Deu 12:5-6 | KingComments | STEP | The Gentiles worship in many places. For Israel, there is only one place and one manner. That also applies to us. Scripture does not speak here of a place, but of the place. In this chapter it is said six times ( ) and in the following chapters it occurs fifteen times more ( ), a total of twenty-one times. To establish His Name there or to let His name dwell there means that He wants to reveal His divine presence to people there. The cloud, the so-called ‘shechinah’, a word derived from the Hebrew verb shachan, which means ‘to dwell’, ‘to stay’, can be thought of here. The book of Deuteronomy does not state which place the LORD has chosen to make his name dwell. From other scriptures we know that it is first Shiloh ( ; ; ; ) and later Zion or Jerusalem ( ). The temple is built in the four hundred and eightieth year after the exodus from Egypt ( ). So it takes more than four centuries before they come to find where that place is. We read of only one man who asked for the place God has chosen to make His Name dwell: David. He has thought about it and sought for it: “Surely I will not enter my house, nor lie on my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob” ( ). David is exercised before God to get to know this place. He does not search for this at the end of his life. He does that when he pastures the sheep in Efratha. There he hears about it and finds it in the fields of Jaär: “Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah, we found it in the field of Jaar” ( ). It becomes known to him through his fellowship with God. That is no different for us. In this chapter the most important test is that they will search in the land for the place the LORD has chosen for His Name to dwell. He does not indicate it, does not give an address, but they have to search for it, ask for it. We see an example of this in the Lord’s answer to the question of the disciples, where they are to prepare the Passover. His answer is not to give an address, but to give an indication of how to find it: they must follow a man carrying a pitcher of water ( ). That is, we must pay attention to people who come together according to the characteristics of the Word of God, of which the water is a picture. Something similar we hear in the question from the bride to the groom in Song of Songs. If she wants to know where he is pasturing the flock and leaving it to rest, he gives the instruction: “If you yourself do not know, most beautiful among women, go forth on the trail of the flock” ( ). The Lord’s answer to the disciples’ question “where are You staying?” is also instructive. Neither does He give them an address, but He invites them: “Come, and you will see” ( ). The place where God now dwells and wants to be worshiped is no longer Jerusalem or any other geographically determined place. The Lord Jesus says about this to a Samaritan woman: “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. … But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” ( ). In this time, after the cross and the coming of the Holy Spirit on earth, the church is the dwelling place of God ( ; ). This is not a stone building, but a spiritual place. In order to know where the place of worship for the church is at this time, the Christian must search for it by means of the Bible. There is also now a place of worship on earth. This is where believers meet as believers only unto the name of the Lord Jesus ( ). This can only be said and fulfilled if those believers bow before the authority of the Lord Jesus, His Name, which is expressed in obedience to God’s Word. This is illustrated in the man who carries a pitcher of water, the picture of the Word of God, and him the disciples must follow ( ). It is not left to Israel – nor to us – to choose the place where God wants to dwell. He chooses that place Himself. No one will dispute a person’s right to choose where he receives others. Many Christians do so with respect to God. In such an instance, His will and thoughts are often not inquired of. The standard is not then: “What does the Lord want?”, but: “Where do I feel good?” God, however, does not follow man’s thoughts, although in His grace He continues to bless as He perceives sincerity. God wants His people to be one people in practice. This applies to Israel and also to the church. When Jeroboam invents other places of worship, the division among the people is a given ( ). God sees the church as a whole in Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit ( ). There is nothing that promotes this practical unity more than being gathered together to that one Name, the name of the Lord Jesus, where He is the common object of worship. All the subdivisions among Christians detract from the unity of the church. The true God may not be served by each in his own place. The great division in Christianity is not the expression of the versatility of the truth. To put the biblical unity into practice we should not go back to some Synod in the past, but to what the apostles have said. We should not go back to Rome or Jerusalem, but to the Lord. God has His own place and He determines where it is. No nicknames such as Baptist or Lutherans or Darbyist, which make an unbiblical separation between believers, fit in with this. God does not want us to serve Him each according to our own favorite principles or in following the favorite teachers. He determines the basis upon which His people must meet. Nor does the practice that every land has its own national church fit in with the church of God, as if the church were divided by national boundaries. That too is a denial of the spiritual, worldwide unity of the people of God. There is only one God and one Lord and only one place of meeting. For Israel this is literally the case, for us it is a spiritual place. We do not have to travel to one particular place. There is a church in every town ( ). When in these different places people gather according to the same principles of God’s Word concerning the church, spiritually speaking they come together in one place. Each place expresses that unity, in the recognition of each other as members of God’s people. There should be no room for sectarianism on the one hand and independency on the other. Coming into the presence of God at the place He has chosen is first and foremost to offering Him sacrifices. God’s due is paramount. Then we also receive our due: we may eat before His face, that is, to feed ourselves with the Lord Jesus and think of Him together with God and His own. Then, finally, our hearts will overflow with joy and gratitude because of all the blessings that have become ours. The blessings in are not only seen as given by God, but as the result of their own work, which they have “undertaken”. For the blessing of the land, the rain is indispensable, but not enough. Spiritual activity, such as ploughing, harrowing, sowing and harvesting is required of us. The more activity, the greater the yield of wheat, new wine and oil. The enjoyment of spiritual blessings does not come to us overnight. Effort must be made: there is need to sow for the Spirit ( ). In the place where God dwells in the land, there will be rest. That peace is the result of the expulsion of the enemies. There is also protection and security. There is no such peace in the wilderness. That is what the people will have had to pass through. In the land there is no longer any need to wander, there the people dwell in their homes. There is much repetition in this chapter, because the subject is so important. Each time, aspects are added to what has been said ( ).

‏ Deuteronomy 12:5-6

The Place Which the LORD Will Choose

The Gentiles worship in many places. For Israel, there is only one place and one manner. That also applies to us. Scripture does not speak here of a place, but of the place. In this chapter it is said six times (Deu 12:5 ; 11 ; 14 ; 18 ; 21 ; 26) and in the following chapters it occurs fifteen times more (Deu 14:23 ; 24 ; 25 ; Deu 15:20 ; Deu 16:2 ; 6 ; 7 ; 11 ; 15 ; 16 ; Deu 17:8 ; 10 ; Deu 18:6 ; Deu 26:2 ; Deu 31:11), a total of twenty-one times. To establish His Name there or to let His name dwell there means that He wants to reveal His divine presence to people there. The cloud, the so-called ‘shechinah’, a word derived from the Hebrew verb shachan, which means ‘to dwell’, ‘to stay’, can be thought of here.

The book of Deuteronomy does not state which place the LORD has chosen to make his name dwell. From other scriptures we know that it is first Shiloh (Jos 18:1; Jer 7:12; 1Sam 1:3; Psa 78:60) and later Zion or Jerusalem (Psa 132:13). The temple is built in the four hundred and eightieth year after the exodus from Egypt (1Kgs 6:1). So it takes more than four centuries before they come to find where that place is.

We read of only one man who asked for the place God has chosen to make His Name dwell: David. He has thought about it and sought for it: “Surely I will not enter my house, nor lie on my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob” (Psa 132:3-5). David is exercised before God to get to know this place.

He does not search for this at the end of his life. He does that when he pastures the sheep in Efratha. There he hears about it and finds it in the fields of Jaär: “Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah, we found it in the field of Jaar” (Psa 132:6). It becomes known to him through his fellowship with God. That is no different for us.

In this chapter the most important test is that they will search in the land for the place the LORD has chosen for His Name to dwell. He does not indicate it, does not give an address, but they have to search for it, ask for it. We see an example of this in the Lord’s answer to the question of the disciples, where they are to prepare the Passover.

His answer is not to give an address, but to give an indication of how to find it: they must follow a man carrying a pitcher of water (Lk 22:8-13). That is, we must pay attention to people who come together according to the characteristics of the Word of God, of which the water is a picture.

Something similar we hear in the question from the bride to the groom in Song of Songs. If she wants to know where he is pasturing the flock and leaving it to rest, he gives the instruction: “If you yourself do not know, most beautiful among women, go forth on the trail of the flock” (Song 1:7-8). The Lord’s answer to the disciples’ question “where are You staying?” is also instructive. Neither does He give them an address, but He invites them: “Come, and you will see” (Jn 1:37-40).

The place where God now dwells and wants to be worshiped is no longer Jerusalem or any other geographically determined place. The Lord Jesus says about this to a Samaritan woman: “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. … But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn 4:21-24). In this time, after the cross and the coming of the Holy Spirit on earth, the church is the dwelling place of God (Eph 2:22; 1Cor 3:16). This is not a stone building, but a spiritual place. In order to know where the place of worship for the church is at this time, the Christian must search for it by means of the Bible.

There is also now a place of worship on earth. This is where believers meet as believers only unto the name of the Lord Jesus (Mt 18:20). This can only be said and fulfilled if those believers bow before the authority of the Lord Jesus, His Name, which is expressed in obedience to God’s Word. This is illustrated in the man who carries a pitcher of water, the picture of the Word of God, and him the disciples must follow (Lk 22:10).

It is not left to Israel – nor to us – to choose the place where God wants to dwell. He chooses that place Himself. No one will dispute a person’s right to choose where he receives others. Many Christians do so with respect to God. In such an instance, His will and thoughts are often not inquired of. The standard is not then: “What does the Lord want?”, but: “Where do I feel good?” God, however, does not follow man’s thoughts, although in His grace He continues to bless as He perceives sincerity.

God wants His people to be one people in practice. This applies to Israel and also to the church. When Jeroboam invents other places of worship, the division among the people is a given (1Kgs 12:26-30). God sees the church as a whole in Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit (1Cor 12:13). There is nothing that promotes this practical unity more than being gathered together to that one Name, the name of the Lord Jesus, where He is the common object of worship. All the subdivisions among Christians detract from the unity of the church.

The true God may not be served by each in his own place. The great division in Christianity is not the expression of the versatility of the truth. To put the biblical unity into practice we should not go back to some Synod in the past, but to what the apostles have said. We should not go back to Rome or Jerusalem, but to the Lord.

God has His own place and He determines where it is. No nicknames such as Baptist or Lutherans or Darbyist, which make an unbiblical separation between believers, fit in with this. God does not want us to serve Him each according to our own favorite principles or in following the favorite teachers. He determines the basis upon which His people must meet.

Nor does the practice that every land has its own national church fit in with the church of God, as if the church were divided by national boundaries. That too is a denial of the spiritual, worldwide unity of the people of God. There is only one God and one Lord and only one place of meeting. For Israel this is literally the case, for us it is a spiritual place.

We do not have to travel to one particular place. There is a church in every town (1Cor 1:2). When in these different places people gather according to the same principles of God’s Word concerning the church, spiritually speaking they come together in one place. Each place expresses that unity, in the recognition of each other as members of God’s people. There should be no room for sectarianism on the one hand and independency on the other.

Coming into the presence of God at the place He has chosen is first and foremost to offering Him sacrifices. God’s due is paramount. Then we also receive our due: we may eat before His face, that is, to feed ourselves with the Lord Jesus and think of Him together with God and His own. Then, finally, our hearts will overflow with joy and gratitude because of all the blessings that have become ours.

The blessings in Deu 12:7 are not only seen as given by God, but as the result of their own work, which they have “undertaken”. For the blessing of the land, the rain is indispensable, but not enough. Spiritual activity, such as ploughing, harrowing, sowing and harvesting is required of us. The more activity, the greater the yield of wheat, new wine and oil. The enjoyment of spiritual blessings does not come to us overnight. Effort must be made: there is need to sow for the Spirit (Gal 6:8).

In the place where God dwells in the land, there will be rest. That peace is the result of the expulsion of the enemies. There is also protection and security. There is no such peace in the wilderness. That is what the people will have had to pass through. In the land there is no longer any need to wander, there the people dwell in their homes.

There is much repetition in this chapter, because the subject is so important. Each time, aspects are added to what has been said (Deu 12:7 ; 12).