June 7th, 2016
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Worship God on His Terms

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

King of Peace, help me to be a part of bringing Your peace to the world as I yield to You and allow You to use me as You desire.

Read Deuteronomy 16:1-22

[1] Observe the month of Aviv and celebrate the Passover of the LORD your God, because in the month of Aviv he brought you out of Egypt by night. [2] Sacrifice as the Passover to the LORD your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for his Name. [3] Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste-so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt. [4] Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until morning. [5] You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the LORD your God gives you [6] except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary of your departure from Egypt. [7] Roast it and eat it at the place the LORD your God will choose. Then in the morning return to your tents. [8] For six days eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold an assembly to the LORD your God and do no work. [9] Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. [10] Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the LORD your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the LORD your God has given you. [11] And rejoice before the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name-you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites in your towns, and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows living among you. [12] Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and follow carefully these decrees. [13] Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. [14] Be joyful at your festival-you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. [15] For seven days celebrate the festival to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose. For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete. [16] Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed: [17] Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you. [18] Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the LORD your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly. [19] Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent. [20] Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you. [21] Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build to the LORD your God, [22] and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the LORD your God hates.

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Meditate

“The cultivation of consumer spirituality is the antithesis of a sacrificial ‘deny yourself’ congregation. A consumer church is an antichrist church” (Eugene Petersen).

Think Further

The Jews had three major festivals. The Feast of Unleavened Bread connected with the Passover (Good Friday). The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) followed seven weeks later. The Feast of Tabernacles was connected with the harvest. God insisted that each festival be celebrated “at the place he will choose” (16; also 2,6,7,11,15). Why was this important? Earlier, God had contrasted the many and various places connected with Canaanite idolatry with the single place he would choose for his worship (Deut. 12:2-5). The worship of God was to be radically different from the idolatrous practices of the Canaanites that preceded Israel’s entry into the Promised Land. It was centralized in one God-designated location–initially Shiloh, where the tabernacle was mostly located, and eventually in Jerusalem, where the Temple was built.

 

Three times, the place of God’s choice is referred to as “a dwelling for his Name” (2,6,11). The Name of God is connected with his character. The place God chose for his worship was a holy place. The implication is that God’s worshippers must reflect his character. The worship in the central place must be applied “in every town” where appointed judges and leaders must judge and rule with justice–without corruption and wickedness (18-20). God is a just God (2 Thess. 1:6) and his worshippers must act justly.

 

Though today we worship God in so many different places, our worship must still be doctrinally and devotionally rooted in the one spiritual soil–where the triune God is, where the Son died for our sins, the Spirit was given to us and the Father provides for all our needs. This is reflected in our creeds, baptismal formula (Matt. 28:19) and benedictions (2 Cor. 13:14). Such true worship of God will produce consistent godly character in the worshippers.

Apply

What evidence can others find in your daily interactions that you are a temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16) and a residence for God’s character? Make changes if needed.

Closing prayer

Lord, You are the High and Exalted God and yet the Suffering Servant who died as our Passover Lamb. You are Provider and Present One. Thank You, Lord!

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