Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest:
The verse belongs to the laws Moses recalled to Israel before they crossed the Jordan into the promised land, as part of his reminder of the importance of keeping God's law. It forbids offering burnt offerings in every place that people see or choose, requiring them to be brought only to the place God chose, appointed and designated. Worship was not to take place at any location they happened to see, and worship offerings were to be made only at the place the Lord designated. That appointed place is where God put His name and commanded worship, namely the sanctuary where He would meet worshipers.
The restriction on where to sacrifice remained even when Israel was later permitted to slaughter animals at home for food; that permission for food did not change where sacrifices were to be offered. The verse is part of the specific instructions that limited the general permission to eat animal food, showing that broad permission did not include what God more specifically forbade. Offering elsewhere showed a failure to recognize God's personal presence in the sanctuary and was associated with idol worship. The law prohibited the high-place altars used in heathen worship and adopted by backsliding Israelites.
Jerusalem was identified as that chosen place, and the verse is connected with David's choice of Jerusalem as the capital, a choice made under divine direction. Once the sanctuary at Jerusalem was destroyed and the city came under foreign control, the command meant that sacrifices could not continue. The restriction was understood as binding within Palestine itself, as shown by the Elephantine Jews who maintained a temple and offered sacrifices outside Palestine. While the sanctuary service lasted, God allowed no other altar for burnt offerings either in Jerusalem or anywhere else. The altar of incense at Jerusalem was never meant to be perpetual, but while it continued it was the only approved pattern, so many smoking altars under one roof with different services at the same time cannot come from the temple of the true God but indicate many objects of worship and polytheism, as in pagan temples and in Roman Catholic cathedrals where the Virgin Mary and the saints displace Jupiter and all the gods.
The verse belongs to the laws Moses recalled to Israel before they crossed the Jordan into the promised land, as part of his reminder of the importance of keeping God's law.
It forbids offering burnt offerings in every place that people see or choose, requiring them to be brought only to the place God chose, appointed and designated. Worship was not to take place at any location they happened to see, and worship offerings were to be made only at the place the Lord designated.
That appointed place is where God put His name and commanded worship, namely the sanctuary where He would meet worshipers.
The restriction on where to sacrifice remained even when Israel was later permitted to slaughter animals at home for food; that permission for food did not change where sacrifices were to be offered. The verse is part of the specific instructions that limited the general permission to eat animal food, showing that broad permission did not include what God more specifically forbade.
Offering elsewhere showed a failure to recognize God's personal presence in the sanctuary and was associated with idol worship. The law prohibited the high-place altars used in heathen worship and adopted by backsliding Israelites.
Jerusalem was identified as that chosen place, and the verse is connected with David's choice of Jerusalem as the capital, a choice made under divine direction. Once the sanctuary at Jerusalem was destroyed and the city came under foreign control, the command meant that sacrifices could not continue.
The restriction was understood as binding within Palestine itself, as shown by the Elephantine Jews who maintained a temple and offered sacrifices outside Palestine.
While the sanctuary service lasted, God allowed no other altar for burnt offerings either in Jerusalem or anywhere else. The altar of incense at Jerusalem was never meant to be perpetual, but while it continued it was the only approved pattern, so many smoking altars under one roof with different services at the same time cannot come from the temple of the true God but indicate many objects of worship and polytheism, as in pagan temples and in Roman Catholic cathedrals where the Virgin Mary and the saints displace Jupiter and all the gods.