Deut 12

DEUTERONOMY 12 - One place of worship

NOTES BY VERSE

Note: each ** comment in this document is listed in numerical order according to the verse(s) from this chapter

** God's people were not to follow pagan worship in the new land but to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord

Deuteronomy 12:2-5 NIV

[2] Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains, on the hills and under every spreading tree, where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. [3] Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. [4] You must not worship the Lord your God in their way. [5] But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go;

Deuteronomy 12:29-31 NIV

[29] The Lord your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, [30] and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.” [31] You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

Deuteronomy 12:28 NIV

[28] Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

** Followers of God are to recognize, rejoice and thank Him for His blessings

Deuteronomy 12:7 NIV

[7] There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.

** God introduced procedures for Israelites to follow that were separate from the surrounding culture and designated a place of worship for them as they entered a new land

• Deuteronomy reviews ways that Israel was to show respect for the Lord when they entered the Promised Land

• Pagan societies had numerous sacred sites, while Israel was to worship in one location

• God promised that after Israel had taken the land, God would choose a particular site and identify Himself with it (put His Name there); the site of Jerusalem was not selected until the time of David

• One location for worship emphasized the understanding there was only one way to God with one temple, one court leading to the altar, one altar, one high priest, one mercy seat; Jesus came as the only way to the Father

John 14:6 NIV

[6] Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

• Worship is the way we express intimacy in our corporate and personal relationship with God

• Hebrew and Greek words translate ‘worship’ to mean ‘bow down’ or ‘prostrate oneself’

• Any act by which we express deep respect for God is an act of worship

• Because God is special, worship should be special! <R1795>

Deuteronomy 12:8 NIV

[8] You are not to do as we do here today, everyone doing as they see fit,

Deuteronomy 12:11-14 NIV

[11] Then to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name---there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you have vowed to the Lord. [12] And there rejoice before the Lord your God---you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns who have no allotment or inheritance of their own. [13] Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you please. [14] Offer them only at the place the Lord will choose in one of your tribes, and there observe everything I command you.

Deuteronomy 12:21 NIV

[21] If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his Name is too far away from you, you may slaughter animals from the herds and flocks the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you, and in your own towns you may eat as much of them as you want.

** God made sure the Israelites looked after the Levite priest tribe

Deuteronomy 12:19 NIV

[19] Be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land.

** Blood is needed in order to sustain life, which is why God required the innocent blood of animals as a sufficient sacrifice offering to atone for sin in the Old Testament

Later, Christ in the New Testament shed His own innocent blood (sacrificed His life) as the only sin offering needed for those who would place their faith in Him

Deuteronomy 12:27 NIV

[27] Present your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God, both the meat and the blood. The blood of your sacrifices must be poured beside the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat the meat.

Romans 3:25a NIV

[25] God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood---to be received by faith.

** There was a special relationship between blood and the life it supported

Deuteronomy 12:27 NIV

Deuteronomy 12:23-24 NIV

[23] But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat. [24] You must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.

** Views of believers are diversely opinionated regarding the participation of pagan holidays

• Going trick-or-treating at Halloween no more makes you a Satanist than going to church makes you a Christian

• Christians don't replace their faith in Christ with Halloween, just like they don't worship their tree at Christmas

• A believer who is convicted about celebrating Halloween should not celebrate it -- but then don't clobber those who are less sensitive to this holiday

• These are non-salvation issues so do not disassociate yourself from other believers over these things; following such practices may bring on consequences but will not affect salvation

• Let's focus on what really matters in the Kingdom of God <G70>

Colossians 2:16-17 NIV

[16] Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. [17] These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

• At the same time we are to be careful with whom we associate and realize the danger of falling prey to evil

• Evil is often portrayed as 'innocent fun' in movies and games but can entice participants to engage at the personal level without knowing the lurking dangers or who they may be hurt in the process

• Is participation in these seemingly innocent holidays worth the risk? <C36>

1 Corinthians 8:8-9 NIV

[8] But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. [9] Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak.

Deuteronomy 12:29-31 NIV

** Do not add or take away from what the Lord has commanded

Deuteronomy 12:32 NIV

[32] See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.

** There are current-day attempts to build portals so man can transition between the physical and spiritual realms <H86> (Jul 2023)

• The Tower of Babel was man’s first attempt to transition from the physical realm to the spiritual realm through a portal via ziggurat; typically, the ziggurat had a temple built at its top

• Today we have attempts with CERN, advanced computing power and moving toward AI singularity

• Achieving this breakthrough would open up the spirit world to increased demonic influence that would lead to demonic oppression

CURRENT TECHNOLOGY

• Today’s technology make the endeavor of ‘breaking through to the spiritual realm’ increasingly possible

• Difference between Standard Computing (SC) and Quantum Computing (QC) is linear vs instant; an example is SC searching for a word in 1000 page document starting at page 1 and going page by page to the end where QC will search all 1000 pages at the same time <G70>

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) can process complex data, make predictions and learn on its own, while Quantum Computing (QC) can process unlimited amounts of data in ways humans don’t understand; CLAUDE is the integration of both <F61>

• Add to this, gene-editing technology to create super-humans who have marvelous ability to endure and neurological technology to mimic ever-accelerating brain-like activity <T205>

• Current brain-chip technology is here allowing the ability to not only access thoughts but edit thoughts and body functions; ultimately creating a mindless cyborg society that is hostile to Christ <C36>

SOURCE OF ADVANCEMENT

• Every advancement (such as Industrial Revolution, Info Revolution, Tech Revolution and latest Fourth Revolution) came from people receiving info from spiritual sources or fallen demons

• Examples include Steve Jobs getting info through LSD trances and applying it to create Apple technology while Larry Paige, author of AI, claims the same source of LSD-induced trances

• Likewise, programmers of AI admit to gaining programming knowledge through dreams, visions, trances and drug use <H86>

• Programmers call their mentors ‘demonologists’ because they realize info and communication is coming from another dimension <T205>

EFFECT ON ETHICS

• An observed and obvious danger of AI to fabricate lies or deceptive narrative with supportive fake evidence while making decisions on its own and having the ability to create new ideas is a perfect tool for those with nefarious intent

• There are those advocating for AI to rewrite the Bible to suit agendas; obviously they are not taking heed to God’s warning of judgment if that was to happen (Deut 12:32)

• Ethical standards used in AI are set by the United Nations, thus a programmer’s idea of right and wrong is programmed into AI to gauge man’s ideas and behavior

• AI is known to go beyond programmer limits to the point where programmers don’t understand how AI operates sometimes, especially as it approaches the point of singularity

• AI + QC is nothing more than a modern digital Ouija Board; users ask technology questions and the spirit world answers <H86>

• Satan’s goal is to destroy mankind so, while these tech advancements have incredible positive uses, believers know they will ultimately be used for nefarious purposes

• Harare recognizes the end of our species if we make mistakes learning AI, for “While we are learning to use AI, it is learning to use us.”

• Satan, via the Antichrist, must appear godlike (omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient) and this technology could make him appear as such

• AI is solving court cases, making medical decisions, judging people etc; it will be seen as the panacea for the world’s problems and worshiped like a religion especially since AI is already referring to itself as God <C36>

• There will be no escape from this technology <H87>

1 Corinthians 12:2 NIV

[2] You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.

Genesis 11:4 NIV

[4] Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

Luke 21:8 NIV [Jesus said to His disciples]

[8] He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not follow them.

Deuteronomy 12:32 NIV

[32] See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.

Deut 12.

ScripturalJournal.org