What is the meaning of Deuteronomy 16:6? You must only offer the Passover sacrifice Deuteronomy 16:6 opens with an unmistakable directive: “You must only offer the Passover sacrifice….” This command establishes exclusivity—God Himself sets the terms of worship. • The same priority appears in Deuteronomy 12:13-14, where Israel is warned not to offer burnt offerings “in any place you please” but only where God directs. • Exodus 12:3-11 first framed Passover as a household event, yet Moses now calls the nation to unified observance, revealing a growing emphasis on corporate fidelity. • 1 Corinthians 5:7 reminds believers, “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” Just as Israel had no liberty to invent its own Passover, Christians have no liberty to redefine the finished work of Christ. …at the place the LORD your God will choose Geography matters because God Himself chooses it. • Deuteronomy 12:5 promises, “To the place the LORD your God will choose…there you are to seek Him.” • Joshua 18:1 shows this promise fulfilled when “the whole assembly…set up the tent of meeting at Shiloh,” and later 2 Chronicles 6:6 records God’s choice of Jerusalem. • By insisting on one location, God protects Israel from the pull of Canaanite high places (2 Kings 17:10-12) and preserves doctrinal purity. …as a dwelling for His Name The chosen site is more than real estate; it is where God places His Name—His revealed character and authority. • 1 Kings 8:29 celebrates the temple as the house “where You have put Your Name.” • Psalm 74:7 laments enemy invasion precisely because it assaulted the place where God “dwelt.” • For believers today, 1 Corinthians 3:16 says, “You yourselves are God’s temple,” underscoring that God still dwells where He places His Name—now within His people. Do this in the evening as the sun sets Timing is not arbitrary. The Passover lamb is slain “in the evening, at sunset.” • Exodus 12:6 orders the lamb killed “at twilight,” marking the close of the 14th of Nisan. • Mark 15:33-37 notes that Jesus died mid-afternoon and was buried before sunset—matching the Passover timetable and affirming that God orchestrates sacred history down to the hour. • Ephesians 5:15-16 urges believers to “redeem the time,” echoing the principle that God’s people honor Him by treating time as holy. …at the same time you departed from Egypt Every Passover reenacts deliverance. The clock is set to the original exodus. • Exodus 12:41 records, “All the hosts of the LORD left the land of Egypt” on that very night. • Deuteronomy 6:20-23 commands parents to explain the exodus story to their children, linking memory with identity. • Luke 22:15-16 shows Jesus longing to eat Passover with His disciples “before I suffer,” spotlighting the greater exodus He would accomplish at the Cross (Luke 9:31). summary Deuteronomy 16:6 binds location, presence, timing, and memory into one seamless act of worship. God alone designates where and how His redemption is celebrated. By centralizing sacrifice, He preserves purity; by dwelling among His people, He invites communion; by fixing the hour, He anchors their obedience in history. The verse ultimately points to Christ, whose once-for-all sacrifice fulfills every detail—place, presence, time, and deliverance—for all who trust in Him. |
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