“Then the whole congregation of the sons of Israel assembled themselves at Shiloh, and
set up the tent of meeting there; and the land was subdued before them.” verse 1
In the first verse of this chapter we start to see the change to a fixed place of worship. Previously, the sons of Israel worshipped wherever their wanderings had taken them. During the wilderness journey we know that a tent was set up where Moses would meet with the Lord and the people would worship (Exodus 33:7- 10). It is interesting that this ‘tent of meeting’ is described as simply at tent at first, then later the Lord gave very specific instructions on its construction. I think this is another example of progressive revelation as this ’tent’ goes from a simple dwelling, and later, by divine instruction, becomes an elaborate symbol of both mercy and judgment. By the nature of the wilderness journey the tent of meeting was portable - it needed to move from place to place (Exodus 40:36-38) whenever the ‘cloud’ was taken up.
Here in Joshua chapter 18 we see the first long term location for the tent of meeting at Shiloh, which is about thirty miles north of Jerusalem. From the biblical record we know that this remained the primary center of worship until the time of the Kings (Judges 18:31; 1 Samuel 1:3). The prophet Jeremiah tells us many years later that the Lord chose Shiloh – “... My place which was in Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at the first …” (Jeremiah 7:12). Neither Joshua nor the people chose the place to worship – the Lord was very specific about how and where He was to be worshipped. Prior to entering the Promise Land, in a sermon about proper worship, Moses taught the people that the Lord retained the right to tell the sons of Israel where they ought to worship (Deuteronomy 12:1-15). Along with specific rules for worship, Moses’ sermon emphasized the concept of the Lord’s sovereign right to choose a place for his proper worship. Also, that the Nation must carefully avoid any association with the pagan worship practices of the Canaanites.
As we have said before, these things were written for our instruction (1 Corinthians 10:11). For the New Testament believer, things have changed – “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” The ceremonial law of Moses was done away with, but some things have not changed! Yes, the Lord has not commanded us to worship at a specific location, nor are we commanded to worship in a particular type of building. But we believe that the Lord has not lost interest in how we worship. The inspired writer of the book of Hebrews makes it clear that the ceremonial law is abolished; nevertheless, if these things were written for our instruction, we may properly look deeper into the meaning of all the specific rules and regulations written for worship in the Old Testament nation of Israel! It should be clear to us today that Yahweh is highly interested in believers worshipping Him according to His commands and not according to our fallible desires.
In brief, that is the reason that our worship appears so plain and unadorned compared
with many other churches in America. We have a concern to worship God only in the ways
that He has specifically commanded. There is an equal concern, on our part, to avoid using elements
of a pagan culture in our worship.
We believe that God has not left us in the dark about how He wants us to worship Him. The
Bible teaches us that God has specified the how and when of worship - we are not free to make
up our own rules! The Bible tells us that God honoring worship consists of
- Prayer;
- Reading of the Word;
- Singing songs of praise;
- Preaching;
- Celebrating the Lord’s Supper;
- Celebrating Baptism.
Moses sermon (Deuteronomy 12:1-15) was about regulations and commands about proper
worship – but also contained an equal emphasis on rejoicing! Deuteronomy 12:7 and verse 18,
the Lord says that we should “rejoice” in whatever circumstance the LORD your God has
blessed you. The New Testament believer may (and ought!) to worship with joy as we are reminded
that whatever lawful occupation or religious duty we have been called to do is blessed
by the Lord. Deuteronomy 12:10 says that the Lord will give us “rest from all your enemies
around you so that you live in security…” We may properly take this to be the encouragement
we get from Lord’s Day rest and from corporate worship – rest from a hostile culture and the
security of the gospel. Deuteronomy 12:12 reminds us that we are to rejoice with your “sons
and daughters” - as a family- a family that we hope and pray includes our blood relatives, but
also a family that includes spiritual brothers and sisters who are related by the blood of Christ
Jesus. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is
faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking
our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the
more as you see the day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:23-25).
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