A Home for God’s Name

The article traces the history of where God chose to place His Name, from Shiloh to Jerusalem, emphasizing the significance of centralized worship and the enduring spiritual connection to Jerusalem.

Reading: Deuteronomy 12

You could have a local butcher in your town or village in Israel, but the butcher was subject to a law that forbade butchering animals that were dedicated to God for ceremonial purposes. Five times in Deuteronomy 12 and four more times in Deuteronomy, Israel was told to take those animals to “the place God would choose to put his Name” and to be the subject of feasting and rejoicing there.

So, where did God put his Name? I always thought of that as Jerusalem, but that was later in Israel’s history. The Ark first rested at Shiloh, about 30 km north of Jerusalem. Was God’s Name there too? Did the Ark rest there because Shiloh was in the inheritance of Joshua’s tribe, and it was his choice as leader of Israel then? Or was there a “blank” while Israel waited for God to reveal His choice of where he would choose to put His Name? All Israel gathered at Shiloh to set up the tent of meeting (Joshua 18.1). Was that the people’s choice, or was it God’s choice?

I found nothing in Joshua suggesting that Shiloh was God’s choice. However, I found this in Jeremiah 7:12 

And this in Psalm 78:60: 

From those words it seems Shiloh was where God first chose to put his Name, represented by the Worship Tent and the Ark.

Fast-forward 400 years to Samuel. In his time, the priesthood was in disarray, formal worship corrupt, and probably abandoned by most people. Samuel, a Kohathite (so, not a “full” priest), traveled a limited circuit in Israel, encouraging the people to worship. Where was God’s Name located then?

After going as a mascot into battle against the Philistines, the Ark was stolen, returned by them under duress, and then hidden away in private houses for years. Four hundred years had passed since it was placed at God’s instruction to represent him at Shiloh.

At the end of that time, King David was very disturbed that there was no proper place for the Ark, no formal working center of worship, and no place for God’s Name. He swore an oath that he wouldn’t rest until he had found a resting place for the Ark (Psalm 132.2-5).  2 Samuel 7:2 summarizes that resolve in the interview with Nathan: “I am living in a house of cedar while the Ark of God remains in a tent.” But God said, not yet.

Solomon later said God told his father that when Zion in Jerusalem had been fully conquered, it was to be the place. Psalm 78:67-69 puts it this way: 

See more commentary in Psalm 132 and Psalm 87.

More than 400 years after God placed his Name at Shiloh, Jerusalem became the final place where God’s Name was located, the center of formal worship. When the temple Solomon built was complete, God showed his approval when His glory entered and filled it. (1 Kings 8.10-11).

God’s instruction for Israel to worship in the place God would choose means there could be no competition among the tribes or competing locations for priority as the place of worship. Jerusalem was and remains until at the least the end of The Millennium. Ezekiel 48:35 puts it this way: “And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE.” 

When we travel, we must carry tangible nationality passports to get us through human barriers to enter a country. But we also carry our real, intangible passport, the “not on paper” one that doesn’t need security features. That’s God’s “passport” to us. Ours is a Zion passport, for which there are no barriers to entry. 

Korah wrote a song about it:

Jackie Grieve,
Pakuranga Ecclesia, NZ