Deuteronomy 12:18
But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto.
Deuteronomy is the fifth and last book of the Pentateuch, made up mainly of three addresses by Moses given just before his death. This text belongs to chapters 5 to 26, which review the law for the new generation. That second-law section gives the book its name, the word Deuteronomy meaning second law, or a duplicate of the law.
It is part of the laws Moses recalled to Israel before they crossed the Jordan into the promised land. Those laws reminded them of what God had taught them and of their duty to keep His statutes. They were especially bound to do so because God had redeemed them from Egypt.
The command is to eat before the Lord in the place He shall choose, the giver together with his son and daughter and manservant and maidservant and the Levite within his gates. There they were to rejoice before the Lord God in all that was put into their hands to do. The eating was to include the household and the Levite at the chosen sanctuary in sacred meals.
What is described is the second tithe, different from the first tithe in which all the tenth is given to Levi and paid yearly for the Levites. The second tithe was retained by the landowner for religious, hospitable, and charitable purposes. It was used for food and offerings in connection with the yearly gatherings and annual feasts, supporting the feasts and the work beyond the ministry's support.
For two years this tithe or its money value was to be taken to the place where the Lord chose to place His name where the sanctuary was located. There it was to be shared with the Levites and with many people of all the tribes attending the annual gathering, making the event a season of rejoicing for all. The tithes and offerings brought at the same time supplied the needs of the occasion and provided for the necessities of others. In the third year the second tithe was distributed in charity at home instead of being used for the sanctuary meals.
The giving and eating were to be joyful acts of worship. The command to bring the specified offerings to the appointed place and eat them there taught Israel to recognize God's presence in the sanctuary. It directed them to rejoice in His presence and in their work before God.
The permission concerning eating does not allow whatever a person might desire without limit, but is governed by God's specific prohibitions elsewhere. It excludes unclean animals specifically forbidden as food, since clean animals are set apart by God's word as food. Eating and drinking must honor God, with wine and strong drink limited to kinds that would not intoxicate or lead to sin.
This belongs to the special Levitical second-tithe law given to the children of Israel, distinct from the law of God which remains holy, just, and good. As a specific Levitical law it was abolished by Christ and is not legally binding today. Its underlying principle of systematic giving to God's cause remains binding.
Though the offering system has passed away, yearly gatherings and the expense connected with them still remain, as does the duty to support the poor. So it is pleasing to God for His children to lay aside regularly a second tenth for benevolent purposes. Such purposes include camp-meeting or other general meeting expenses, Sabbath-school donations, other contributions, and help for the poor.