THE LONGER I work at preaching the gospel the more I become aware that old
temptations do not go away. I remember when I first became acquainted with
the brotherhood there was a problem with brethren who wanted to go on
vacations, world travel, hunting trips, fishing trips, sporting events, etc.
that took them away from the assembly of the church on the Lord’s day. Some
of these were very influential brethren whom I really believe had not given
consideration to the fact that they had no scriptural grounds to miss the
assembly.
These brethren dismissed their absence from the assembly by making an
attempt to worship wherever they might be on the Lord’s day. They
considered themselves the “Lord’s church in the woods, on the lake, at
Disney World, etc.” Over the following years the error of this practice was
exposed and for the most part brethren gave up their excuses for being the
roving church.
The devil never gives up. The “roving church” practice has reared its ugly
head again. In the last few years those who cannot bear to have their
vacation plans interrupted to assemble with the saints are again trying to
salve their consciences by breaking out the loaf and cup at the motel,
beside the road, lake, woods, etc. The reality of this situation is that
brethren who willfully forsake assembling with the local church on the
Lord’s day are simply violating the commands of God for the worship of the
church.
May I remind the reader that God established a plan for the worship of the
Lord’s church. This plan is not just some arbitrary, 1-2-3, A-B-C system
for worship. There is a reason for everything that God ordains for us to
do. So it is with the worship of the church.
When God instructed Israel how to worship under the Old Testament system,
which is a type or pattern for worship today, He gave explicit
instructions. There is a beneficial reason for every one of God’s
commands. The command we want to notice for our study is: WHERE Israel was
to carry out their responsibilities to worship. Please notice the following
scriptures.
Leviticus 8:3,4, “And gather thou all the congregation together unto the
door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Moses did as the LORD
commanded him; and the assembly was gathered together unto the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation.”
If you desire to do a study on this location you will be clearly shown that
the worship requirements made on Israel were to be made at “the door of the
tabernacle.” The following verses along with several others show this
requirement. All of these verses are in Leviticus. See the following: 1:3,
1:5, 3:2, 4:4, 4:7, 4:18, 8:31.
One can see how plain the instructions are yet there were those who would
violate the command of God. For reasons that we can only speculate upon,
some desired to make their sacrifice “out of the camp” or “in the open
field.” What difference will it make if one offers his sacrifice at some
place other than that authorized by God? Isn’t the only important thing
that a sacrifice is made? Perhaps the worshiper is quite a long way from
the “door of the tabernacle”, maybe he is too busy to be bothered with going
to “the door of the tabernacle”, or perhaps he is on vacation and he might
miss something if he must go to “the door of the tabernacle.”
The difference is God said, ”the door of the tabernacle.” No other place
will work. Further more, as is always the case, there is a penalty for
violating what God said. Notice: Leviticus 17:3,4, “What man soever there
be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the
camp, or that killeth it out of the camp, And bringeth it not unto the door
of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the LORD
before the tabernacle of the LORD; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he
hath shed blood; and that man shall be CUT OFF FROM AMONG HIS PEOPLE.”
Leviticus 17:8,9, “And thou shalt say unto them, Whatsoever man there be of
the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that
offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice,
And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to
offer it unto the LORD; even that man shall be CUT OFF FROM AMONG HIS
PEOPLE.”
The pattern should be plain for us today. God said, Acts 20:7, “And upon
the first day of the week, when the disciples CAME TOGETHER to break bread,
Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his
speech until midnight.”
Hebrews 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the
manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye
see the day approaching.”
God did not say that we could be the “Yellowstone National Park church” this
Lord’s day and be some where else the next. The teaching is “the disciples
came together” and we are not to forsake “the assembling of ourselves
together.”
As we said earlier in this article there is always a reason and a benefit to
those who listen to what “the Lord hath commanded.” There is a great
spiritual benefit in the requirement for the body of Christ to assemble
itself together to worship God. Besides the obvious benefits of the
fellowship of other Christians the command to assemble can keep you out of
idolatry! This seems to have been the primary reason Israel was commanded
to come to “the door of the tabernacle.”
Leviticus 17:7, “And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils,
after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto
them throughout their generations.”
Those who would offer their sacrifices in places other than “the door of the
tabernacle” were much more likely to enter into idolatrous worship.
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown in their commentary explain that the “devils” in
verse 7 are goats. “They shall no more offer their sacrifices unto
devils—literally, ‘goats.’ The prohibition evidently alludes to the worship
of the hirei-footed kind, such as Pan, Faunus, and Saturn, whose recognized
symbol was a goat. This was a form of idolatry enthusiastically practiced
by the Egyptians.”
Idolatry can be defined as anything that we place in our lives before God.
It can be a vacation, ball game, fishing or hunting trip, travel around the
world, visit to grandma’s house. Anything that we put ahead of what God
said makes us an idolater.
In closing may I encourage you to take advantage of the wonderful
opportunity that we all have as Christians. That is to assemble around the
Lord’s table on the Lord’s day to enjoy all the benefits of our joint
participation in worship to God. This weekly assembly will help to keep
you away from GOAT WORSHIP.
