Deuteronomy 12:5, commentary and pictures

God commanded Israel to seek out the one place he would choose from all the tribes to set his name and establish his dwelling, and to come there to worship him. That name and dwelling meant his own presence meeting his people in a particular place, and the place chosen was Jerusalem, where the sanctuary and temple were built. There they were to bring their burnt offerings and sacrifices, tithes and heave offerings, vows and freewill offerings and firstlings, including the tithe of corn and wine and oil, into his treasury. The tithe was not to be eaten within their own gates but only before the Lord in that place, where households with sons and daughters and servants and the Levite were to eat together and rejoice in all God had blessed them with. Acceptable worship is therefore given where God has placed his name in willing obedience to his better provision, rather than each person doing what seems right in his own eyes.

Place God Chose

The verse commands Israel to seek the one particular place the Lord would choose out of all the tribes to put his name there and to establish his habitation and dwelling, and to come there to worship. That chosen place was where his people were to bring burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, heave offerings, vows, freewill offerings and firstlings rather than offering wherever each person chose what seemed right. There they were to eat before God and rejoice with their households in his blessing and in all they put their hand to, for they had not yet reached the rest and inheritance God would give them. The chosen place and its blessings represent God's better provision for his people, to be enjoyed through willing obedience, and bringing offerings there recognized his presence and showed that acceptable worship was to be offered where he had placed his name.

The name, habitation and dwelling mean God's personal presence meeting his people in a particular place. That place is identified with his revealed presence and character and with his altar. Seeking that dwelling and coming to it means fixing where worship is honored.

The chosen place is Jerusalem, God's covenanted dwelling where the sanctuary and temple were built and the priests ministered. It is the place where Israel was to seek him and to assemble together at least once a year to worship in his holy temple. They came up by hundreds of thousands and by millions by the southern road through Hebron and Bethlehem, by the eastern road through Bethabara and Jericho and Bethany, by the northeastern road through Golan and Succoth, by the northern road through Shiloh and Bethel, and by the northwestern road through the Pass of Beth-horon and by Gibeon. There they sought God and made offerings and sacrifices according to the Law of Moses, crowding to overflowing not only the city within walls of more than three miles in circumference but also the adjacent hillsides and neighboring villages and wherever a spot could be found for a camping place. Using that appointed house for buying and selling profaned what God had made sacred.

The verse belongs to Moses' rehearsal and emphasis of the law in the first fourteen chapters of Deuteronomy before Israel entered the promised land, giving practical religious instruction. It was given when Israel had not yet reached the rest and inheritance God would give. The verse is associated with David's choice of Jerusalem as the capital linked to God's name and habitation. It forms the background to the question whether worship should be on Mount Gerizim or at Jerusalem, identifying the place God chose for worship as the place where his name and dwelling were to be. Worship was to be centralized at that sanctuary rather than establishing regular temple service at other places, though this restriction was not regarded as binding outside Palestine, as shown by the Jewish temple and its restored service at Elephantine.

Offerings and Assemblies There

At the place the Lord chose to put His name, even His habitation where the sanctuary stood, Israel was to bring burnt offerings and sacrifices, tithes and heave offerings, vows and freewill offerings and firstlings of herds and flocks, including the second tithe for two years and the tithe of corn, wine, and oil, for delivery into the treasury. Those tithes, offerings, and sacrifices supported the house of the Lord and those who ministered in holy things, including the Levite within the gates, while also supplying both the needs of the gathering and the necessities of others. The tithe was not to be eaten within their own gates but only before the Lord in the chosen place, where the people were to eat with their households, sons and daughters, menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, and with many of all the tribes at the annual gathering, rejoicing in all they put their hand to and in God's blessing.

The remainder of the peace offering also belonged at God's appointed habitation: after the fat was burned to the Lord and the breast and right thigh were given to the priests, the rest was eaten by the offerer together with household, friends, priests and their families, and the Levite, and what remained beyond two days was burned. Israel was expected to assemble together there at appointed times at least once a year, including the annual Passover, setting aside unnecessary work, remembering God's blessings, rejoicing together, and bringing offerings expressing gratitude in proportion to blessings received, with faithfulness linked to His blessing on their increase and work.

They came by hundreds of thousands and by millions by the southern road through Hebron and Bethlehem, by the eastern road through Bethabara and Jericho and Bethany, by the northeastern road through Golan and Succoth, by the northern road through Shiloh and Bethel, and by the northwestern road through the Pass of Beth-horon and by Gibeon. There they sought God and made their offerings and sacrifices according to the Law of Moses. They crowded to overflowing not only the city within walls of more than three miles in circumference but also the adjacent hillsides and neighboring villages and wherever a spot could be found for a camping place.

Because Jerusalem and the sanctuary were later lost, the appointed sacrifices could no longer be offered there, and their cessation was forced by circumstance rather than chosen.

Worship Principle Applied

Acceptable worship was to be offered where God had placed his name, and bringing offerings and sacrifices there recognized his personal presence meeting his people in a particular place. That chosen dwelling among the tribes, where he put his name and made his habitation, is identified with his revealed presence and character. There Israel was to seek him and come, to eat before him and rejoice with households in his blessing, rather than each person doing whatever seemed right. The chosen place and its blessings represent his better provision for his people, to be enjoyed through willing obedience while they had not yet reached the rest and inheritance he would give.

The remainder of the peace offering belonged at that appointed habitation, after the fat was burned to the Lord and the breast and right thigh were given to the priests. The rest was to be eaten by the offerer together with household, friends, priests and their families, and the Levite, and what remained beyond two days was burned. That shared meal shows that the Lord desires his peace to be offered to all. Using the appointed house for buying and selling profaned what God had made sacred, and the cleansing of the Jerusalem temple as that chosen place rebuked this misuse and showed the people's need of a Saviour. Power to cleanse the stone temple showed power and loving desire to cleanse the human soul from sin.

The principle means fixing the home where worship is honored and where money and Christian effort can be an extensive blessing, since God chooses a place to set his name and his altar and his people are to seek that dwelling and come to it. Withdrawing to a distance from that place to spend what was gathered by parsimony in slothful and selfish privacy or in gaiety and habitual indulgence, under pretense of retirement from business, is covetousness. It makes a man an unfaithful steward, a sober sensualist, and a curse rather than a blessing.