Was it God's desire for Israel to worship Him in a temple in Jerusalem?

But not only was it incumbent upon Israel to abolish all the places in which the heathen had worshipped their gods; this they were solemnly bound to do, most surely; but there was more than this. The heart might readily conceive the thought of doing away with idolatry, in the various places, and setting up the altar of the true God instead. This might seem to be the right course to adopt. But God thought differently. "Ye shall not do so to the Lord your God. But to the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even to his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come; 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; and there ye shall eat before the Lord your God; and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand to, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God has blessed thee."

Here a great cardinal truth is unfolded to the congregation of Israel. They were to have one place of worship — a place chosen of God and not of man. His habitation — the place of His presence was to be Israel's grand centre; thither they were to come with their sacrifices and their offerings, and there they were to offer their worship, and find their common joy.

Does this seem exclusive? Of course it was exclusive; how else could it be? If God was pleased to select a spot in which He would take up His abode in the midst of His redeemed people, surely they were, of necessity, shut up to that spot as their place of worship. This was divine exclusiveness, and every pious soul would delight in it. Every true lover of Jehovah would say, with all his heart, "Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwells." And, again, "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs; yea, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cries out for the living God..… Blessed are they that dwell in thy house; they will be still praising thee … A day in Thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." (Psalms 26:84.)

Here was the one grand and all-important point. It was the dwelling-place of Jehovah which was dear to the heart of every true Israelite. Restless self-will might desire to run hither and thither; the poor vagrant heart might long for some change; but, for the heart that loved God, any change from the place of His presence, the place where He had recorded His blessed Name, could only be a change for the worse. The truly devout worshipper could find satisfaction and delight, blessing and rest only in the place of the divine presence; and this, on the double ground, the authority of His precious word, and the powerful attractions of His presence. Such an one could never think of going anywhere else. Whither could he go? There was but one altar, one habitation, one God, that was the place for every right-minded, every true-hearted Israelite. To think of any other place of worship would, in his judgement, be not only a departure from the word of Jehovah, but from His holy habitation.

Thus, not only in the object, but also in the place and mode of Israel's worship, they were absolutely shut up to the commandment of Jehovah. Self pleasing, self-choosing, self-will was to have an end, in reference to the worship of God, the moment they crossed the river of death, and, as a redeemed people planted their foot on their divinely given inheritance. Once there, in the enjoyment of Jehovah's land, and the rest which the land afforded, obedience to His word was to be their reasonable, their intelligent service. Things might be allowed to pass in the wilderness which could not be tolerated in Canaan. The higher the range of privilege, the higher the responsibility and the standard of action.

The all-important point, in reference to "the place" so prominently and so peremptorily insisted upon in all the three great solemnities recorded in our chapter, is this, God would gather His beloved people around Himself, that they might feast together in His presence; that He might rejoice in them, and they in Him and in one another. All this could only be in the one special place of divine appointment. All who desired to meet Jehovah and to meet His people, all who desired worship and communion according to God, would thankfully betake themselves to the divinely appointed centre. Self-will might say, "Can we not keep the feast in the bosom of our families? What need is there of a long journey? Surely if heart is right, it cannot matter very much as to place." To all this we reply that the clearest, and best proof of the heart being right would be found in the simple, earnest desire to do the will of God. It was quite sufficient for every one who loved and feared God that He had appointed a place where He would meet His people; there they would be found and nowhere else. His presence it was that could alone impart joy, comfort, strength and blessing to all their great national reunions. It was not the mere fact of a large number of people gathering together, three times a year, to feast and rejoice together; this might minister to human pride, self complacency and excitement. But to flock together to meet Jehovah, to assemble in His blessed presence, to own the place where He had recorded His Name, this would be the deep joy of every truly loyal heart throughout the twelve tribes of Israel. For any one, wilfully, to abide at home, or to go anywhere else than to the one divinely appointed place, would not only be to neglect and insult Jehovah, but actually to rebel against His supreme authority.

Their enemies had had "places" where they had "served their gods," but for them there should be only "The place which the Lord shall choose." They were not to choose for themselves; the Lord was to choose for them. The place which He should choose was to be the place of "His habitation" (verse 5). In other words, His house would be there, His Name would be there, and there was He to be known. They were warned against following the bent of their own will or preferring what they might have chosen (verses 13, 14) and they were instructed that the place of the Lord's choice was to be the rallying point for them. Herein there is for us a lesson of the first importance.

No doubt, if the heart were cold and careless toward God, it would matter little about the place of worship; all places would be alike. But we may set it down as a fixed principle that every loyal loving heart from Dan to Beersheba would rejoice to flock to the place where Jehovah had recorded His Name, and where He had appointed to meet His people. "I was glad when they said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem [God's centre for Israel]. Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together; whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, to the testimony of Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord. For there — and nowhere else — "are set thrones of judgement, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good." (Ps. 122.)

Then he turned to address the whole assembly of the people standing at attention. We are told he blessed them, but the way he did this was by saying, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His hands what He spoke with His mouth to my father David" (v. 3). For if God is blessed, the people will be blessed also. The Lord had said that since the time He brought Israel out of Egypt; He had chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to have a house built suitable for the honor of His name. Nor had He chosen any man to be a suitable ruler for Israel until He gave David that honor (vv. 5-6). Now finally God’s choice of a city has been made clear. He had chosen Jerusalem, which name means "the foundation of peace." a truly appropriate place for God's dwelling, for the foundation of peace is righteousness. "The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever" (Isa. 32:17). In fact, this verse looks forward to the millennium, when Christ the King "will reign in righteousness" (Isa. 32: 1), a wonderful Contrast to all the kings who have ever reigned on earth.

In 2 Chronicles 6:5-6, we read, "I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there: … but I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there." (See also vers. 20, 40.) For an Israelite to have chosen another place to keep the feasts of Jehovah, and to bring his offerings, would have been apostasy, the sin of presumption, for which there was no forgiveness; but when Jehovah-Jesus, He who had chosen Jerusalem, places the fallen city on the same ground with Gerizim, revealing at the same time, the spiritual nature of God, and that spiritual worship alone could be pleasing to Him, it is plain that the earthly system, of which the city and the house were the centre, is set aside. See the Epistle to the Hebrews, where the two-systems are in contrast from the beginning to the end of the Epistle.

“The Place” is identified as a result of God's mercy to David and Israel, and on the basis of David offering a sacrifice to Jehovah. David had made a serious mistake in numbering the nation of Israel. Pride led him astray. Because of his failure the nation came under God's chastening hand. David confessed his sin and failure and obeyed the angelic command to go to the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite and rear an altar there. He was afraid to go to Gibeon and offer a sacrifice to God where the Tabernacle was. David purchased the site from Araunah and his oxen too. A sacrifice was made by slaughtering the oxen and using Araunah's wooden implements to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings to Jehovah. God, in His great mercy, stopped the plague that affected Israel in such a severe manner. It was on Mount Moriah that David offered his sacrifice to Jehovah, and it was there that the Temple was built by Solomon (2 Chr. 3:1. See Genesis 22:2). David then said these solemn words: “This is the house of Jehovah Elohim, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel” (1 Chr. 22:1). The Place in the Land and the Dwelling Place were now specified. All that remained to be done was the building of the Temple.

The answer to this question takes us to the meaning of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the place God had chosen, out of all places. Deuteronomy 12 makes the point again and again, Jerusalem was 'the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there'. It was only in this place that the temple could be built, the people had to assemble, the national feasts had to be celebrated, the sacrifices had to be given, the offerings had to be brought. And it was in this place that the people would rejoice before the Lord.