Deuteronomy 12 explained: One Place to Worship

Tear down the old shrines (vv. 1-4)

The peoples already in the land worshiped on hilltops and under trees, with altars, standing stones and wooden poles for the goddess Asherah, and Israel is told to destroy them all and erase their gods' names. It is a blunt command to wipe out other peoples' sacred sites, and Israel must not worship the LORD in their way.

The place God will choose (vv. 5-14)

Sacrifices may no longer be offered anywhere a person likes, only at one place where the LORD will 'put his Name', meaning the spot marked as his own and linked with his presence. The place is not named; later it was Shiloh and then Jerusalem, and many modern scholars connect this law with King Josiah's religious reforms centuries later.

A shared, joyful meal (vv. 7, 12)

Many of these offerings were eaten together in a glad feast with family and servants. The Levites, the tribe that served in worship and had no land of their own, were to be included.

Meat at home, but not the blood (vv. 15-25)

In the wilderness, animals killed for food had been brought to the sacred tent, but once settled people could butcher at home and eat freely, like wild game. Even someone barred from sacred meals by a ritual impurity could eat this meat, but the blood had to be poured on the ground, because 'the blood is the life'.

Sacred gifts stay at the altar (vv. 17-19, 26-28)

Tithes, firstborn animals and anything promised to God were different from ordinary meat and could only be eaten at the chosen place. Burnt offerings went on the LORD's altar, the blood of sacrifices was poured out at the altar, and the Levites were not to be forgotten.

Do not copy their worship (vv. 29-32)

Israel is warned not to ask how the local peoples served their gods and then imitate them, pointing especially to the burning of children as sacrifices. The chapter ends by saying nothing should be added to these commands or taken away.

Key verse: Deuteronomy 12:5

Something to think about

What might a community gain or lose when everyone gathers in one shared place, rather than each person doing whatever seems right to them?