[Deuteronomy 12]: Putting Away Our Idols. In this chapter, the people are instructed how to respond to the idols they encounter in Canaan. The promised land was a landscape of idolatry. It speaks of the minefield of spiritual seduction that you face every day in the world around you and even in the culture of the church. God wants your dependency to be on who He is on the inside of you, not on any false outward resource. When this is brought about in your life, and the idols are destroyed, you will see God’s promised increase, promotion, and security on the ascendency.
[Deu 12:1-32 KJV] 1 These [are] the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. 2 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: 3 And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. 4 Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God. 5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, [even] unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: 6 And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks: 7 And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee. 8 Ye shall not do after all [the things] that we do here this day, every man whatsoever [is] right in his own eyes. 9 For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you. 10 But [when] ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and [when] he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety; 11 Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD: 12 And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that [is] within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you. 13 Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: 14 But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee. 15 Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart. 16 Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water. 17 Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand: 18 But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that [is] within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto. 19 Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth. 20 When the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. 21 If the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. 22 Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat [of] them alike. 23 Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood [is] the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh. 24 Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water. 25 Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do [that which is] right in the sight of the LORD. 26 Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the LORD shall choose: 27 And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh. 28 Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest [that which is] good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God. 29 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; 30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. 31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. 32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
When the armies of Israel came to Canaan, there was an expectation on them from heaven. They weren’t to be allowed to carry on according to their own sense of right or wrong or their whim. God is looking to us, demanding that we be DOERS of the word and not just hearers. Why was the law so strict in this area? According to Gal. 3:24, the law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. The law was never intended to produce righteousness but to emphasize our need for a savior:
[Heb 7:19 KJV] 19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope [did]; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
The law doesn’t establish righteousness; it reveals transgression. The children of Israel failed miserably and disobeyed entirely the things God communicated to them through Moses. What is the message to us? The message is that we need a savior. We need a dependency beyond ourselves to appropriate that status of relationship and authority Christ came to establish in our lives. Paul continues in Galatians:
[Gal 2:16 KJV] 16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
The law then we see was given by God with the realization that the people would not obey and in fact, were incapable of obeying without the unction that would be available in Christ. Does this mean we cast aside all restraint and live lives of total depravity? No. In the New Testament, we are not exempted from being “doers of the word”. James confirms this:
[Jas 1:22 KJV] 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
What is the difference between Old Testament Law and New Testament expectation on our lives? The difference is in the New Covenant; we put our confidence upon Christ (not our willpower) to produce His character in us that we might satisfy the demands of a Holy God. Through Christ, we come into God’s presence and are changed from those whose actions are rooted in transgression to those who, by imputed divine nature, demonstrate the character of God.
When the children of Israel came into the land of Canaan, it was a tableau of idolatry. There were idols set up in every high place and under every green tree. This is human nature. We worship prominence and prosperity. God doesn’t want you to be influenced by others’ prominence or prosperity. He wants you rather to BE prominent and prosper yourself as a fruit of your reliance on God through a personal relationship with Him.
[Isa 58:14 KJV] 14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth…
You have to destroy the mechanism of idolatry within yourself that defers to man’s greatness and the influences other than Christ that come to bear on your life. The culture of consumerism makes you a target of the cult of celebrity with a view toward extracting your resources to fuel the societal structures of lost civilization. In our day, branding is a new religion. Companies like Apple and Harley Davidson, and others have created images and branding strategies that have generated cult followings around the world. This spills over as well into the church arising from an outward emphasis and focus rather than looking inward to who Christ is in your own life.
The modern church and the culture of consumerism does not stand to profit from those who know that Christ in them is the hope of Glory, so they don’t need the next product, book, movie, fragrance, t-shirt, etc., to find their place and security in the kingdom. God instructed the Israelites to destroy every idol, so you must continuously war against external influences, seducing you away from your dependency on Christ and Christ alone. The church itself is only viable and legitimate in your life insofar as it fosters who Christ is in your own life. The church itself is no substitute for who Jesus is on the inside of you. Churches fail. Leaders fall. Christ in you is an abiding and trustworthy resource of strength and guidance, and security.
We live in a day much like the time of the Judges when man does what is right in their own eyes.
[Jdg 21:25 KJV] 25 In those days [there was] no king in Israel: every man did [that which was] right in his own eyes.
This was the darkest period of Israel’s history. They were overthrown, crimes against persons were rampant. Murder rates among the people were ever escalating. The people went from Moses and Joshua’s leadership to a transitional period where they really didn’t listen to anyone, not even God himself. Deliverers were raised up from time to time, but then they usually became corrupt and compounded by their bad example the sinful tendencies of the people. How do we protect ourselves in all this? You must learn to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit in your life. The church of the first century likewise existed in a setting of decadence and rebellion – notice how they made important decisions and followed the guidance of the Holy Spirit:
[Act 15:28 KJV] 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
When you make a decision in life, great or small, you must listen to your heart AND THEN to the witness of the Spirit. You don’t consult your intellect or your friends or even your mentors in your final decisions. What seems good to you AND to the Holy Ghost? Make that qualification, and you will be delivered from yourself and the illegitimate authorities around you who think they know better than you do how your life should be lived.
In our chapter, the people are forbidden to engage in idolatry. Beyond that are not allowed to worship God on their own terms or in their own manner. There will be a place appointed (Shiloh at first for the tent of the Tabernacle and then the temple in Jerusalem). The requirement is that THERE will worship be directed and established. What does this mean to us? Read the words of Paul:
[1Co 3:16 KJV] 16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
[1Co 6:19 KJV] 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
Your worship is to be directed to the temple of God, which YOU ARE. Jesus said in Luke 17:20,21 that in the last days, the tendency would be to say, “Lo here is Christ or Lo there is Christ.” Jesus said, “go not out” – in other words, don’t allow yourself to substitute outward dependency on religious infrastructure; instead, establish inward dependence on who Jesus is to you personally. Outward religious culture is fraught with conflict, contradiction, and fallacy. Christ in you will never fail you or falter or forsake you in any way. We must tear down our own idols and then refuse as Daniel to worship the idols (outward dependencies) that are erected around us that men command us to serve. You are to worship toward the Holy Temple, and you are that temple. You are not worshipping yourself; you are worshipping who Jesus is inside you.
In v. 28, we see the promise that if we observe these things – destroying idols in our lives, directing our worship toward the temple it will “BE WELL” with us and with those that come after us. The Lord will cut off the illegitimate authorities in our life, and we will succeed and surpass those that think we should be following or deferring to them. We will possess the territory in life that they think only belongs to them. True leaders and true fathers and mothers in the Lord want you to succeed beyond them and appropriate beyond what they have experienced in life. Verse 30 says, “take heed that you are not snared” by who you follow. God wants leaders to release, empower, and launch you, not bind, suppress, or restrict you. Most churches and most prophetic, apostolic groups absolutely do not get this, and we see the devastation they leave in their wake all the time. They are indeed responsible for their actions, but it is the people filling their churches every Sunday that are commanded by God to destroy their idols and return to the living God who dwells within their own hearts even at the risk of losing the favor of the very idols that have bound them.
