Deuteronomy 12: 1 – 32
You don’t know Me
12 “These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. 2 You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. 4 You shall not worship the LORD your God with such things. 5 “But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. 6 There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 7 And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you. 8 “You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes— 9 for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you. 10 But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, 11 then there will be the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the LORD. 12 And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you. 13 Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; 14 but in the place which the LORD chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you. 15 “However, you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, of the gazelle and the deer alike. 16 Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water. 17 You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or your new wine or your oil, of the firstborn of your herd or your flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or of the heave offering of your hand. 18 But you must eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all to which you put your hands. 19 Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land. 20 “When the LORD your God enlarges your border as He has promised you, and you say, ‘Let me eat meat,’ because you long to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires. 21 If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter from your herd and from your flock which the LORD has given you, just as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your gates as much as your heart desires. 22 Just as the gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you may eat them; the unclean and the clean alike may eat them. 23 Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with the meat. 24 You shall not eat it; you shall pour it on the earth like water. 25 You shall not eat it, that it may go well with you and your children after you, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD. 26 Only the holy things which you have, and your vowed offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the LORD chooses. 27 And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, and you shall eat the meat. 28 Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God. 29 “When the LORD your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, 30 take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ 31 You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. 32 “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.
As I was going over this chapter I thought that the topic should be ‘You don’t know me.’ I do not know about your experiences but I hate to be misrepresented. This is especially true when it comes from someone I had believed they knew me. Let me give you a for instance.
I had a couple call my office and spoke to my secretary in order to set up an appointment. Looking at my schedule for the week I did not know the couple or what were their issues were about. I found out right after they came in.
The couple came into my tiny office with their little two year old daughter. I got right to the point and asked how I may possibly help them. To this question the woman responded that they were not there to receive any help or advice. She said that a couple that they knew had besought them to come in to see me. If you are confused with what I have said then you can also understand my confusion.
‘So, I said, then since you did not come for any advice or help, then what why are you here?’, I replied. The woman said that she was going to leave her husband and that she should not have married him. She had agreed with their friends that she owed it to him to come in to a counselor.
I was floored.
I asked her permission that I could ask a few personal questions, which she agreed to answer. My questions in order were;
Are you a Christian?
Is there any infidelity going on?
Is there any abuse going on?
Is there another man in the picture behind the scenes?
She answered ‘yes’ to being a Christian and ‘no’ to the other three questions.
I thanked her for answering my questions but then I added a comment. I said to her (the whole time the guy was silent) as a servant of the Lord I must say this, ‘I am shooting in the dark here because there is a lot I am not aware of that has happened in your life, but if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ then I do not see His okay for you to divorce your husband.’ Could it be possible if you could give the Lord a try here in your marriage before calling it quits? He Is the same God Who still can do miracles. ‘
She did not appreciate my comment and responded, ‘Well the bible also says that there is only one sin God will not forgive (The unpardonable sin) so He will forgive me of this then.
As the couple started getting up from their chairs, I had to say one more remark. ‘Your comment relative to being forgiven is correct yet I also know personally that if we do something our Lord is against, although He still forgives us we sometimes have some difficult circumstance to deal with in the future.”
The story did not end here. About a hour later I received a call from the brother whom I had known for over 15 years. He was the one who sent them to see me. He was shocked at what the couple told them about the meeting. I asked him ‘how so?’ He replied when he called the wife and asked how the meeting with me went she told him that I said that their marriage had no chance of survival and that only a miracle could save it.’ I did not say that to the woman (please flip back to a few paragraphs and see again what I said to her)
Now my Irish was up. I said to the guy. ‘You know what, I am not upset at the young woman who misstated what I said but I am really upset at you.’
This caught him off guard. ‘He replied quickly, ‘Me, why are you upset at me?’ I then responded, ‘We have known each other for over 15 years. We served together in various ministries over the years. I pretty much thought we were not only brothers in Christ our Lord but friends also. This accusatory phone call you have just made to me makes me realize that you really do not know me and in truth I don’t know you. If you really knew me that you should have said to the young lady that you have known me and know my character and that I would not have said what she just reported. But you didn’t you quickly believe her and then got on the phone to find out why I supposedly said the words she commented to you.’
He tried to go off on some explanatory excuse but I told him to keep it. The damage had already been done.
Now why am I on this soap box? My heart goes out to the integrity of the Lord’s character. We are going to read in this chapter an interesting comment. We will read in verses 31 and 32, “31 You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. 32 “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.”
Many people have questioned me or just commented that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are different because the God of the OT is cruel such as killing all the men, women, and children.
No He Is not. They do not know Him. I agree with the apostle Paul when he said in chapter 9 in his letter to the Romans, 14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. 19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” 20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? 22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
As you can see from verses 31 and 32 which we will comment a little later in more depth hates the murder of innocent babies and detest the abominable practices the nations of Canaan were actively involved in. I bring before then the incident with Abraham being instructed by God to go and sacrifice His on Isaac. Abraham knew God and therefore he knew that this Holy One would not kill innocent children. Abraham knew something else was up but did not know exactly what. This is why he said to his servants, As we read in Genesis chapter 22 Abraham in faith knows that the Holy and Great God would not require a child sacrifice. He says to his servants, “4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
The people of Canaan were saturated with doing this evil. The only way to totally stop it was to eliminate the whole evil and cleanse it from the land forever.
The contents of this chapter are crucial. It basically deals with the fact that Israel was to worship at one sanctuary and one sanctuary only, in contrast with the many altars and the many sanctuaries of the Canaanites.
Even more importantly (and constantly emphasized) was that the place in which that sanctuary would be set up was to be one chosen by Yahweh. Unlike the gods of the nations He controlled His own destiny. He was not subject to the will of men or of priests, but brought about all in accordance with His own will, and chose where He would reveal Himself and where He should be officially worshipped. While He was over all He could not be found on every high hill and in every green tree. He could not be so limited. He was not a part of nature but above it.
The concept of ‘the place which He shall choose’ is a magnificent one. All was to be seen as under His sovereign control and when He dwelt among men it was because He chose to do so, and where He chose to do so. And He revealed Himself as He chose to do so. The glory went not to the place but to the One Who chose it.
This dwelling among men did not in any way limit Yahweh. Moses has shown earlier, especially in Egypt and in the wilderness, that He could act where He would, He could speak where He would, and He knew all that happened everywhere even to the extent of knowing people’s minds. Thus men could pray to Him wherever they were and He would hear them. But it stressed that there was only one physical place of approach to Him by men, not through nature but in the place that He chose, where He came to them in His invisible presence, the heavenly coming in contact with the earthly. This emphasized His distinctiveness. We could see this chapter as based on the first commandment, ‘you shall have no other gods before My face’.
That there was one and one only ‘place’ for worship signified the Oneness of God. We too worship One God, although we do not come through one place but through One Lord Jesus Christ, the One Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2.5), and our One Lord. As the sanctuary united Israel, so does Christ today unite His people as one? We may therefore apply the teaching about the one sanctuary to our One Savior. It is to Him and to Him alone that we must look, and we all find our unity in His oneness.
12 “These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth.
In pursuance of what had gone before Moses will now outline the statutes and ordinances, the written regulations and the judgments based on them, which they must ‘observe to do’ in the land which Yahweh, the God of their fathers has given them. Here we again have the main basis of their entry. It is Yahweh’s land. He Is giving it to them for the sake of their fathers. They must therefore hear His voice and walk in His ways by their obedience to His statutes and ordinances. Thus will it be theirs (and their children’s) as long as they remain on the earth. Conditional on obedience, possession will be permanent, but it is conditional on obedience. They are entering under the kingly rule of Yahweh in His land, from which all that is evil will be spit out.
For us it is the Kingdom of God that is at stake. If we would be permanently under His rule, we must obey Him, for that is what being ‘in His kingdom’ is all about.
2 You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place.
Possession of the land for Yahweh was to be ensured by their total destruction from the land of all traces of the false and depraved religion of the Canaanites. All areas must have their idolatry removed and be put under Yahweh’s control.
For us the gods to be rejected may be different ones. Our ‘gods’ are anything that comes between us and God. Let us but find something that hinders our worship of Him and our joyful service for Him and that is our false god that must be destroyed. Beware especially of covetousness, says Paul, for that is idolatry of the worst kind (Colossians 3.5). Those who come under the Kingdom of God must avoid all covetousness.
4 You shall not worship the LORD your God with such things.
It was to be very different with the worship of Yahweh. That is not how they were to worship Him, at hundreds of different ‘places’ spread throughout the land wherever they desired. He could only be officially worshipped in one ‘place’.
5 “But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. 6 There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 7 And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.
They were to come to the place which Yahweh ‘chose to put His name there’. All that is basic to Israel was seen as occurring through Yahweh’s choice. And that choice was not just arbitrary. It was the positive act of Yahweh. The idea behind the word is of God’s positive action by which He works on behalf of His people, but which is His doing because it cannot be left to man. In choosing He Is exercising His sovereign will and acting for their good. And when they worship Him it must be where He chooses to reveal Himself and to be present. He Is not subject to their choices.
8 “You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes— 9 for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you.
Having described what they are to do in the future he now confirms that it must be in accordance with all the instruction that has previously been given them. Deuteronomy constantly emphasizes such previous instruction. Moses accepted that at the present time the ordinances were not being fulfilled exactly as required. The contrast with this verse is the setting up of the Central Sanctuary and its worship as prescribed. ‘Every man doing what is right in his own eyes’ signifies men making their own personal judgments, not necessarily just a free for all. We must not assume that all of the people of God chose to sin when they ‘did what was right in their own eyes’. It simply means that each did what he thought was right, that the Law was not strictly followed. In the difficult conditions of the wilderness, and even here in the plains of Moab, breaches of the strict requirements would be necessary due to unavoidable circumstances, judgments would have to be made on them, and these were seemingly acceptable where carried out from a sincere heart. God was not unreasonable. We have to realize that being on the march sometimes interfered with their ability to fulfill the Law exactly. For example there would be difficulty in offering the daily offerings, lighting and trimming the lamps and so on. But it was not to be so once the Tabernacle was in a settled place. Then they were to be careful to fulfill all His instruction.
How like many of us they were. We too think that we can stretch God’s commandments to suit ourselves, and for a time we too get away with it. But we should beware. We should remember those who died in the wilderness did so because they were disobedient. We too may ‘die in the wilderness’.
10 But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, 11 then there will be the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the LORD.
But once they have crossed over Jordan into the land, and they are finally settled, and have rest from all their enemies round about so that they dwell in safety, and a safe place has been set up for the Tabernacle, a permanent place in the place where Yahweh their God has chosen to cause His name to dwell there then they shall come with their offerings and gifts and tithes and make their vows. Then the statutes and ordinances must be followed precisely. And then their lives must be in tune with His requirements.
12 And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you
Then after coming into rest it was at this place that all Israel were to rejoice before Yahweh. They would have received the rest and security that He had promised them and their fathers. The promises would finally have been fulfilled. All would take part in the rejoicing.
How great then should be our rejoicing who come to a better Tabernacle, the heavenly Tabernacle, through our Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 9.11-12), to gather with Him at the throne of God, the throne of grace.
13 Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; 14 but in the place which the LORD chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.
Again the emphasis comes that they may not make their offerings ‘in every place that you shall see’. It was not for them to choose where they could approach Yahweh and make their offerings to Him. It was to be done in the place that He chose. The ritual was restricted to the place of Yahweh’s choosing. For the ritual was important and therefore all whole burnt offerings, that most central of offerings which summed up all others, were to be offered only at the Central Sanctuary, and nowhere else. They were to ‘take heed’ that this was so. They would all be responsible for any failures. ‘In every place that you see’ might primarily indicate Canaanite sanctuaries. Under no circumstances were whole burnt offerings to be offered there. But it also indicates the fact that Israel could not use their own judgment in deciding on places in which to offer whole burnt offerings, but must only do so at the place that Yahweh Himself decided on. The whole burnt offering was the prime offering. It was totally offered to Yahweh in dedication and worship, and to make atonement, and included the daily offering. It could therefore only be offered at His ‘place’ where His dwelling place was by His own choice.
Nothing is more important for all men than that they approach God through the true way. There are many false ways but only one true one. That is what is emphasized here. Today that is through Jesus Christ. As Peter said, ‘There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved’ (Acts 4.12). Today He Is the place which God has chosen and it is only through Him that we can offer acceptable worship.
15 “However, you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, of the gazelle and the deer alike
While all ‘offerings and sacrifices’ must be offered at the one sanctuary, clean sacrificial-type animals not slain as offerings and sacrifices, but slaughtered for food, would, once they entered the land (and some were already in their portion of the land), not require to be brought to the Central Sanctuary, as had previously been the case (Leviticus 17.3-9). It was, of course, always recognized that game animals like the gazelle and the hart could be slain and eaten anywhere, as long as the blood was poured away. While being clean beasts they were not sacrificial beasts. But now in the same way all clean animals could be treated in the same way, even sacrificial-type animals, if they were not being offered as an offering or sacrifice. Within their towns as they needed them, they could kill and eat flesh with Yahweh’s given blessing. And both those in a state of ritual cleanness, and those not so, could then eat of them for they had not been offered in the sanctuary. Ritual cleanness mainly affected things connected with the sanctuary.
There is a reminder here for us that there are parts of our lives which, while of concern to God, are not strictly to do with His service. They are more to do with our physical sustenance. Jesus taught us that we were to learn to trust God for these without constantly having to ask Him for them. Our prayers should be concentrated on worthier objects (Matthew 6.7-13, 31- 32). It is babes in Christ who are always asking for things for themselves. The mature Christian leaves his needs with God and concentrates his prayers on extending the kingly rule of God as Jesus taught.
16 Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water.
The only exception to this permission to eat the flesh of animals was that they were not to eat the blood. That represented the animal’s life and belonged solely to Yahweh, the Giver of life. Through this prohibition
This exception of being allowed to eat in their own cities in the case of animals was not to apply to tithes, firstlings, peace offerings or heave-offerings (contribution offerings). These all had to be brought to the sanctuary to be offered before Yahweh, because they were distinctively His. They were set apart for Him. The first thing to recognize here is that Moses expects his listeners to know precisely what these ordinances refer to and to accept it without arguing. No explanations are yet given. And this is in fact because all had earlier been revealed through him as things that were to be offered to Yahweh and belonged to Him (in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers). They were holy to Him. Thus they may only be used in accordance with His dispensing. They were as follows:
17 You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or your new wine or your oil, of the firstborn of your herd or your flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or of the heave offering of your hand. 18 But you must eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all to which you put your hands.
All these offerings were holy to Yahweh. They belonged to Him. Thus they could only be eaten at the appointed place, the site in which the Tabernacle was situated in the presence of Yahweh (‘before Yahweh’).
The point for us from all this is that we too should have certain things that we do which are sacred to Yahweh and which we must seek His presence about. The first is our prayer life, for thereby we make our offering of praise and thanksgiving (Hebrews 13.15). The next is the giving of our lives as we present our bodies to Him as a living sacrifice to be transformed to do His will (Romans 12.1-2). And so we could go on. In all these we must come to God’s presence and seek His will concerning them.
19 Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.
Our Holy God Is Omniscient that is He Is ‘All Knowing.’ He knows the future which indicates that the people’s greed will ultimately withhold from taking care of the Levites, the servant of the Lord. His warning then comes that the Levites were to be the constant concern of the people. They were to ensure that, as Yahweh’s servants, they never went short. They were often in different parts of the land as they carried out their responsibilities, and while tithes and firstlings may have been abundant, they may not have been easily available to individual Levites in the particular place where they were. Thus the people must ensure that their needs were provided for wherever they were, for they were holy to Yahweh. Hospitality was an important part of Israelite life, especially in welcoming Levites who were Yahweh’s servants, which was why the sin committed against the Levite in Judges 19 was so great. To allow a Levite to go short of food would be to dishonor God Whose servant he was. It would be a slur on His name. Even a cup of cold water given to a Levite out of love for Yahweh would no doubt have its reward.
For the Christian there should be equal concern for those who have been called to serve God in ministry, whether at home or abroad. We must take heed to ourselves that we do not forsake them as long as we live, but are faithful in our genuine and true support so that they do not go short.
As an Assistant Pastor I have seen this situation occur. I am sure many Israelites would be generous with the High Priest and his family but the local servant as our Lord points out was overlooked. In today’s church life the same thing happens. The Senior Pastor is taken care of while the assistants are to a large extent ignored.
20 “When the LORD your God enlarges your border as He has promised you, and you say, ‘Let me eat meat,’ because you long to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires. 21 If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter from your herd and from your flock which the LORD has given you, just as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your gates as much as your heart desires.
Once they were in the land and sometimes far from the Sanctuary, because Yahweh had enlarged their borders (given them land over a wide area and spread them widely) in accordance with His promise, then whenever Israelites desired to eat meat they did not have to worry about taking it to the tabernacle, if it was too far from them, but could eat as much as they desired of what belonged to them where they were. This would, however, only be a commonplace situation for the wealthy. The average persons would want to preserve their herds and flocks to provide milk and wool and would only kill them on special occasions.
22 Just as the gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you may eat them; the unclean and the clean alike may eat them.
They would be able to treat them as though they were clean game animals like the hart and the gazelle, killing them and eating them. And it would not matter whether the eaters were ritually clean or unclean, for they would not be eating sacrificial meat, which only the clean were permitted to eat.
24 You shall not eat it; you shall pour it on the earth like water.
Under no circumstances was the blood to be eaten, for the blood is the life and it was forbidden to eat the life of an animal along with its flesh. Some other peoples ate the blood of animals seeking to gain some of their life force and ferocity, but Israel was not permitted to do so. Men were not to seek to turn themselves into animals, for men were made in the image of God. Furthermore all life, even animal life, belongs to God, therefore even when permitted to slay an animal for food, the life must be given back to Him. So did they constantly learn the lesson of the sovereignty of God and under Him the sacredness of life.
25 You shall not eat it, that it may go well with you and your children after you, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD.
By not eating the blood they would be doing right in the sight of Yahweh, and thus it would go well with them for doing right in His eyes, and the same applied to their children. This was a permanent requirement. If we would have things go well with us, we too must be equally obedient to Him in what He requires of us.
26 Only the holy things which you have, and your vowed offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the LORD chooses.
This does not apply to ‘your holy things’. In mind here are all the things which Yahweh has required from them. Specific appointed offerings, sacrifices offered in accordance with requirements, tithes, and firstlings and so on. These may only be offered at the sanctuary.
27 And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, and you shall eat the meat.
Here whole burnt offerings are distinguished from sacrifices. The whole of the whole burnt offerings must be offered on the altar, in one way or another, both flesh and blood. But of the sacrifices the blood must be poured on the altar, but the flesh could be eaten, some only by the priest, other by both the priest and the person offerering, depending on the nature of the sacrifices, and in accordance with the requirements laid down.
Once again we are reminded that there are certain things that must come first in our lives. There are too many Christians who are happy to seek full physical satisfaction, because ‘their souls desire to eat flesh’, but come short in wholehearted dedication and commitment to God of their time, their money and their lives. If we do not honor God in the holy things, that is, in our spiritual lives, or if we do not offer Him the whole burnt offering of ourselves, we need to question whether we are really His at all.
28 Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.
Moses again reiterates that they must observe and hear all the words that He commands them, as their future blessing and wellbeing, and that of their children, will depend on it. This is constantly repeated with the words ‘observe’ and ‘hear’. They must be in no doubt about the fact that all the blessings that they will receive are gifts from Yahweh, and are therefore dependent on obedience to the covenant in all its aspects (which included making themselves aware of what was required, which is where the Levites could help).
29 “When the LORD your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, 30 take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’
The initial thoughts of the chapter are now taken up again. When they enter into the land and cut off the nations that are in it and dispossess them, they must remember that it is Yahweh their God Who has done it. They must therefore beware of being ensnared by the gods of those nations.. They must not enquire about them. They must be loyal to Yahweh and reject His enemies.
This is the negative of which the place chosen by Yahweh in which He would set His name was the positive. They must not be diverted from Him in any way. They must positively love Him with all their being and they must abjure anything that would interfere with that love.
31 You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.
This reason is especially so because of the behavior of these nations with regard to their gods. They have committed every abomination which Yahweh hates. These included perverted sex, and especially that they burned their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. This last mainly referred to the worship of the Ammonite god Molech which was clearly also worshipped in parts of Canaan (Jeremiah 32.35). But Jeremiah also connects this practise with the worship of Baal (Jeremiah 19.5), and ‘their gods’ would seem to suggest that it was connected with more than one god. This was why it was justifiable for Yahweh to have them destroyed or driven out. They were constantly defiling the land.
32 “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.
Finally Moses again asserts the importance of observing all that he commands them. They were not to add to it or diminish it. They were to accept it and obey it exactly as it came to them, for it was a part of the covenant of Yahweh.
There are important things that result from these words. First of all they indicate that Moses expected there to be a clear body of truth preserved which could be referred to, otherwise his point was meaningless. Then secondly it counts strongly against this being written by an another person other than Moses. To write in this way pretending to be Moses and putting divine sanction on the words would be duplicity of an extreme kind, not pious faith.
