CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Deuteronomy 12
Chapter 12 of 34
Chapter Overview
What happens in Deuteronomy 12
Moses begins the detailed laws for life in the Promised Land. He commands Israel to destroy all pagan worship sites and worship the Lord only at the place he chooses. He also gives rules about eating meat and avoiding pagan practices.
Scripture
Deuteronomy 12
Destroy Pagan Worship Sites
Study note
When Israel entered the land, they were to completely destroy every place where the Canaanites worshipped their gods -- on hilltops, under green trees, and at altars. They must not worship the Lord in the same way the pagans worshipped their gods.
1 "These are the rules and laws you must be careful to live by in the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has handed over to you. Keep them for as long as you live there. These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.
2 Tear down every place where the nations you are replacing worshipped their gods. Destroy the ones on mountaintops, on hilltops, and under every big shade tree. Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:
3 Smash their altars. Break their stone pillars. Burn their wooden idols. Chop apart their carved statues. Wipe out every trace of their names from those places. And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.
4 Do not worship the Lord your God the way those nations worshipped their gods. Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God.
Worship at the Place God Chooses
Study note
Instead of worshipping wherever they wanted, Israel must bring their offerings and sacrifices to one central place that God would choose. There they would eat, celebrate, and rejoice with their families. The Levites who lived among them must not be neglected.
5 Instead, seek out the specific place the Lord your God will pick from all your tribal territories to establish his name and make his home. Go there to worship. But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:
6 Take your burnt offerings and other gifts there. Bring your tithes and special shares. Bring your vow gifts and free gifts. Bring the firstborn of your herds and flocks. And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:
7 There, right before the Lord your God, you and your families will eat together. Enjoy all you have worked for. The Lord your God has blessed your work. And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee.
8 Stop doing things the way we have been doing them here, where everybody does whatever they feel like. Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.
9 You have not yet arrived at the permanent home and the inheritance the Lord your God has prepared for you. For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you.
10 But you are going to cross the Jordan and settle in the land the Lord your God is giving you. Once he has dealt with all your enemies and you are living in peace, But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;
11 Bring everything I am commanding you to the place the Lord your God picks as a home for his name. Bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, and your special gifts. Bring every special offering you have promised to the Lord. Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD:
12 Have a joyful feast before the Lord your God. You and your sons and daughters should enjoy it. Your servants and the Levites in your towns should join in. The Levites have no land of their own. And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you.
13 Do not pick any random spot to offer your burnt offerings. Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest:
14 Only offer them at the location the Lord selects within one of your tribal areas. That is where you must carry out everything I am telling you. But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.
Rules About Eating Meat
Study note
People could slaughter and eat meat in their own towns as much as they wanted. However, they must never eat the blood, which represented the life of the animal. Sacred offerings and tithes had to be eaten at the central place of worship. These rules were for their own good and the good of their children.
15 "But you may kill and eat meat anywhere you live. Eat as much as you want, based on how much the Lord your God gives you. Anyone may eat it, whether they are clean or unclean. It is just like eating wild game." Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.
16 The one rule is that you must not consume the blood. Pour it on the ground like water. Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.
17 "However, you may not eat your tithes of grain, wine, or olive oil in your own towns. The same goes for the firstborn of your herds and flocks, your vow offerings, your freewill gifts, and your special contributions. Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand:
18 Those must be eaten in the Lord your God's presence at the place he selects -- you along with your sons and daughters, your servants, and the Levites in your community. Enjoy a celebration before the Lord your God with everything you do. But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto.
19 Be sure you never neglect the Levites for the entire time you live in the land. Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth.
20 "When the Lord your God makes your land bigger, as he has promised, and you feel like eating meat, go ahead and eat as much as you want. When the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.
21 If the place the Lord your God picks for his name is a long way from where you live, you may slaughter any animal from the herd or flock the Lord has given you, right in your own town. You can eat it there whenever you want. If the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.
22 Eat it the same way you would eat deer or gazelle. Anyone can eat it, whether they are clean for worship or not. Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.
23 Make certain you do not eat the blood. Blood represents the life of the animal. Do not consume the life along with the meat. Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.
24 Do not eat the blood. Dump it on the ground like water. Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water.
25 If you stay away from eating the blood, things will go well for you and your children. You will be doing what the Lord sees as right. Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.
26 "Take your sacred offerings and whatever you have pledged to the Lord, and go to the place the Lord picks. Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the LORD shall choose:
27 Offer your burnt offerings -- the meat and the blood -- on the Lord your God's altar. For your other sacrifices, pour the blood on the altar but keep the meat for yourself. And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh.
28 Pay close attention to all I am telling you. Then things will always go well for you and your children. You will be doing what is right and good before the Lord your God. Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God.
Warning Against Pagan Worship
Study note
Moses warned Israel not to copy the religious practices of the nations being driven out. Some of these nations burned their own children as sacrifices to their gods. God hated such things. Israel must follow God's commands exactly, adding nothing and taking nothing away.
29 "When the Lord your God wipes out the nations that stand in your way and you move onto their land, When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
30 watch out! Do not fall into the trap of copying their religious practices. Do not ask questions like, 'How did these people worship their gods? I want to try the same thing.' Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
31 You must never worship the Lord your God the way they worship, because they do the most horrible things imaginable when worshipping their gods. They even burn their own sons and daughters as offerings to their gods. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
32 Follow everything I command you to the letter. Do not add to it and do not subtract from it." What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
Key Themes
Themes in Deuteronomy 12
Centralized worship at God's chosen placeDestroying all traces of false worshipThe joy of worshipping togetherDoing things God's way not our own
Prophetic Connections
How this chapter points to Christ
Deuteronomy 12:5-7 John 4:21-24
The centralization of worship at God's chosen place anticipates Jesus' teaching that true worship will transcend location and be defined by spirit and truth.
Apply This Today
Living Deuteronomy 12
The command to destroy pagan altars and worship only where God chooses seems harsh, but it protected Israel from syncretism, the blending of true worship with false. The repeated phrase 'everyone doing what is right in their own eyes' warns against self-directed spirituality. True worship follows God's design, not our preferences.
Go Deeper
Study Deuteronomy in Covenant Path
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