Worshipping God's Way

Deuteronomy 12:26 But the holy things that are due from you, and your vow offerings, you shall take, and you shall go to the place that the Lord will choose, 27 and offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God. The blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God, but the flesh you may eat. 28 Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.

When the people entered into the land, not only were they to be picky about who or what they worshipped, but where and how they did so. They were not to worship any of the idols, and they were not to worship the way the pagan peoples had. The blood was not to be drunk or eaten, but poured out before God. God was also going to designate the place. At the present it would be at the tabernacle, and He would designate some specific cities and eventually the temple at Jerusalem, but it was not to be on every and any mountain or hill like the pagans did.  When Jesus told the woman at the well it was not so much the place as it was the way - in spirit and in truth - He was not saying God did not care about where. The place is not so important in itself as much as it is that it is where and how God wants. He wants us to worship with obedience hearts, not self-focus and self-determination. He wants us to worship with His people, not in our own little world. He deserves to be worshipped how He wants. Is worship all about you or about Him? 

The Hour of Decision...

Deuteronomy 11:26 “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, 28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known... 31 For you are to cross over the Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you. And when you possess it and live in it, 32 you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the rules that I am setting before you today.

The verses that precede this last paragraph of the chapter are one long challenge to love and serve God in the promised land.  Having laid out all of the past events of the exodus and wilderness wanderings, both good and evil, God calls on them to set a course not just on their geographical goal, but their spiritual goal. As they go in, will they take seriously the covenant commitments they have made to serve Him alone? They had left behind a whole host of false gods in Egypt; a whole new set of them lie ahead in Canaan.  The temptation would not cease.  Would their obedience? Will ours? 

Not So Righteous...

Deuteronomy 9:25 “So I lay prostrate before the Lord for these forty days and forty nights, because the Lord had said he would destroy you. 26 And I prayed to the Lord, ‘O Lord God, do not destroy your people and your heritage, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not regard the stubbornness of this people, or their wickedness or their sin, 28 lest the land from which you brought us say, “Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.” 29 For they are your people and your heritage, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.’

As God continues to speak through Moses as the people prepare to enter the promised land, he reminds them that they are not to start thinking God had given them the land because they were so righteous. He pulls out one glaring example: the golden calf. It was a big one, as Moses ended up in prayer and fasting for forty days interceding for them. They had behaved far from righteous. It was the testimony of God's name that was the key point.  Moses did not want Egypt to think God had failed to deliver them into the land.  Rather, it was His grace and mercy that got them there. It's still His grace and mercy that is at work in us - not our own righteousness.

Since You Are Chosen...

Deuteronomy 7:25 The carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. 26 And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction.

Having reminded the people of what God had done for them, God had Moses move on into what they needed to do, and not do, when they were given the promised land. They would inherit cities and lands and whatever was left behind by the previous residents of the land. That included their idols.  They would find all kinds made up of all materials: some base, some precious metals.  Their attitude towards them was to be the same: get rid of them. Don't collect them, put them into the closet, or be enamored by their beauty. They were to be removed and destroyed. We are often oblivious to how much destruction these seemingly harmless things bring into our lives.  Since He has chosen us we do not need them and should not want them.

Remember the Reverence...

Deuteronomy 5:23 And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. 24 And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. 25 Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. 26 For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? 27 Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say, and speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’

As Moses continues to recount God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt, he reminds them of the appearance God made to them on Mt. Sinai when giving the Ten Commandments.  Though most the people there would not remember, those who had been young children at that time still would. It was the most overwhelming memory they would have: God speaking to them from the burning mountain. They were to remember the reverence they had and rekindle it as they entered the promised land.  What are the times you have sensed God speaking to you? How did they move you? How can they move you again? 

When.. and If...

Deuteronomy 4:25 “When you father children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, and you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. 28 And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. 

After all the things Moses saw in God delivering his people, bringing them through the wilderness and to the promised land, he was still a realist.  He knew our tendency to forget and wander.  In the great call to obedience found earlier in this chapter, he also looks to the future, calling the mountains around them to serve as witnesses to their promises of obedience. The mountains would be there long after Moses was gone to call them to remembrance of their vows when they disobeyed. They would also be there to remember God's promise that if they would seek Him once again, they would find Him. He would still be there waiting. And He still Is.

Given a Glimpse...

 Deuteronomy 3:23 “And I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, 24 ‘O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? 25 Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ 26 But the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again. 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. 

As God has Moses recite the history of the exodus and wilderness wanderings, he does not leave out his own failures. He had lost it at the rock, hitting it and demanding water. He made it about him instead of God.  As a result, he was not going to enter the land.  He begged God to let him just go in and see, but instead God gave him just a glimpse from a distance. Sometimes God gives us promises and goals that He wants to accomplish and we work towards them and see so much progress, but not total fulfillment. It is not that God has been unfaithful. What is important is that we ultimately end up with Him. Even a glimpse is worth the following.