Seek the Place of Worship
Comments for Study 12
Deuteronomy 12:1-13:18
Memory Verse: 13:17
SORRY, THE COMMENTARY FOR THIS BOOK HAS NOT BEEN FINISHED.
CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF BOOKS THAT ARE COMPLETED.
BEFORE READING PLEASE CLICK HERE TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS.
BEFORE READING PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VIEW A MAP OF THE DIVISION OF THE PROMISED LAND.
BEFORE READING PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR A TIMELINE FROM MOSES TO DAVID.
BEFORE READING PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT ISRAEL'S HISTORY.
I. The Lord Will Chose the Place (12:1-14)
>1. What are we to follow? (1)
* Deuteronomy 12:1 "These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess--as long as you live in the land."
*
*
*
*
*
>What is the first thing they are to do? (2)
* Deuteronomy 12:2 "Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods."
*
*
*
*
>How complete should they do this? (3)
* Deuteronomy 12:3 "Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places."
*
*
*
*
>Why is it important to remove false religion from our lives? (Phil. 4:8; and 2 Tim. 2:20-21)
* Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."
* 2 Timothy 2:20-21 "In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work."
*
*
>2. Did the people who lived in the promised land worship God?
* Deuteronomy 12:4-5 "You must not worship the LORD your God in their way.
5 But you are to seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go;"
*
*
*
*
*
>Was their way of worship correct?
*
*
*
*
>What were they to do in the special place of worship? (6)
* Deuteronomy 12:6 "there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks."
*
*
*
*
>What is the mode of worship we should engage in?
* Deuteronomy 12:7 "There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the LORD your God has blessed you."
*
*
*
*
>3. What had the Israelites done up to this point? (8-9)
* Deuteronomy 12:8-9 "You are not to do as we do here today, everyone as he sees fit, since you have not yet reached the resting place and the inheritance the LORD your God is giving you."
*
*
*
*
*
>Where they to do this when they obtain the promised land? (10-11)
* Deuteronomy 12:10-11 "But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety. Then to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name--there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you have vowed to the LORD."
*
*
*
*
>What kind of a giver does the Lord seek? (12-14; Phil. 4:4-7; and 2 Cor. 9:6-8)
* Deuteronomy 12:12-14 "And there rejoice before the LORD your God, you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites from your towns, who have no allotment or inheritance of their own. Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you please. Offer them only at the place the LORD will choose in one of your tribes, and there observe everything I command you."
* Philippians 4:4-7 "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
* 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."
*
*
II. Present Offerings and Eat Meat (12:15-32)
>4. What were the Israelites allowed to do? (15, 22)
* Deuteronomy 12:15 "Nevertheless, you may slaughter your animals in any of your towns and eat as much of the meat as you want, as if it were gazelle or deer, according to the blessing the LORD your God gives you. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it."
* Deuteronomy 12:22 "Eat them as you would gazelle or deer. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat."
*
*
*
*
>What were they sure to do? (16, 23-25)
* Deuteronomy 12:16 "But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water."
* Deuteronomy 12:23-25 "But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat. You must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water. "Do not eat it, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD."
* Genesis 9:3-4 "Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it."
* Acts 21:25 "As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality."
*
*
>What were they to do with the tithe and offerings? (17-18)
* Deuteronomy 12:17-18 "You must not eat in your own towns the tithe of your grain and new wine and oil, or the firstborn of your herds and flocks, or whatever you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts. Instead, you are to eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place the LORD your God will choose--you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites from your towns--and you are to rejoice before the LORD your God in everything you put your hand to."
*
*
*
*
>Who are the Levites in our time? (19; and 1 Cor. 9:7-12; and 1 Tim. 5:17-18)
* Deuteronomy 12:19 "Be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land."
* 1 Corinthians 9:7-12 "Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk? Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn't the Law say the same thing? For it is written in the Law of Moses: "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ."
* 1 Timothy 5:17-18 "The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages."
*
*
>5. What were the Israelites to do if Jerusalem was to far for them to slaughter meat and eat it? (20-21)
* Deuteronomy 12:20-21 "When the LORD your God has enlarged your territory as he promised you, and you crave meat and say, "I would like some meat," then you may eat as much of it as you want. If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put his Name is too far away from you, you may slaughter animals from the herds and flocks the LORD has given you, as I have commanded you, and in your own towns you may eat as much of them as you want."
*
*
*
*
>Did this exclude them from ever going to Jerusalem?
*
*
*
*
>6. What does it mean if something is consecrated? (26)
* Deuteronomy 12:26 "But take your consecrated things and whatever you have vowed to give, and go to the place the LORD will choose."
*
*
*
*
>What was the procedure for presenting consecrated things to the Lord? (27-28)
* Deuteronomy 12:27-28 "Present your burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD your God, both the meat and the blood. The blood of your sacrifices must be poured beside the altar of the LORD your God, but you may eat the meat. Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD your God."
*
*
*
*
>7. What were they to not know about? (29-20)
* Deuteronomy 12:29-30 "The LORD your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same."
*
*
*
*
>Why? (31-32)
* Deuteronomy 12:31-32 "You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
32 See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it."
*
*
*
*
>How can we do the same?
*
*
*
*
III. The Lord Tests Through False Prophets (13:1-18)
>8. How does the Lord test his people? (1-3)
* Deuteronomy 13:1-3 "If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them," you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul."
*
*
*
*
>What are we to remember when someone comes along claiming they have a new revelation? (4)
* Deuteronomy 13:4 "It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him."
*
*
*
*
>What were the Israelites to do with false prophets? (5)
* Deuteronomy 13:5 "That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you."
*
*
*
*
>What are we to do? (1 Tim. 1:18-20)
* 1 Timothy 1:18-20 "Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme."
*
*
>9. Would loved one entices them to sin? (6-8)
* Deuteronomy 13:6-8 "If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him."
*
*
*
*
>What were they to do if this would happen? (9-11)
* Deuteronomy 13:9-11 "You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again."
*
*
*
*
>What are we to do? (Matt. 10:34-39; 12:46-50)
* Matthew 10:34-39 "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn "'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law-- a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.' Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
* Matthew 12:46-50 "While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you." He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
*
*
>10. If a town in Israel is believed to entice others to worship other gods what was the first thing they needed to do? (12-14)
* Deuteronomy 13:12-14 "If you hear it said about one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you to live in that wicked men have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods you have not known), then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you,"
*
*
*
*
>If the investigation shows it is true what was the next thing they were to do? (15)
* Deuteronomy 13:15 "you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. Destroy it completely, both its people and its livestock."
*
*
*
*
>What was the final thing they were to do? (16-18)
* Deuteronomy 13:16-18 "Gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. It is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt. None of those condemned things shall be found in your hands, so that the LORD will turn from his fierce anger; he will show you mercy, have compassion on you, and increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your forefathers, because you obey the LORD your God, keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes."
*
*
*
>How would this ensure that greedy people wouldn't create rumors?
*
*
*
*
Click the house to go to the Bible Study HOME Page
|
