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Deuteronomy 12 reveals the enjoyment of Christ with God at the unique place of God’s choice for the keeping of the oneness of God’s people—vv. 5-8, 11-14, 17-18, 21, 26-27; 14:22-23; 16:16; cf. 1 Cor. 10:6, 11; Rom. 15:4:
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The children of Israel were not allowed to worship God and enjoy the offerings they presented to God in the place of their choice (Deut. 12:8, 13, 17); they were to worship God in the place of His choice, the place where His name, His habitation, and His altar were (vv. 5-6), by bringing their tithes, offerings, and sacrifices to Him there (vv. 5, 11, 14, 18, 21, 26-27; 14:22-23; 15:19-20; 16:16).
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The place of God’s unique choice for His worship in Deuteronomy 12 signifies our meeting on the ground of locality for the expression of the one Body in practicality (signified by Jerusalem) and for the reality of the one Body in actuality (signified by Zion within Jerusalem)—Psa. 48:2; 50:2; Rev. 1:11; 2:7.
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The revelation in the New Testament concerning the worship of God corresponds to the revelation in Deuteronomy 12 in the following ways:
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The people of God should always be one; there should be no divisions among them—Psa. 133; John 17:11, 21-23; 1 Cor. 1:10; Eph. 4:3.
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The unique name into which God’s people should gather is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the reality of which name is the Spirit; to be designated by any other name is to be denominated, divided; this is spiritual fornication—Matt. 18:20; 1 Cor. 1:12; 12:3; Rev. 3:8.
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In the New Testament God’s habitation, His dwelling place, is particularly located in our mingled spirit, our human spirit regenerated and indwelt by the divine Spirit; in our meeting for the worship of God, we must exercise our spirit and do everything in our spirit—Eph. 2:22; John 4:21-24; 1 Cor. 14:15.
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In our worship of God we must have the genuine application of the cross of Christ, signified by the altar, by rejecting the flesh, the self, and the natural life and worshipping God with Christ and Christ alone—Psa. 43:4a; Matt. 16:24; Gal. 2:20.
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The place that God has chosen for His worship is a place full of the enjoyment of the riches of Christ and a place full of rejoicing—Deut. 12:7, 12, 18; 14:23; Eph. 3:8; Phil. 4:4; 1 Cor. 14:3, 4b, 26, 31.
Morning Nourishment
Deut. 12:5-7 But to the place which Jehovah your God will choose out of all your tribes to put His name, to His habitation, shall you seek, and there shall you go. And there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices,…and there you shall eat before Jehovah your God, and you and your households shall rejoice in all your undertakings, in which Jehovah your God has blessed you.The children of Israel were to seek Jehovah and come unto the place which Jehovah their God would choose out of all their tribes to put His name, even unto His habitation with His altar (Deut. 12:5-6). Here we have three things: the place, the name, and the altar….To fulfill [the] requirements [of Deuteronomy 12] was to have a center of worship, as Jerusalem would be later, for the keeping of the oneness among God’s people, avoiding the division caused by man’s preferences. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, pp. 72-73)
Today’s Reading
Chapter 12 of Deuteronomy corresponds in at least four ways to the revelation in the New Testament.First,…the people of God should always be one….If each tribe had had its own center for the worship of God, there would have been twelve divisions among God’s people, for each center would have been the ground and the base of a division. In His wisdom, God…required them to take His choice and to come three times a year to the unique worship center, even though travel to that place was inconvenient for many of them.
The principle is the same in the New Testament….God’s children, the believers in Christ, must be one and have the same center for the worship of God. However,…today…there are many worship centers, and this has led to divisions. The divisions among God’s people are the result of having different preferences….The Lord’s recovery is a matter of coming back to God’s way according to God’s preference.
Second,…God’s way to keep the oneness of His people is to have a place with His name, the unique name. The name in which we gather for the worship of God is a matter of great importance….Today Christians should be gathered together into only one name, the name of the Lord Jesus (Matt. 18:20). However, Christians are accustomed to being gathered into other names, such as Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Lutheran, and Methodist. To be gathered into these different names is to be divided, because these names are the base of divisions….To have other names for our worship is an abomination; it is spiritual fornication. We are Christ’s counterpart, His wife. Since we are His counterpart, we should not have a name other than His name.
Third, both Deuteronomy 12 and the New Testament reveal that the place chosen by God for our worship of Him is the place of His habitation….According to Ephesians 2:22, God’s habitation, His dwelling place, is in our spirit. Yes, as a church we should be gathered into the name of Christ, but we also need to be exercised in our spirit. If we come together under the name of Christ but, instead of exercising our spirit, we remain in the natural mind or, even worse, in the flesh, we will not be in the habitation of God….We must be in the spirit. Otherwise, we will lose the proper ground of the church.
Fourth,…we must have the altar, which signifies the cross. Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 2:2 indicates the importance of this….The crucified Christ was the unique subject, the center, the content, and the substance of Paul’s ministry….We should be on the cross…[and] not bring anything of the old man, anything of the flesh, the self, or the natural life, into the church. When we are on the cross, we are truly in the spirit.
If we have the name, the habitation, and the cross, there will be no divisions among us. No matter how many believers there may be in our locality and no matter how many meeting places, we all will be one. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, pp. 73-76)
Further Reading: Life-study of Deuteronomy, msg. 10; CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Genuine Ground of Oneness,” ch. 4