Rejoice in the Place Where God Dwells
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“Rejoice before the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to have his name dwell—you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the Levite within your city gates, as well as the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow among you.” (Deuteronomy 14:11)
Once again, I’m reading through the entire Bible in a year. I follow the plan that I used to create Cruisin’ Through The Bible, my monthly book series that guides you through the Bible on a daily schedule and includes a short commentary to explain what you’re reading. Why not start right now? Here is High Beam Ministry’s Amazon page for the books: – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQH1M5G5?binding=paperback&ref=dbs_m_mng_rwt_sft_tpbk_tkin&qid=1764682708&sr=1-1
That said, the verse above leaped out at me on February 20. I’m a big fan of reading through the Old Testament (Old Covenant) scriptures because they serve as the basis for the New Testament scriptures with which most Christians are familiar. If you understand the Old Testament, the New Testament will come alive in a profound way. Just ask any of my Bible students.
While the “letter of the law” is extremely important as a starting point, I don’t stop there. I let the Holy Spirit, the author, inspiration, and transmitter of God’s Word, breathe into His letters to reveal His heart and intention of His word to me. The letter grounds me, and the breath enlightens me.
So, please let me share with you what the Holy Spirit ignited in my mind and spirit as I read Deuteronomy 14:11.
God commanded His people, Israel, to centralize their worship once they conquered and settled their Promised Land. Why was this important? Because when worship is decentralized and unfocused, people tend to, shall we say, drift. Because of human nature and wandering minds, we get off track unless something firm keeps us fixed on our objective. That’s one reason why we must constantly hear, read, study, memorize, and meditate on scripture.
When Israel entered the land, it was filled with numerous pagan tribes that worshiped a pantheon of false gods. For the previous forty years, God used Israel’s wilderness isolation between leaving Egypt and entering Canaan to focus and train them on Himself and His ways. Therefore, when Israel entered Canaan and started taking possession, they remained fixated on their God.
However, we all know that the farther we move from a light in a dark place, the less we’re illuminated and the more darkened we become. Therefore, God did two things for the Israelites:
1) He raised up the tribe of Levi as His representatives. He taught the Levites His word through Moses, and assigned them towns and villages throughout Israel’s new homeland. Part of their job was to teach and remind the Israelites of God’s centrality and His commands. Thus, the light of God’s revelation was set among the Israelite tribes to keep showing them the way God wanted them to live (Leviticus 10:10-11).
2) God commanded the Israelites to bring their sacrifices to a central location for worship. This command not only reinforced their united national identity, but it also kept them focused on their One True God. There was always the danger that individuals might lose their focus on God and stray over to the native Canaanite gods and succumb to idolatry, ultimately rejecting their God. Therefore, they were commanded to “Rejoice before the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to have his name dwell.”
What’s in a name? According to the Bible, a name reflects a person’s nature or function (closely related to calling, mission, and purpose).
What’s the place where “God’s name would dwell”? Eventually, the Temple on the hills of Jerusalem. Now here’s where things get really fascinating.
First, the Hebrew word for “name” (shem) begins with the letter shin (pronounced “sheen”), which looks like a “W” in English. It makes the “sh” sound.
Second, an aerial view of Jerusalem reveals that the city is built upon three valleys that form a shin, an abbreviation of shem, representing God’s name. The Temple Mount is located at the upper right.
It’s mind-blowing that God inscribed His name in the stony geography of the land itself in preparation for the Israelites’ arrival!
Forget “X” marks the spot. “Shin” does.
To this day, Jerusalem is the place of His name on earth. And by His command, all the Israelites were to gather at the place of His name to rejoice in worship and celebration for who He is and what He did (and continues to do) for them. The central gathering point at the place of His name keeps His people focused on Him as their God and King, their Savior and Sustainer.
But what about us, modern-day New Covenant Gentile Christians? How can we follow this command? How can we also rejoice before the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to have his name dwell?
Well, some of us can travel to Israel and visit the City of the Great King, the place where His name is written in stone. However, that is not affordable for many of us Christians.
And now, we come to a great mystery, a hidden revelation that the Lord has revealed to us in our very being.
How many times have you heard the phrase, “Jesus lives in my heart”? That means, after we’re born again (spiritually remade and reconnected to God by His power), God lives in us by His Holy Spirit. He takes up residence within us. Paul wrote about this: “Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). So, if we go back to our talk about God’s name = His being, then God’s presence in you via His Holy Spirit means that you are the place where His name dwells!
Whenever you praise and worship the Lord, you are fulfilling this scripture. You are rejoicing before the Lord in the place where He chooses to have His name dwell. You are the Living Temple of God. You are the residence of the Great King. You can focus on Him and commune with Jesus anytime you want because He dwells in you.
And as the Lord inscribed His name on the rocks of Jerusalem long before the Israelites ever came to know Him, so it is with us.
You see, we were created to be His habitation. Yes, we know that from scripture. But we also see it in every human heart.
Look at the cross-section of a human heart. Within the vertical division of the chambers, we find something that should now be familiar to you, dear reader:
That’s right. From the moment God chose to design humanity, and from the moment of our conception, our hearts are the place that God had always intended to inhabit.
So, let us always and continually rejoice before the Lord, our God and King, our Savior and Sustainer, in the place where he chooses to have his name dwell.
For that is what we were made to do—forever.
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Shining the Light of God’s Truth on the Road Ahead
Pastor Jay Christianson
The Truth Barista, Frothy Thoughts