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You shall utterly destroy all 
the places where the nations which you shall dispossess serve 
their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every 
green tree. 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. You shall not worship 
the Lord your God with such things. 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. 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. 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 household, 
in which the Lord your God has blessed you. You shall not at 
all do as we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right 
in his own eyes, for as yet you have not come to the rest and 
the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. 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, 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. 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. Take 
heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings 
in every place that you see, 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. 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. Only you shall 
not eat the blood. You shall pour it on the earth 
like water. 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. 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. Take heed 
to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live 
in your land. 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. 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. Just as the 
gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you may eat them. The unclean 
and the clean alike may eat them. 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. You shall not eat it. You shall 
pour it on the earth like water. 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. Only the holy things 
which you have, and your vowed offerings, you shall take and 
go to the place which the Lord chooses. 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. 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. 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, 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. 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. Whatever 
I command you, be careful to observe it. You shall not add 
to it nor take away from it. Amen. Well, as I mentioned last 
week, chapters 5 to 11 are somewhat introductory, or not introductory 
rather, but a preface to what follows now in terms of 12 to 
26. We have more detailed, specific 
application of the various laws that Israel was to obey when 
they get into the Promised Land. Again, a lot of review in chapters 
5 to 11. But as well, what I think the 
primary and overarching concern in chapters 5 to 11 are is the 
first commandment. Remember the confession of faith 
in Deuteronomy 6. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our 
God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God 
with all your heart, soul, and strength. Over and over and over 
again in chapters 5 to 11, we saw the necessity for them to 
maintain fidelity to God in terms of that first word. Well, if 
there's an overarching commandment for chapters 12 and 13, it's 
the second word. You see, God not only defines 
who it is we are supposed to worship himself in the first 
word, He also regulates how we are to worship in the second 
commandment. It is wrong to worship the true 
God using false means. We must worship the true God 
according to the truth. That's the burden of chapter 
12. And then in chapter 13, what is in view there is seduction 
to idolatry. or apostasy or defection from 
the living and true God. So both chapters 12 and 13 take 
up in a broad way that second commandment, that we're not to 
make idols, we're not to go astray, we are not to wander away from 
the living and true God. And so tonight, we're going to 
just focus on Chapter 12. God willing, we'll look at Chapter 
13 next week. Some of these chapters, as I 
mentioned in the past, we get into the various specific details 
of the legislation. Some of it will seem a bit awkward 
or bizarre to us, but I believe that as we open it up and as 
we work through it, we will see it wasn't awkward and bizarre 
for them, and it really isn't awkward and bizarre even now. The same sorts of sins that confronted 
Israel on the plains of Moab and then in the promised land 
are the same sorts of sins that confront us and tempt us in the 
new covenant under Jesus Christ. So we're going to take up chapter 
12 under four broad categories, actually five broad categories. 
Just lay this out for you now so you can kind of have an idea 
where we're going. First is the reminder concerning 
the conquest of the land, verses 1 to 4. The reminder concerning 
the conquest of the land, and it's repetitious from chapter 
7. Remember in chapter 7, the plan 
or program for conquest. Go in, utterly destroy the nations, 
break their sacred items, destroy their false worship. The chapter 
begins with that. The chapter ends with that. Same 
emphasis is seen here in chapter 12. It begins with that. It ends 
with that. So there is a reminder concerning 
the conquest of the land. Secondly, the importance of obeying 
the Lord's will in verses 5 to 7. Thirdly, the caution against 
their present conduct in verses 8 to 14. Moses says, you shall 
not at all do as we are doing here today. There's never a perfect 
church. Standing on the plains of Moab, 
they had come out of the wilderness. It looks like they're in pretty 
good shape. But Moses says, when we get in 
the land, do not even begin to think to conduct yourselves the 
way that we are currently doing, every man doing what is right 
in his own eyes. So then, fourthly, the non-sacrificial 
killing of animals for food. That's what verses 15 to 28 takes 
up. The first part deals with centralized 
worship. In other words, there's a place 
that the Lord chooses. It is that place you are to go 
and to bring your sacrificial animals. But 15 to 28 deal with 
the rules on how to deal or how to engage in non-sacrificial 
killing. There are certain animals that 
you can eat, and this gives the specifications for that. And 
then fifthly and finally, the chapter ends with a warning against 
the worship of false gods. So that's God's grand design 
in all of this. He wants the Canaanite religion 
destroyed. He wants the land dispossessed 
of all remnants of Canaanite religion. Yes, because it's wicked. Yes, because it's abominable. 
Yes, because it's wrong. But also because it's going to 
present a temptation to Israel. If Israel befriends the Canaanites, 
it won't be long till Israel is bowing with the Canaanites. If Israel asks the question, 
how do you serve your God, it isn't long until Israel is serving 
their gods in like manner. It's an unfortunate reality, 
but if we were to proceed forward, we would see that Israel engages 
in the same sort of abominable practices that Canaanite religion 
engaged in. There is that statement concerning 
child sacrifice at the end of the chapter. Well, Israel herself, 
fell prey to that abominable activity because they didn't 
listen on the plains of Moab. They didn't take seriously the 
mandate of this prescribed place of worship. So let's look first 
at the reminder concerning the conquest of the land. the necessity 
for careful obedience, verse 1, these are the statutes and 
judgments which you shall be careful to observe, here it is, 
in the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you 
to possess all the days that you live on the earth. This marks 
somewhat of a new section, the detailed description of the particular 
laws applied for life in the land from chapters 12 to 26. Klein says, having given the 
inner spirit of theocratic life, that's life under God in the 
covenant community, chapters 5 to 11, Moses goes on to detail 
the ordinances and institutions of the theocracy's outward form. We've got the heart, chapters 
5 to 11. Now we have the external application 
of this in chapters 12 to 26. how they are to relate to one 
another, how they are to structure government, how they are to engage 
in judicial polity. All these things the law spoke 
to, and this is how God, through his appointed agents, is going 
to govern the people of Israel. Notice this repetition to destroy 
the places of false worship. Verse 2, you shall utterly destroy 
all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess serve 
their gods. Do not allow those things to 
stay in the land. Again, we know what happens. It's an unfortunate thing in 
some ways to read Deuteronomy knowing what we know. You know, 
we don't come to the text without some assumptions. We don't come 
to the text without realizing they're not going to listen. 
Not going to do what God says here. They're going to allow 
Canaanites to live. They're going to allow Canaanite 
religion to prosper. They're going to get to the point 
where they themselves are going to be thrown out of the land 
because of compromise at this very place. But this is what 
God commands. You shall utterly destroy all 
the places. Notice he says, on the high mountains 
and on the hills. The high mountains and on the 
hills is where the heathen thought or where the Canaanites thought 
that their gods lived. You'll often see later on references 
to high places because they thought God was there or their god was 
there. Under every green or every luxuriant 
tree, The idea here is that these were sacred pillars. These were 
sacred things. They also symbolized fertility. And while we can't get too much 
into detail about this, Canaanite religion was all about fertility. It was all about fornication. It was all about that sort of 
sexual-based wicked sin. That's why there's so many commands 
to the children of Israel to guard against that sort of thing. In Numbers 25, they played the 
harlot with the children of Moab. That was not only metaphorically 
or spiritually, but it was physically as well. It was through fornication 
and adultery that they engaged in idolatry. So that is why God 
tells them to destroy these places of worship. The mandate is clear. utterly destroy everything, destroy 
the places of worship at the mountains and the hills, under 
every green tree, you're to destroy their altars, you're to break 
their pillars, you're to burn their wooden images, and notice, 
you are to destroy their names from that place. It's almost 
like hitting the delete key on your computer. That's what they 
were supposed to do with the remnants of Canaanite religion. It wasn't even to be the case 
that Moloch or the name Moloch or Baal remain in the land any 
longer. Christopher Wright says it this 
way, and I think he's right on. To remove the names of Canaan's 
gods was to remove their presence and their power, just as the 
putting of Yahweh's name in a place was to fill it with his availability 
and his nearness. The two could not coexist. The 
names of other gods must be deleted, destroyed, along with all their 
paraphernalia. The change must be radical. You are to dispossess the land 
of the Canaanites, and you are to delete the gods themselves. You are to get rid of them. Again, 
why? Because it's wicked. Because 
it's abominable. Because the idea of false gods 
is just wrong and untrue. But as well, when Israel is next 
door neighbors with a Baal worshipper, Israel is going to end up bowing 
down to Baal. This is preventative maintenance. This is God doing an oil change 
among the children of Israel. Get rid of the names of these 
gods so that you don't end up bowing down before them. It was preventative maintenance 
designed to maintain fidelity to Yahweh, maintain purity in 
the worship of the true and living God. Notice in verse 4, you shall 
not worship the Lord your God with such things. The primary concern of the section 
is that false worship of the true God is an abomination to 
the Lord. See, we proceed through this 
chapter, and we do not find God saying, I want you to be creative 
in your approach to me. I want you to be innovative in 
your approach to me. If anything, that's what marked 
Canaanite religion, creativity and innovation. How many ways 
can you copulate in order to get the blessing of Baal upon 
your crops? That was how Canaanites approached 
their deities. God doesn't want creativity. God doesn't want innovation. 
God doesn't want us to be novel in our approach to Him. He wants 
us to not worship Him with such things. Don't say, well, these 
things that the Canaanites use, they're sort of neutral. We're 
not actually worshiping Baal with these things. We're going 
to worship Yahweh with them, but they have their tap roots 
in false religion, and therefore it's idolatry. You see, any approach 
to God not sanctioned, approved, and commanded by God is wrong. This is why the Reform teach 
what's called the regulative principle of worship. God regulates 
his worship. It's a very simple concept. In fact, 1232 is one of the proof 
texts that our confession of faith gives on this whole doctrine 
when it comes to the worship of God. Pastor Albert Martin, 
I heard him say it this way once. In the regulative principle of 
worship, with reference to our approach to God, we do nothing 
more, nothing less, and nothing else than what God has commanded. in our approach to him. That 
is something that we need to take into consideration. The 
failure of Israel to dispossess the land of the Canaanites and 
to delete the names of the false gods would ultimately prove detrimental 
to Israel herself. Again, maybe it is good that 
we have the vantage point that we do have so we can see that 
God means business. You go into this land and you 
worship their idols, the land will vomit you out, it will spit 
you out, and you will be on your own. That is precisely what happens 
to Old Covenant Israel. It is the precise threat that 
Jesus makes to the churches in Asia Minor as well. If you do 
not repent, what does Jesus say? I will vomit you out of my mouth. So when the old covenant Israel 
sinned against the Lord, the land vomited them out of its 
mouth. In the new covenant, when the 
churches don't do what Jesus says, He vomits us out of His 
mouth. Same judgment, same idea, same 
separation. same chastening from the hand 
of God. So what we find here is that 
they need to dispossess the land of the Canaanites and they need 
to destroy all remnants of false religion. That's the mandate. Notice secondly the importance 
of obeying the Lord's will. Notice, first the Lord chooses 
the place for worship. Verse 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. So when they get into the land, 
the children of Israel are to do two things. They're to avoid 
pagan altars, but they're to avoid self-will worship. They're not to say, well, this 
looks like a great place for an altar. Let's just throw it 
up. Now, back in the time of the 
patriarchs, as God is manifesting himself to Abraham, to Isaac, 
to Jacob, they're making altars and worshiping the Lord. That 
is consistent with how God is revealing himself. He's coming 
to the place now where the people are localized, the people are 
gathered together, the people are going to occupy us the same 
piece of geography. So there will be a centralized 
location for worship. Now, here in Deuteronomy 12, 
that's not the primary emphasis, that it's Jerusalem. That won't 
happen until Solomon, until David and Solomon. Jerusalem is consolidated 
as the center place for political life and religious life under 
King David of Israel. Prior to Jerusalem, Shiloh was 
a place of worship, probably Shechem and possibly Bethel. 
We see these places where God ordained that His people would 
worship. But the contrast here primarily 
is go where God has called you to go. Don't go to the Canaanite 
altars. Don't construct your own altars. 
Don't try to be fresh and innovative in your approach. Don't be pagan, 
but don't be creative. but rather obey the living and 
true God. go to the place where he chooses. Wright says, the text is primarily 
concerned with the purity and exclusiveness of Israel's worship 
and its distinctiveness from Canaanite religion. He says, 
the text does not demand a single place. Again, we will see that 
in the evolution, if I can use that word, of Israel's religious 
life. It will ultimately be Jerusalem. 
but not for several hundred years later, but right now the emphasis 
is on distinction from the Canaanites. The text does not demand as a 
single place instead of many places of Israelite worship, 
but an exclusive place for the worship of Yahweh as opposed 
to the places of Canaanite worship. There was safety here. This is 
good. You see, in religion, In our 
approach to God, being novel isn't usually a good thing. If 
you have a brand new thought about the Bible, I'm not going 
to say it's necessarily wrong, but be careful. Generally speaking, 
our brothers in the 16th and 17th century already had the 
thought. They wrote volumes on it, and 
they did it a whole lot better than you and I could ever do. 
Isn't this so much different than what we see today in the 
church? It's all about novel. It's all about innovation. It's 
all about how can we do this better? How can we perfect the 
technique? How do we mainline it? How do 
we mainstream it? How do we make it more elegant? 
How do we make it more acceptable to the people out there? Hebrews 
12, 28 says that we are to worship God acceptably, not acceptable 
to us, but acceptable to Him with reverence and godly fear. I think the Church of the New 
Covenant ought to go back to Deuteronomy 12 to see how the 
Lord views this whole idea of worship. The Lord chooses the 
place for worship and notice that he puts his name there. Verse 5, you shall seek the place 
where the Lord your God chooses out of all your tribes to put 
his name. You see, delete the names of 
the pagan gods. Delete the names of Molech. Delete 
the names of Baal. And put in its place the name 
of Yahweh of Israel. That's what God is doing in this 
geography. Or God is doing in this particular 
land. And then notice what else verse 
5 says. It says to put His name for, 
get this, His dwelling place. How many times on the plains 
of Moab up to this point has God used the blessing of the 
land as an incentive for the people to do what they're supposed 
to do? It's a good land. It flows with 
milk and honey. It has springs. It has rivers. It has all of the water that 
you can imagine. It is capable of producing lush 
and lavish growth. There'll be enough grass for 
all of the livestock that you will have. But you know what 
the chief blessing of the land is? God dwells with his people. The fact that the Lord says, 
I am coming to dwell in your midst argues wholeheartedly for 
the removal of Canaanite religion, for the purity of his worship, 
and for the exaltation of his great name. That's the chief 
blessing in this occupation of the land. When you get to the 
exile, when you get to the time when God drives the people out 
of the land via Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon, what's the chief 
discouragement? It's not that they lost their 
city. It's not that they lost their temple. It's that they 
lost their God. That's the rub, that's the issue, 
that's the problem in the exile. That's the promise of the post-exilic 
prophets, is that God has come back. That's what makes the land 
blessed and good and wonderful. It is a good land, but it's a 
great land because it's the place where the Lord dwells. So notice, 
God prescribes the place. God tells us why, so He can put 
His name there, so that He can call it His own dwelling. But 
then notice, He regulates the manner in which His people approach 
Him. Verse 6, there, in that place, 
not the Canaanite altars, but 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. He's already dealt with 
that in the book of Leviticus. He's going to deal with that 
more in the rest of this section in the book of Deuteronomy. But 
he prescribes the place and he prescribes the manner. It is 
a regulated worship. It is according to the will and 
mind of God. It is how he sees fit for worship, 
not us. He doesn't say when you get into 
the land, why don't you break off into focus groups and figure 
out how you could best worship. That is the wrong approach to 
this whole idea of worship. The right approach is by the 
book. Take the scriptures, read and 
obey. It's not an area where you want 
to be innovative. Remember Nadab and Abihu? They 
were innovative. They were trendsetters. They 
were on the cutting edge. They probably fancied themselves 
as worship revolutionaries when they offered profane fire to 
the Lord. What does God say? Wow, that's 
amazing. I'm so glad that you guys are worship revolutionaries. 
God sends fire down to consume them. The contrast couldn't be 
more stark. Leviticus 9, they worship properly. God sends fire down and consumes 
the sacrifice. Chapter 10, they worship the 
true God in a false way. He sends fire down again, but 
he doesn't accept the offering. He kills the offerers. You see, 
we don't want to play around with worship. Is everybody getting 
that? Everybody understanding that? 
When we introduce clowns and ponies and puppets and all of 
that stuff to the neglect of the pulpit, to the neglect of 
the sacraments, to the neglect of the reading of the Word, to 
the prayers of God's people, when we reject the means that 
God has ordained, it won't be long until we are vomited out 
of the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is a promise that 
we have in the book of Revelation. But you notice here, the importance 
of obeying the Lord's will. He prescribes the place. He gives 
us the manner. But notice in verse 7, he deals 
with the response of the worshiper. 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. You see, the Canaanites could 
have possibly looked at Israel's worship and said, that's pretty 
stuffy. That's pretty dry. You have all your clothes on. 
You're not engaged in immorality. How in the world could that be 
pleasing, pleasurable, happy worship? You mean all you guys 
do is what God says? All you do is come to Him with 
your sacrifices and your tithes? All you do is pray and listen 
to the Word? All you do is gather around the 
Scriptures and celebrate the living and true God? How could 
there be any joy in that? This is where joy is, in doing 
the will of the Lord. You see, that is the legitimate 
response from God's people. This is what the Lord says. 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. Again, Christopher 
Wright says, Canaanite depravity was to be replaced by Israelite 
purity. But Israelites could still enjoy 
their worship physically and emotionally. Eat and rejoice. I've had people say, you mean, 
you find your worship pleasing? I've had charismatics over the 
years. At least my children have had 
friends that have visited our church. And the pretty common 
refrain is, it's boring. It's a boring church. Again, 
I'm not suggesting that we're all the most exciting people 
in the world. That's not the point. I find 
it exhilarating to sing out of the Trinity Hymnal. I don't want 
to portray or push my preferences on the church, just a little 
bit of an illustration. I find nothing more joyous. than 
to sing the praises of God and approach Him in the manner in 
which, that's not to say that there's arguments over Trinity 
hymnal and whether that belongs within the regulative principle. 
That's an intramural debate I'm willing to have with other regulative 
principle of worship guys on a different time frame. But this 
is a place where we can joyfully enter in and praise the Lord. 
It doesn't have to be, you know, this emotional rah-rah. We don't 
have to whoop it up in order to get the blessing from the 
Lord. That's the Canaanite practice. How did Baal worshipers seek 
to garner his attention? They whooped themselves up. Look 
at 1 Corinthians 18. They dance around the altar for 
hours. I used to see Elijah sitting 
there watching the whole thing, right? you know, doing one of 
these. I think that's a legit way to 
depict Elijah because he actually mocks them. Hey, where's your 
God? Where is he? He's on holiday. He's meditating. Maybe he's in relieving himself. 
And then they start cutting themselves with lances, with knives, and 
dripping blood on themselves. See, that's pagan approach to 
God. Whoop yourself up into a particular 
frame, and then you'll meet with God. God says, come before me 
in the manner that I specify. I'll deal with your frame. I'll 
bless you. I'll encourage you. You'll get 
the joy. You'll get the blessing. But 
the primary emphasis really isn't on you. You see, all of that 
Canaanite religion and all that whooping-it-up religion, where 
in does the emphasis lie? It's me and my feelings and my 
joy and my happiness and my worshipful feelings. Where is God in the 
equation? Maybe, just maybe, in what we 
might conceive as a boring worship service, God is glorified, honored, 
and praised. Isn't that what's most important? What's the means by which we 
do this? We take his word seriously, and 
we put it into practice. The worship of God is regulated 
by God, and it's designed to promote His glory, the exaltation 
of His name, and should result in the joy and blessedness of 
the worshiper himself. Thirdly, notice the caution against 
the present conduct, verses 8 to 14. He says, you shall not at 
all do as we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right 
in his own eyes. Imagine that. Don't do what we're 
doing. Moses says this. They probably 
thought they were doing okay. The earth hadn't opened up recently. 
You know, Dathan and Abiram. That happened way back in number 
16. The wilderness wanderings were history now. They were out 
of the wilderness. They're on the plains of Moab. 
They're poised to take the promised land. As far as the basic garden 
variety Israelite was concerned, we're doing quite well. Moses 
says, you shall not do, or at all do, as we are doing here 
today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes. What 
does that phrase remind you of? Huh? Judges, absolutely. That's the problem in the book 
of Judges. Every man did what was right 
in his own eyes. That's what was going on on the 
plains of Moab. Moses says, no, when we get into 
the promised land, there is a marching order. Now, take from this a 
bit of comfort. I know this is maybe a warped 
way to look at this, but there is no perfection ever for the 
church on earth. I mean, Israel and the plains 
of Moab had their issues. I say that because I think there 
is some encouragement there. There is no church without its 
problems. But God, in his mercy, doesn't 
de-church every church who has problems. You see that in the 
book of Corinthians. Whenever there was a church ripe 
for the lampstand to be pulled away, it was the Corinthians. God through the Apostle Paul, 
Christ through Paul, deals with that church with great grace 
and with great long-suffering. The autonomous spirit condemned 
here will be seen in the time of the judges. It is spoken of 
in chapter 17, in Judges, and in Judges chapter 21. And incidentally, 
it's spoken with reference to Samson. I was talking to Steve 
about this recently. Of all the judges in the book 
of Judges, The worst of the lot should have been the best of 
the lot. Samson. He gets the most ink. He had 
the most input in his upbringing. He was to be separated as a Nazirite. I mean, he was the most sheltered 
of Old Covenant Israel. He was the homeschooled child 
that sat in a padded cell with a crash helmet on. So he would 
never be affected by any of the pollutants out in the world, 
right? I mean, he was as separate as 
a man could be. And yet, of all the judges, who 
was the worst? Simpson. That's arguable. Jephthah, he's, you know, another 
interesting character. But Samson, when he wants a woman, 
it says in the New King James, she is pleasing in my eyes. No, 
it's the same language that we have here. She is right in my 
eyes. That was the pervasive dominating 
theme in the time of the judges. We can say they didn't learn 
their lessons on the plains of Moab. But I digress. Someday 
we're going to hopefully get to the book of Judges and look 
at those things in more detail. So Moses says, don't do what 
we're doing here. Note the corrective, verses 9 
to 14. We'll go quickly through some 
of this, it is repetitious. Verse 9, for as yet you have 
not come to the rest and the inheritance which the Lord your 
God is giving you. Verse 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." So 
the benefits, the land, rest, safety. When those things are 
in place, when you have the blessed inheritance that God has promised 
to give you, you cannot continue to act the way you're doing now. 
You cannot live as if there is no king in Israel. You cannot 
keep doing whatever seems to be right. in your own eyes. You 
have specific responsibilities. That's verses 11 to 12. Obedience 
to the Lord's choice of places. Don't wander over the vestiges 
of the remnants of Canaanite deity. Don't devise an altar 
for yourself, but rather obey that imperative to go where the 
Lord chooses. You comply with the laws of sacrifice 
spelled out in the book of Leviticus. There should be no question. 
This is what you bring for a burnt offering. This is what you bring 
for a sin offering. This is all the specific things 
that you do in order to worship the living God. And you are to 
express joy. There is to be that outflowing 
joy in the presence of the Lord. And then verses 13 and 14 end 
with a warning. Take heed to yourself that you 
do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see, 
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. Do you see how repetitious, too, 
it is? There's a lot of stuff repeated 
over and over again. That's because we have thick 
heads and hard hearts. You would think, I mean, just get into 
the book of Joshua, and they start to go astray. Get to Judges. 
Didn't you guys listen? Didn't you hear Moses say this 
that many times? Let's jump for a moment into 
the New Covenant. How many times do you read a portion of Scripture 
and say, oh, yeah? Oh, yeah. Oh yeah, right? We have thick 
heads, hard hearts, and we need to be told a lot. We need it 
to be driven into our heads, warning after warning after warning 
after warning. The first section deals with 
the centralization of worship, the centralization of foreplace 
to offer up sacrifice. If anything, 15 to 28 deals with 
decentralization in terms of your own practice with reference 
to eating meat. Remember that in the time where 
the tabernacle was primary, the people of Israel all encamped 
around the tabernacle. So the distinctions between cult 
and normal life were a lot less clear. Well, here what is being 
envisioned or envisaged is that the borders of Israel are going 
to increase. You're going to be further removed 
from the place of worship. And so God speaks to what you're 
to do when you're at home and you want to eat meat. It's a 
beautiful thing. Notice verse 15. Peter probably 
loves this passage of scripture. Verse 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." Isn't this the provision of God? It says you're going 
into a good land. You're going to want that meat 
that you see. Kill and eat. Enjoy. Go ahead. Slaughter up a storm. This is God's goodness and bounty 
to his people. Doesn't Paul pick up on this 
theme in 1st Timothy 4? In the latter days, there'll 
be doctrines of demons. What are these doctrines of demons? 
Forbidding to marry and calling for abstinence from meats or 
from foods which God has given to enjoy. This is the heart and 
the kindness of God. He's not taking these people 
out of Egypt to judge them in the wilderness and destroy them. 
That's what they thought. He's taking them into the land 
of Canaan, and he says, go ahead and eat whatever animals you 
see that your heart goes after. Enjoy. The unclean and the clean 
among you can enjoy. This means the ritually clean, 
the ritually unclean. This isn't a sacrificial meal. 
This isn't meat presented up to the Lord God. So you get to 
eat. You can even eat deer. You can 
even eat gazelle. Those are things that are categorized 
as unclean when it comes to sacrifice. But when it comes to you and 
your gates, enjoy. Have some venison. Delight in 
the abundance of the living and true God. He is a good God. Spiritually, sacrificially, this 
is the way you are to approach Him. He regulates worship. With reference to life, He says, 
enjoy whatever it is. that you want to enjoy, as long 
as it's not a sin, as long as you're not transgressing, as 
long as you're not lacking to conform to the will of God. He 
does say, with reference to this whole idea of meeting, there 
are a couple of things you need to remember, though. You never 
ingest blood. Never eat the blood. Remember, 
blood is the life of the animal. You pour it out. Don't pour it 
on an altar. That's what the heathen would 
do. You pour it out. Unless, of course, it's a sacrificial 
animal and that blood does get poured near the altar. But for 
your private family feasts, for what you're enjoying in terms 
of your own food and sustenance, this is what he says. 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 only. You shall 
not eat the blood. You shall pour it on the earth 
like water. Verses 17 to 18 says, you may 
not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or your new 
wine or your oil. He's saying those things that 
are sacrificial, those things that are unique to the Lord God, 
go to the place where the Lord chooses. You see, there is a 
distinction. Private family meat and the Lord's 
meat. The Lord's meat and the Lord's 
tithe and the Lord's things, you take to the Lord's place 
and you present it in accordance with the Lord's revealed will. 
But that meat for your family, that meat for your own sustenance, 
enjoy it. Slaughter it, eat it, delight 
in it, because God is good. Verse 18, you must eat them before 
the Lord your God. This again is the sacrificial 
stuff, the stuff that is theirs but is a portion to the Lord. 
Before the Lord your God, verse 18, 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 and 
all to which you put your hands. Take heed to yourself that you 
do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land. 
Why? The Levite didn't get an inheritance. 
The Levitical tribes didn't get pieces of geography. They didn't 
have the land. It wasn't a portion to them. 
The Levites lived based on the obedience and the generosity 
of God's people. It's a precarious position to 
be in. They lived on the obedience or based on the obedience and 
the generosity of God's people. It's why God, through Moses, 
says, don't forget the Levites. Don't forsake them. They're engaged 
in spiritual activities for your welfare and your well-being. 
They are seeking to promote the truth of God and his word to 
you. They are seeking to engage in 
the sacrificial system in a manner that is consistent with God's 
holy law Don't neglect them when it comes to tangible physical 
goods. Let them eat meat. Let them enjoy 
those things that God has given for the good of his people. That will be more explained later 
in Deuteronomy chapter 18. And then 20 to 28, sort of again, 
repeats much of the same material, but it shows us what it's going 
to be like in the land. Verse 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. Isn't the Lord good? 
He doesn't sound like your cardiologist. He doesn't sound like the federal 
government. Don't eat that burger. Don't 
eat that. God says eat. Enjoy yourself. Now we got to 
be responsible to be sure. Too much red meat makes the blood 
slow down. That's not a healthiest way to 
live, but God is showing his benevolence here. Let me eat 
meat because you long to eat meat. You may eat as much meat 
as your heart desires. 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." Again, the 
slaughter of animals generally was connected to the tabernacle 
compound. They're going to find themselves 
in a place where the place where the Lord your God chooses might 
be several miles from where you live. You're saying, boy, I've 
got a hankering for a steak. We've got to take that animal 
down to the tabernacle. Even though we're not going to 
use it for religious purposes, that's where you kill animals. 
God says, no, you can stay there. Kill your animals there. Enjoy 
the meat. Delight in those private family 
feasts. Now remember, don't forget this. He repeats it again. Verse 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. This is an ongoing prohibition that God has instituted. You are not supposed to eat the 
blood. You shall not eat it. You shall 
pour it on the earth like water. 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. You see, this is something 
that God said. Even if you're over here, you 
kill that deer, you enjoy that, that wonderful meat, just don't 
ingest the blood. Don't do that. That's it. But enjoy your meat. It's a meat-eater's 
haven right here, right? This is the place to be if you 
had a hankering for meat. Verse 26, only the holy things 
which you have in your vowed offerings you shall take and 
go to the place which the Lord chooses. So, you live over here. 
He got an actual sacrifice. Well, God said we can kill animals 
here. Not if they're his animals. You see, you take that animal, 
you travel the distance, and you present it to the Lord. So 
he's dealing with the sacrifice. He's dealing with non-sacrifice, 
dealing with the killing of animals, and it's all designed to promote 
this central place of worship. Over here, when you're enjoying 
food, kill it, eat it, rejoice. Don't eat the blood. If it's 
an animal that is designated for the Lord, don't say, well, 
we have carte blanche to kill animals here and we can just 
sort of salute toward, you know, that centralized place of worship. 
No, you take the animal there and you go through the prescribed 
form for worship. That's the distinction. That's 
what's going on. Verse 27, 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. 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." And as I said, the chapter ends with a warning against worship 
against false gods. Verse 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. This is the occasion. 
This is the occasion. This is when the temptation is 
going to present itself. You know, when you're hanging 
out on the plains of Moab and it's just you, There's no Baal. There's no Moloch. There's no 
Asherah. There's no other deities like that. But soon as you get 
into that land, you're going to see the Canaanites worship 
their gods. What are you doing there? Don't 
do that. That's the warning. Verse 30. 
Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them. Interesting language, ensnared. 
Not usually how idolatry happens. We don't just wake up and worship 
the devil. We don't just wake up and worship 
something that's heinous and horrible. It is by steps. It is subtle. It is an ensnaring 
of a person. Before we know it, we are giving 
heed to the idol. 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. This is where ignorance is a 
blessing. You don't need to know how those 
pagans approach their gods. Because it's going to sound exciting 
to you. You mean you get to do it that 
way? Our God says, we've got to bring these animals and we 
go through this. He says, don't ask. Don't put yourself in a 
position of temptation. Don't put yourself in a position 
of compromise. Straight out command, verse 31, 
you shall not worship the Lord your God in that way. You see? It's talking about the worship 
of the true God in the wrong way. It's what the first and 
the second commandments do. They provide for us the information 
as to which God we worship and how we are to worship. A lot of people see them almost 
as identical, one and two. Oh, there's overlap, and they 
go together, and there's complement, to be sure. But one tells us 
who God is. Two tells us how we are supposed 
to approach him. 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 also answers 
the question. Why is God sending his people 
in there to dispossess the land of these upright and noble Canaanites? They're not upright. They're 
not noble. What they do in worship is an 
abomination to the living God. They even take their babies, 
more than likely they were the daughter or the children of the 
cult prostitutes, and they offered them up in sacrifice to their 
idols. They burned them to death. God 
says, that's an abomination. If you go and you do likewise, 
you will be expelled from the land just like the Canaanites 
were. You see, there's nothing new 
under the sun. Canaanites, driven out of their land for the abominations. 
Later on in Israel, they're driven out of their land for abomination. God works consistently. And then 
the governing principle. Remember when we worked our way 
through Matthew 6? I called verse 33 the governing principle. Seek 
first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these 
things will be added to you. Governing principle, verse 32, 
in Old Covenant Israel, at least with reference to worship, verse 
32, whatever I command you, be careful to observe it. You shall 
not add to it nor take away from it. Don't add, don't take away. Don't add, don't take away. Do what God commands. You cannot go wrong when you 
do what God commands. A couple of lessons in closing. We see here the renunciation 
of all other names. They were to delete the names 
of these other gods. They weren't to say, well, you 
know, these, these Canaanites, they, they, they worship Baal 
because that's God as they understand him. Sounds kind of like Christians 
today. Well, you know, that's God as 
they understand Him. No, we are to worship God as 
He has revealed Himself. Not as they understand Him, but 
as He has revealed Himself. We are to renounce every name 
of every false god. We are to reject idolatry. That is over and over again. stated to these people. Reject 
it. Don't go near it. Don't play 
games. Don't ask questions. Don't dance 
around it. Don't just say, wow, you know, 
that looks kind of interesting. Don't do it. You're not that 
holy. You're not that strong. You're 
going to get sucked in by the carnality, by the emotion, by 
the apparent blessing associated with Canaanite religion. Reject 
idolatry. That's the main thing we need 
to keep in our head. Don't play with it. Reject it. 
My Little Children. John the Apostle ends his first 
epistle with, My Little Children, keep yourselves from idols. It's 
an amazing way to end a New Testament epistle, isn't it? My Little 
Children, keep yourselves from idols. Don't go near them. Don't entertain them. Do not 
study them. Do not look upon them favorably. Keep yourselves from them. We 
need to appreciate, in Deuteronomy 12, it is God alone who regulates 
his worship. He prescribes the place. He dictates 
the manner. He tells us how we are supposed 
to enter into his presence. Get to the New Covenant. It's 
no different. What happens when we look at the New Testament? 
What do we see? We see worship. We see it expressed. How? We 
see it not with the sacrifices associated with Old Covenant 
worship. We see it associated with reading the Bible, preaching 
the Bible, praying the Bible, singing the Bible, seeing the 
Bible. It's all word center. The word is central with reference 
to the worship of God. It's all specified there for 
us. It's not puppets. It's not ponies, not programs, 
not clowns. you know, cutting-edge guitarists, 
you know, it's not Metallica performing Jesus Loves Me song. That's not what God calls us 
to. It's not innovation, it's not 
creation. And then the response to biblical 
worship throughout is joy, happiness, delight. See, the carnal heart 
wants to go after the Canaanites because it looks fun. The spiritual 
heart says, I want to do what God says, because that's wherein 
blessing lies. Obedience to the Lord God Almighty. Well, that's Deuteronomy 12. 
I'll close in prayer. Our Father, we thank you for 
your word. We thank you for its clarity. And God, we pray that 
you would keep us, that you would guard us, that you would indeed 
fill us with your spirit so that we would not stray and that we 
would not wander and that we would not leave that blessed 
path of obedience to you. God, we just ask that you would 
help us to learn the lessons of this book, help us to see 
them played out and demonstrated and illustrated in the New Covenant 
application, in the New Testament. And God, we pray that we would 
just truly glorify and honor you. And we ask in Jesus' name, 
amen.