It shall be, in the place that YHWH your God chooses to have His name dwell, there you are to bring all that I command you:  your offerings-up and your sacrifices, your tithings and the contribution of your hands and all your choicest vow-offerings that you vow to YHWH.  Deuteronomy 12:11, The Schocken Bible

          This verse is one of 18 places in the book of Deuteronomy, beginning in Chapter 12, identifying for the first time the location of the place of worship to fulfill the many instructions given to Moses by YHWH about worship.  It is, simply, where He chooses to have His name dwell.

          Commencing at Sinai, and during the time of wilderness wandering, YHWH had never specifically identified where He would dwell among men.  In Chapter 12 He starts to emphasize (and prophesy) that He, and not men, will choose the location.

          That the sovereign Lord has the right to choose His own dwelling place and, having chosen, the right to change His choice, cannot be seriously disputed.  It also cannot be disputed that His early choices were not permanent and were made with a view to the unfolding of His plan for Israel and all mankind.

          Meanwhile, the mind of man devises his own plans and desperately wants God to approve of them (the man AND his plans).  So men everywhere have either planned, or planned and constructed, temples, mosques, churches and other edifices as an habitation for their particular version of God in cities all over the world, including Jerusalem.  But God’s ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.  Isaiah 55:9

          During the centuries which have come and gone since the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, great sums of money have been expended and sincere piety invoked in an effort to sanctify particular structures as the, or a, house of God.  The view that God has chosen to place His name somewhere geographically seems firmly entrenched.  Moreover, the fact that men have done the choosing, and not God, has not deterred construction in the least.

          Even among those who hold to the belief that God is not limited to a single dwelling place, there is yet the more or less explicit belief that one “goes to church” in the “house of God”, referring to a particular structure used as a meeting place.  It seems nearly universally accepted that one must go “somewhere” to worship, or serve, or otherwise commune directly with God or fellowship with others.   Much more could be said about the reasons that churchmen cling to locational worship, but the main point is:  there is another way to worship, and it has been called “the inward way.”

          Consider that God departed from Shiloh (1 Samuel 4:19-22) and from Solomon’s temple (Jeremiah 7:14 and Ezekiel 11:23).  He did not return to either place to dwell.  In fact, Jesus said God would send His armies and that there would not be one stone left upon another in Herod’s temple (Matthew 24:2).  For extra measure, the veil was torn in two.

          By the time of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., the locational worship of Judaism had been emphatically extinguished by God.  Seeing into the realm where God the Father is sovereign over not some but all of the affairs of men, it is apparent that the destroying army belonged to God, not Caesar.  And the Lord Jesus said as much in Matthew 22:7:

But the king was enraged, and HE sent HIS armies, and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.  (Emphasis added)

           It was necessary that the temple be removed, to fulfill the parable referred to in the epistle to the Hebrews, so the way of the holy places could be revealed.

…by this the Holy Spirit making it evident that the way of the holy places is not as yet manifest while the front tabernacle still has a standing–which is a parable for the present period…   Hebrews 9:8-9

          In fact, so ingrained was the notion of “place” worship, that the epistle to the Hebrews was written to warn the Jewish believers their rituals put the son of God to open shame, and to re-iterate that the (temple) ground would end up being burned (Hebrews 6:6-8).  Jerusalem was warned three times:  by Father, by Son, and by Holy Spirit, a pattern which recurs often in scripture.

           All the types, all the patterns, all the prophesies point to this fulfillment:  Christ in you, the hope of glory.  In your heart, to be precise. There are too many scriptures that prove this to recite here.  A few will suffice:

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy spirit in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own?  1 Corinthians 6:19

However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands,...  Acts 7:48

The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There it is!”  For behold, the kingdom of  God is inside of you.  Luke 17:21, Concordant New Testament

…Christ to dwell in your hearts through faith…     Ephesians 3:16

          The place where YHWH chooses to place His name, in specific, and the promised land, in general, refers ultimately to the hearts of all men and their resurrected bodies, respectively.  (We do not intend by this statement to raise the specter of universal salvation, the supposed uncertainty of which is apparently terrifying to some.)  As Dr. Stephen Jones has wonderfully noted, since Adam was made from the dirt, the Hebrew word “eretz” as in “promised land” or “promised eretz” can mean “promised body”, a resurrected one.  We believe this is the word of the Lord, and the fulfillment of His promises.  Much more could be said on this topic.

          Until then, however, the main point is the inward way, by the wicket gate as Bunyan put it, by the way of the heart.  It is neither a new revelation, nor one especially mysterious since so many scriptures point to it quite clearly.  What is perhaps most amazing is the seemingly small number of believers who embrace it, most prefering rather to follow the pattern of other religions in regard to a holy “place”–again, of man’s choosing, not God’s.

          We note, first, in recommending the recognition of the heart as the place of Jesus’ throne, that rather than precluding the assembling together of believers, it is a necessary and wonderful prerequisite for it.

What we have seen and heard (from Christ) we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.  1 John 1:3

          Without prior fellowship with the Father and the Lord Jesus, assembling together tends toward the empty and vain religion of exercising the traditions of men.  The reason some assemblies have moved to larger and larger spectacles and/or performances is to try to avoid what every child knows and will say with little provocation:  church is boring!

          Conversely, imagine a gathering of believers where everyone, or even a few, share with confidence and joy their fellowship with the Almighty God and the resurrected Savior in the preceding days of triumph and tragedy we call everyday life.

          Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote of this in his book, “Life Together“.  As one brother or sister begins to relate to the assembly the outworking of his or her inward fellowship with God, he or she becomes the very voice of God by the Holy Spirit in confirmation of the same kind of outworking in another brother or sister.  All of this, however, begins in the heart, not the pew.

          One of the most wonderful discoveries a believer can find is the ease and freedom with which one can enter into this kind of worship.  It is truly free of time and space, or to say it another way, circumstances and location.  It requires no building, no clergy, no choir or too-loud music, and no pre-set times for beginning and ending.  It is most definitely not ego-centric.  Rather, it is Christ-centric.  Search for Him, as we wrote earlier; you will find Him in His garden.  And when you find Him, you will begin to see how shamefully paltry your “quiet time” has been.

          Moving on, you will put away such childish things and begin to desire, to hunger for, to need continuous fellowship as such worship brings.  When we say “continuous”, we mean in your first thoughts as you are awakening each morning, during the day as needs arise, in the evening as you retire, and even during the night.  (See Psalm 134.)

          We mean continuous in the way Moses did when he said, “when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.”  Deuteronomy 6:7b  God’s words shall be on your heart.  His love will fill your heart.  His commandments will not be burdensome.  As you learn to hear His voice, His words will become spirit and life to you, words to live by, from the mouth of God.

          If this notion is even remotely interesting to you, then obtain copies of two books:  “The Spiritual Guide”, by Michael Molinos, and “The Secret To The Christian Life”, by Gene Edwards.  Both are available from SeedSowers. Read these books carefully at least three times.

          Meanwhile, search for Him in order to worship Him.  Forget about His gifts; find Him to thank Him, to laud Him, which just means to brag on Him for everything you can think of, and to love Him.  Find Him because of who He is.  Pray or sing the Psalms to Him.

          Whether you are in a Volkswagen bug, or a 5 by 5 cell in Guantanamo Bay, or anywhere else on this earth, you can worship and fellowship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  No one and no thing else is required; no one and no thing can stop you or separate you from the love which is in Christ Jesus.  Don’t let another day go by.

Now, now is the time to worship.  Now, now is the time to give your heart.  Come, just as you are to worship.  Come, just as you are before your God.

One day every tongue will confess You are God; one day every knee will bow.  But the greatest treasure remains for those, who gladly choose You now.  (by Brian Doerksen, copyright Vineyard Songs)

Blessed are You, O Lord, our wonderful God.  Arise, O Lord, come into Your resting place; Your children sing and worship You, God, our King.

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