Deut. 12:5-14, Unity of Worship in Israel

We have noted that in Israel the doctrine of the “unity of God” meant there would only be one place of worship.  “But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place, and there you shall go” (Deut. 12:5). 

Over the next several posts we will consider this matter.  Israel didn’t do too well on this.  But nevertheless, this was God’s plan.  At some point He would identify a place for a temple, a place where He would put His name.  What is interesting is that in Israel today the location of Israel’s place of worship is involved in several locations, primarily Jerusalem, Shiloh and Argamon/Gilgal.  Let’s look at some pictures with brief comment.

We should be familiar with the Temple Mount.  Today the “Dome of the Rock” is emphatic.  And the site is overseen by the Muslims.  But it was once the site of Solomon’s temple, destroyed by the Babylonians, and then the Second Temple, destroyed by the Romans.

At the Model of Jerusalem in Jesus’ time at the Israel Museum we even have an idea of what it might have looked like, thanks to the Bible’s description and that of Josephus, the Jewish historian.

Working backwards in time, before Jerusalem the Ark rested at the home of one Obed Edom (1 Chron. 13:1-14).  That was after the Philistines had captured it from the Israelites (1 Sam. 4).  For many years, from the time of Joshua until the Philistines grabbed it, it was at Shiloh, in the tribal territory of Ephraim.  Shiloh was, in essence, the capital of Israel.

This photo shows where it is believed the Tabernacle sat.  Since it was a tent you might wonder what kind of evidence was found to make this determination.  The answer has to do with the courtyard area.  What was found was evidence of a boundary area, the size of the Tabernacle courtyard as defined in Exodus.

A part of that boundary might have included the bedrock area above.  So the second longest Psalm (Ps. 78) tells about God’s rejection of Ephraim and Shiloh and His choice of Jerusalem and Judah and Mount Moriah.  Remember what Moses said in Deuteronomy 12: GOD WOULD CHOOSE THE PLACE.

Before Shiloh what Israel had was the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, etc.

This is, of course, a life-size MODEL of the Tabernacle, down in southern Israel near Eilat.  The Tabernacle was first built at Mt. Sinai, and then it moved every time Israel moved in their years of wilderness wandering.  Thus there was one place of worship, and the place moved with the people.  But eventually Israel crossed over into Canaan.  What is interesting is that archaeologists may have found the site where the Tabernacle may have sat before it was moved to Shiloh.  Israel’s camps when they first entered the land were called “Gilgal.”  The word means “round” and there are more than one “Gilgals” mentioned in the Bible.  In the Jordan Valley, a few miles north of the Dead Sea and Jericho, is a Moshav (Jewish village) called Argaman.  And west of Argaman, up against the mountains (which if you climbed them would take you to Ai and then Shechem up in the mountains of Ephraim).  Here’s a picture of what they found.

    It looks like a shoe print.  Historians have actually found several of these in different places in Israel, places that make sense in being associated with Gilgal, a camp for Israel.  In the middle area, a rounded rectangle, with a pile of rocks in it, was believed to be the place where the Tabernacle sat.  The pile of rocks would be the remains of an altar.  The Tabernacle would have been left of those rocks, facing East.  That’s the way it was supposed to be, according to God’s instructions to Moses passed on to Israel.  It makes sense.  But it’s not certain.  Interesting.

    The point is: one place of worship because a “temple” (or “tabernacle”) was the place of God’s dwelling with Israel, His people.  Therefore, if there is only one true God, as Jesus said, and God is One, as Israel repeats in the Shema, then God only needs one place for His dwelling.