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Scripture Reading: Deut. 14:22-27; 15:19-23; 16:1-17, 21-22; 17:2-7; 23:21-23; 26:1-11
In this message we will consider those general statutes and judgments which are concerned with the worship of God.
After speaking about taking care of the needy ones, Moses came to the matter of taking care of God's need, a matter which concerns the worship of God.
In their worship of God, the children of Israel were required to give tithes of all the produce of both their cattle and their crop (14:22-27). They had to give God one-tenth of their income from the field or from their cattle.
"You shall eat before Jehovah your God, in the place where He will choose to cause His name to dwell, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your fresh oil and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear Jehovah your God always" (v. 23). Here we see that the children of Israel did not have the right to offer their tithes at any place of their choice. Rather, they were to bring the tithes to the place where Jehovah would choose to set His name and to have His habitation. This means that the tithes were to be offered at the unique center for the worship of God.
In the place of God's choice, the place for God's name and habitation and the place of the altar, the offerings were to be eaten by the people before God with joy (vv. 23, 26). This means that the tithes were to be enjoyed with God. To eat "before Jehovah" is to eat with Him. The children of Israel offered the tithes to God and then they enjoyed before God and with God what they had offered to God. This indicates that God wants us to enjoy His Christ with Him at His chosen place. Whenever we come together in the Lord's name, in the spirit, and with the cross (the altar), we meet with God through Christ. We come together to enjoy Christ with God.
"You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no portion nor inheritance with you" (v. 27). This verse shows us that God does not forget the Levites, those who serve Him full-time and who, not having inheritance and employment, live on Him. Therefore, in offering the tithes to God and in enjoying the tithes with God, God's people were to include the Levites. They were to enjoy the tithes with the Levites who lived with them.
The children of Israel were to eat the tithes before God in the place of His choice so that they might learn to fear God always (v. 23). Suppose an Israelite had said, "There is no need for me to bring this one-tenth to the place God has chosen. I can enjoy it at home with the Levites in my town." To have such an attitude is to offend God and not to fear Him. The people had to give their tithes exactly according to God's regulations. If they did this, they would learn to fear God always.
In 15:19-23 we see that the children of Israel were to worship God also by offering the firstborn males of the herd and of the flock.
"All firstborn males that are brought forth in your herd and flock you shall sanctify to Jehovah your God; you shall not do work with your firstborn ox, nor shall you shear your firstborn sheep" (v. 19). Here we see that the children of Israel could not use for their own purpose the firstborn of the herd and of the flock, which were to be sanctified to God. Because the firstborn of the ox belonged to God, it could not be used for work. Likewise, because the firstborn of the sheep belonged to God, it could not be shorn. The people had no right to use what had been sanctified to God.
"You and your household shall eat it before Jehovah your God year by year in the place which Jehovah will choose" (v. 20). The firstborn, like the tithes, were to be eaten, but only in the place which Jehovah God would choose.
Any animal having a blemish, lameness, or blindness was not to be sacrificed to Jehovah God (v. 21), for that was an abomination to Him (17:1). Such animals could be eaten, except for the blood, in the place where the people lived (15:22-23). From this we see that a certain portion was to be given to God in the place of His choice and enjoyed there with Him; however, other portions, having nothing to do with the worship of God, could be enjoyed by the people where they lived.
According to 16:1-17, the children of Israel were to worship God by keeping the three main annual festivals: the Feast of Unleavened Bread (the Feast of Passover), the Feast of Weeks (the Feast of Pentecost), and the Feast of Tabernacles. These festivals respectively signify the feasts of the redemption of Christ, the producing of the church, and the coming kingdom. (For the details, please see the life-study on Leviticus 23.)
In Deuteronomy 16:21-22 the children of Israel were told to worship God by not having any mixture of idolatry. There is a great deal of this kind of mixture in the Roman Catholic Church.
"You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of Jehovah your God, which you will make for yourself" (v. 21). An Asherah was an image of a female deity, and the altar signifies the cross. Catholicism has brought in certain pagan things and added them to the cross to produce a mixture. Books such as The Two Babylons give the sources of the mixture in Catholicism.
The erecting of pillars was also prohibited. "Nor shall you erect for yourself a pillar, something which Jehovah your God hates" (v. 22).
In 17:2-7 we see that God's people were required to stone to death those who transgressed God's covenant and served other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun, the moon, or any of the host of heaven. In this way, the children of Israel would utterly remove this abomination, the evil, from the midst of the people.
Deuteronomy 23:21-23 speaks concerning worshipping God by keeping a vow to Him.
"When you vow a vow to Jehovah your God, you shall not delay in paying it; for Jehovah your God would certainly require it of you and it will become sin in you" (v. 21). To vow a vow to God and then not fulfill it, not carry it out, is sin. Once we make a vow to the Lord, we should fulfill it as soon as possible.
Some of the saints may want to make a vow to the Lord to serve Him full-time. Actually, God is "hungry" and "thirsty" for us to do this. He wants people to be for Him and to serve Him full-time. The worldly people, although created by God, have forgotten Him and have given Him up. They are busy in the world taking care of themselves and their own interests, leaving God hungry and thirsty, with hardly anyone willing to serve Him full-time. God is eager for the people created by Him to come back to Him. He is happy when some who have returned to Him promise to serve Him full-time. God is waiting for more of His people to do this.
"But if you refrain from vowing, it will not become sin in you" (v. 22). God is a God who respects our free will. This means that He does not compel us to offer ourselves to Him. God is thirsty for full-timers, but promising to serve Him in this way is a matter of our free will. If we do not make such a vow, God will not count it as sin that we do not vow. But if we vow a vow to the Lord, we must fulfill it. Otherwise, the failure to fulfill the vow will be counted as sin.
"What proceeds out of your lips you shall keep and do, as you have vowed to Jehovah your God voluntarily, which you have promised with your mouth" (v. 23). Those who made a vow voluntarily, promising God to do a certain thing, were required to keep and do what proceeded out of their lips. Today, those who promise to serve the Lord full-time should keep their promise and fulfill their vow.
After the children of Israel had entered and possessed the good land as an inheritance, they were to offer to God some of the first of all the fruit of their land (26:1-11).
"When you enter the land which Jehovah your God is giving to you as an inheritance and you possess it and dwell in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the earth which you shall bring from your land, which Jehovah your God is giving to you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where Jehovah your God will choose to cause His name to dwell" (vv. 1-2). This offering was something in addition to the tithes. Like the tithes, a portion of the first of all fruit was to be brought to the place which Jehovah would choose. At that place, they and God were to enjoy this portion offered to God.
In worshipping God by offering some of the first of all the fruit of the good land, the children of Israel were to go to the serving priest and make a declaration. "You shall go to the priest who is serving in those days and say to him, I declare unto Jehovah your God today that I have entered the land which Jehovah swore to our fathers to give to us" (v. 3). Now that God had fulfilled His promise concerning the good land, they were to bring some of the fruit of the land for God's enjoyment.
The priest was to take the offering and place it before the altar of Jehovah their God (v. 4). Then the children of Israel were to respond and relate before Him their history, how Jehovah had rescued them from the Egyptians' oppression, delivering them out of Egypt, and had brought them to the good land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and how they had just brought the first of the fruit of the ground of the good land, which Jehovah their God had given them (vv. 5-10a). Then they were to place this fruit before Jehovah their God and bow down to Him (v. 10b). They could not enjoy the first fruit of the land until they had offered it to God.
"You and the Levite and the sojourner in your midst shall rejoice in all the good which Jehovah your God has given to you and your household" (v. 11). They were to remember God and all that He had given to them.
The seven points covered in this message show us the proper way to worship God. Today we need to worship God with Christ. This is the reason the Lord Jesus said that we must worship the Father in spirit and in reality (John 4:23-24). For us to worship God in our spirit means that we worship Him in the mingled spirit, in our spirit mingled with the divine Spirit. For us to worship God in reality means that we worship Him with Christ as the reality of all the offerings.
To take care of the proper worship of God is to take care of God's need. God is hungry and thirsty for real worship. John 4 reveals that the Father is seeking real worshippers, those who will worship Him in a proper way. We in the Lord's recovery should all be such worshippers.
If we would worship God properly, we need to honor His name, meet in the place of His habitation, and worship in the place where the altar (the cross) is. When we meet for worship, we should be gathered into the Lord's name (Matt. 18:20) and be kept in His name. We should not have any other name. Since the Lord's dwelling place is in our regenerated spirit (Eph. 2:22), we also need to exercise our spirit, which is mingled with the divine Spirit. Here in the mingled spirit we may offer Christ to God for His enjoyment and also for our enjoyment. This enjoyment satisfies God and makes Him happy. We will be satisfied also, and thus there will be a mutual satisfaction. Furthermore, under the Lord's grace, we need to learn the lessons of the cross, not doing anything by ourselves but realizing that we have been crucified with Christ and that Christ lives in us (Gal. 2:20). In every meeting we should be able to declare that we live in the Lord's name and in the mingled spirit and that we do everything through the cross. In this way we become a living testimony to the God in whom we believe and whom we worship. This is the proper worship of God in the Lord's recovery.
