good social life, they will go there as the place of their choosing. Some religious gathering centers are higher on the public social scale than others. It makes it easier for people to interface with social and business contemporaries there than if those who attend are from lower or different social strata.
One of the saddest results of putting money, ambition, education, success, or any other form of idolatry before worshiping the Lord is that it affects our children. Those who look to us for leadership should be able to discern our commitment to the Lord and our obedience to His word. That is one of the reasons this chapter is so significant to families and our commitment to assembly meetings.
Our gathering together with others unto Him is one way we can demonstrate our commitment to Him. If we allow our participation in public assembly life to wane or be neglected, that will be reflected and multiplied in those who follow our example. God intended the Israelites to come to the Tabernacle, where He chose to dwell with them, and there they came to worship, so do we come to His gathering center. There, they brought their tithes and offerings; there, they vowed to God; there, they were in fellowship with God, and His people were nurtured and strengthened spiritually. It should be the same with us today.
In the scriptures, money, success, business, and pleasure are not considered when it comes to the place God would have us attend to our worship and service. In the promised land, there was one place God intended His people to gather. All their collective spiritual activities, as the people of God, were to take place where He chose to place His name. "Where two or three are gathered (having been gathered) together in My name, there am I in the midst of them."
When the Israelites took over the land of Canaan, there were idols, high places of worship, and large and small Baals erected. Baals were set up wherever there was evidence of things that created and sustained life. Streams of water and groves of trees had Baals set there as the people worshipped the creation and the creature, not the Creator. In those places, a lot of immoral activity occurred under the guise of religion, and lust had its way with men and women from an early age. God had passed judgment on the evil that was rampant there long before the Israelites got there. The evils that were promoted affected not only adults but also young people. When the people of God claimed the land God had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He insisted that all idols, idol worshippers, and anything that was a temptation to the Israelites to compromise their faith in Him were to be ruthlessly removed.
Worship is a sacred act, and anything that pollutes or compromises worship must not be allowed, or if there already, it must be removed. Our activities when God's people come together to worship indicate the standing and state of our souls. If it aims to please the people, it is to be removed. The attitude of those who come together to worship God is affected by the surroundings. If the place we meet draws our attention rather than thoughts of God, who is not seen in images but only by faith, then we are in the wrong place. The place God chooses will focus all our attention on Him, His love, His grace, His mercy, and most of all, His Son and all He has provided for us.
We bring our offerings of worship, praise, and thanksgiving to the place God chooses. At that place, we come together in fellowship with God's people and are blessed with spiritual blessings as the gifts that God has given can be used in appropriate ways. We come when guilt for public worship is corrected in the place God chooses. That is where the message of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ is publicly proclaimed. The gifts we set aside to give to God and those who serve Him are given at that place. It isn't our right to pass on to anyone who asks for our radio and television donations, which belong to God.
Public vows are to be made at the place God chooses. Vows are taken lightly now by those who travel to distant places to make their "vows" before a select group of people. In that way, their vows are often taken lightly. In the place where God chooses to place His name, vows are made in the sanctity of holiness in the view of God's people. God's people will share times of greatest joy and fellowship in the place where He has chosen to put His name.
The children came there with their parents when Israel gathered together. Lasting friendships would be formed with those "of like precious faith." Parents' attitudes toward God, and hopefully of the children, would be strengthened when the people of God gathered together at that place. The young would watch the older folks and be able to see the reality of their parent's faith as they witnessed the sacrifices and offerings made, as well as the worship of hearts as a result of their gratitude toward God. In that place, the children can see what is meaningful to them in their lives. A family's teaching/learning process is done at home and in the place God chooses.
Reasons for celebration used to be called "holy days." Our use of the word "holiday" comes from the times when God's people gathered together each week, or in the case of Israel, they rested on the Sabbath. They also had special times during the year when "Sabbaths" of a unique kind were held, and the children of Israel gathered together in fellowship to the place God chose. They would meet each other and share their lives for a few days as they would recount what God was doing for them and in them.
These times of conference and convocation can be life-changing when we meet before God in the place of His choosing to be reminded of what is really important to Him. That way, we can keep a proper perspective on events happening in our lives and the world around us. The purity of worship among God's people is to be safeguarded. This can be done when those of spiritual maturity can minister publicly or privately to others where we gather together.
The Lord's name is honored there in ways that do not happen where other names and persons vie for preeminence. Among God's people in the place of the name, the Lord Jesus Christ has preeminence in all things, beginning with the gathering center. We meet in His name. We pray in His name. We bless each other in His name. We worship in His name. Separation from religious practices that exalt men and women was necessary in the place God chose. Separation from evil of any kind was taught there and to be practiced everywhere. The teaching of right and wrong needs a uniformity that does not change with differing opinions, ideas that people have, or even cultures. God's word is unchangeable and infallible. When we follow what it teaches and really apply its precepts to our personal life, family life, assembly life, and every other part of our life, we will not only be separated from evil but separated to God. The place He chooses is so He can meet with us in communion with Him and unite with others who follow God's word.
The instructions Moses gave to the new generation of Israelites included knowing who they were and belonged to, what they were to do and teach, where they were supposed to meet together, and what they were not to do and deliberately avoid. Pagan worship had sacrifices people made from their opinions or frames of reference. Some included human sacrifices of their own children, all of which were an abomination to God. Partaking of blood as a "life source" was also part of pagan practice. To the people of God, blood was not to be eaten.
Life is sacred to God and should be to us, and the "life of the flesh is in the blood." God is the One who chose the use of blood "to make atonement for the soul." That was not the prerogative of men. God is the giver of life, not the blood of beasts. The blood of the sacrifices sprinkled around the altar, the blood of sanctification of the priests, and the blood on the mercy seat and in front of the ark on the Day of Atonement was sacred to God. It was not to be eaten. Blood is a reminder that life is from God, and He was willing to accept "the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son" to cleanse us from all sin. The sacrifice of Christ was made on our behalf. We do not gain acceptance from God by partaking of blood or even the vine's fruit in the cup of blessing.
The symbolic meaning of the emblems God intends us to partake of at the Lord's Supper is not to indicate a change in us or for us when we do so. It serves as a reminder of a work of God that has already been accomplished for us by God Himself, with which He is fully satisfied. We are reminded of the perfection of the sacrifice, the Lamb of God, and when we partake of the bread, we bless. It continues to teach us the value of "the corn of wheat which fell into the ground and died. And in dying, it brought forth much fruit."
The fact that a complete redemption price was paid when we were "bought with a price," "the precious blood of Christ," is testified to in the cup of blessing. Nothing is added to Christ's work in any way when we partake of those emblems. In the place where God chooses to place His name today, we come to remember, worship, and proclaim the Lord's death and to offer Him our various spiritual sacrifices. That place is holy ground, where we come as holy people to offer holy sacrifices to our Holy God.