Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 12-13; 18:9-22
2. Worshiping the Lord
Please read Deuteronomy 12:4-14 for the background to this section.
“You must not worship the Lord your God in their way” (verse 4, NIV) is a simple statement that carries a powerful message. As the people of God, we must worship the Lord the way He commands and not imitate the religious practices of others. The Jewish faith and the Christian faith came by revelation, not by man’s invention or Satan’s instruction (1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 3:5–7). The most important activity of the church is the worship of God because everything truly spiritual that the church does flows out of worship. How tragic it is when congregations imitate the world and turn Christian worship into entertainment and the sanctuary of God into a theater. “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20).
Israel worshiped the true and living God, while the pagans in the land worshiped dead idols that represented false gods. The Canaanites had many shrines, but Israel would have one central place of worship. There is a definite contrast in the text between “all the places” in Deuteronomy 12:2 and “the place” in verses 5, 11, 14, 18, 21 and 26:2. The Canaanites built many altars, but Israel was to have but one altar. The Canaanites sacrificed whatever they pleased to their gods and goddesses, including their own children, but the Lord would instruct the Jews what sacrifices to bring, and He made it clear that they were never to sacrifice their children.
One place where God dwells (verses 5, 8–11a). In the Book of Genesis, we’re told that God walked with His people, such as Enoch (Genesis 5:24), Noah (Genesis 6:9), and Abraham (Genesis 17:1); but at Mount Sinai, God announced to Moses that He wanted to dwell with His people (Exodus 25:8, 29.45–46). He instructed them to make Him a tabernacle, and for this holy project the people of Israel contributed their wealth (Exodus 25:1–2; 35:4–36:6). When Moses dedicated the tabernacle, God came down in glory and moved into the holy of holies, making the mercy seat on the ark His holy throne (Exodus 40:34–38; Psalms 80:1; 99:1). We sometimes speak of “the Shekinah glory” of God in the camp of Israel, which is from a Hebrew word that means “to dwell.”
The Canaanite nations had plenty of temples and shrines, but only Israel had the glorious presence of the true and living God dwelling with them (Romans 9:4). The fact that there was only one central sanctuary for Israel signified that there was but one true God, one authorized worship and priesthood, and one holy nation. The tabernacle, and later the temple, unified the twelve tribes spiritually and politically.
It’s interesting to trace the history of God’s tabernacle. The Israelites carried the tabernacle into Canaan and placed it at Shiloh (Joshua 18:1; 19:51; Jeremiah 7:12). During the days of Samuel, it was at Mizpah (1 Samuel 7:6) and then at Nob (1 Samuel 21:1–6). Because of Israel’s sins against the Lord, the glory of God departed from the tabernacle (1 Samuel 4:21–22). During the time of David, the ark was on Mount Zion while the tabernacle itself was at Gibeon (1 Chronicles 16:1, 37–42; 1 Kings 3:4). God revealed to David that his son Solomon would succeed him on the throne and build a temple for His glory on Mount Zion, and when Solomon dedicated the temple, the glory of the Lord came to dwell there (1 Kings 8:10–11). When Babylon captured Judah, the Prophet Ezekiel saw the glory of God leave the temple (Ezekiel 8:1–4; 9:3; 10:4, 18; 11:22–23); but he also saw it return and dwell in the kingdom temple (Ezekiel 43:1–3).
In the declining days of the kingdom of Judah, the prophets condemned the Jews for visiting the “high places” to worship the Lord instead of going to the temple. They worshiped the true God in a false way, and He wouldn’t accept it. Occasionally the godly kings would destroy these high places, but the people soon returned to their pagan practices (2 Chronicles 31:1; 33:3, 17).
When Jesus came to earth to “dwell (tabernacle) among us,” the glory of God returned (John 1:14), but sinful men nailed the Lord of glory to the cross. He arose from the dead and returned to heaven to receive back the glory that He had laid aside in His humiliation (John 17:1, 5). Now each person who trusts Christ becomes a temple of God and has the Spirit dwelling within (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). But each local assembly of believers is also a temple of God (1 Corinthians 6:10–17), and Christ is building His church universal as a dwelling place for the Spirit (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 2:19–22). Someday, all of God’s people will dwell in the heavenly city that will be lighted by the glory of God (Revelation 21:23).
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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