Deuteronomy 12:1-7 – The call to worship God only

The worship of God was to be central in the life of the people of Israel. He must be given first place in their lives as individuals as well as a community. He had shown them what He expected of them in the Ten Commandments. So starting from this chapter the Israelites would be shown how they need to apply what God expected of them in their relationship with Him. Deuteronomy 12:1-7 stipulate the way God wanted to be worshipped. Here God began by making sure that their attitudes toward Him were rightly set. For He knew that when the attitude was rightly placed,  how they would worship Him would be aligned. If their attitude was not aligned, everything they would do would be wrong. It is true that when we appreciate who God is and worship Him as He has prescribed, the foundation for obedience and service would be established.  

God expected absolute allegiance. In the land of Canaan where the Israelites would soon possess was a pagan land full of idols. The first thing God wanted was for all the false gods, and everything associated with them to be destroyed. In verse 3, He expressly told His people saying, “You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place.” The reason God wanted everything demolished was to remove the source that could lure them to worship Him the way the pagans worshipped their false gods.

The pagans would worship their gods in many places. They would worship their gods on high mountains, on hills, and under every green tree.  But the people of Israel must not do the same. Verse 5 said that God would stipulate a place for them to worship Him. A place where they could bring their sacrifices, offerings, tithes, and contributions. It would be a place where they could celebrate the Lord and rejoice in the blessings God had showered on them. Though not stated, we surmise that the place would be where the tabernacle would be set up. The tabernacle was the tent that God had instructed Moses to build for His dwelling. In their wandering years, it was the central place of their worship life.  

True worship must be offered to God. The total removal of idols tells us that God wants us to have a single-minded devotion towards Him. Anything that can compete with our allegiance to Him must be dealt with. While we may not have physical idols like the pagans, our wives, children, friends, hobbies, interests, TV shows, possession such as cars, houses, modern gadgets, handphones, and etc can be the “idols” that compete for our commitment to God.  Be sure not to let them take God’s place in our lives. True worship also requires that we offer the best that we are and the best that we have, to God in joyful celebration and service. There is truly no greater act of worship than to give to God all that we are. He deserves only the very best of us!