Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 15:1-8.

“1 “Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.  2 You shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name.  3 You shall not eat leavened bread with it;  seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), so that you may remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.  4 For seven days no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory, and none of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall remain overnight until morning.  5 You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your towns which the Lord your God is giving you;  6 but at the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name, you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the time that you came out of Egypt.  7 You shall cook and eat it in the place which the Lord your God chooses.  In the morning you are to return to your tents.  8 Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord your God;  you shall do no work on it.”    Deuteronomy 15:1-8.

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Today’s Scripture commands certain worship to occur at “the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name” (or its equivalent).  Verses 2, 6, and 7.

We also have seen similar Scripture previously.

“But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come.”  Deuteronomy 12:5.

“You shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.”    Deuteronomy 14:3.

So, we eagerly seek to learn about this place.  We eagerly seek to come to this place.  Where is “the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name”?

We know that this place is the church with His Son Jesus Christ the head of the church, Christ’s body.

“For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.  But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing;  but that she would be holy and blameless.  So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself;  for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.”  Ephesians 5:23-30.

Article 27:  Of the Catholic Christian Church.

 We believe and profess, one catholic or universal Church, which is an holy congregation, of true Christian believers, all expecting their salvation in Jesus Christ, being washed by his blood, sanctified and sealed by the Holy Ghost.   This Church hath been from the beginning of the world, and will be to the end thereof; which is evident from this, that Christ is an eternal King, which, without subjects, cannot be.   And this holy Church is preserved or supported by God, against the rage of the whole world;  though she sometimes (for a while) appears very small, and in the eyes of men, to be reduced to nothing:  as during the perilous reign of Ahab, the Lord reserved unto him seven thousand men, who had not bowed their knees to Baal.  Furthermore, this holy Church is not confined, bound, or limited to a certain place or to certain persons, but is spread and dispersed over the whole world; and yet is joined and united with heart and will, by the power of faith, in one and the same spirit.  Belgic Confession. 

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes;  and there will no longer be any death;  there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain;  the first things have passed away.”  Revelation 21:3-4.