17. You may not eat in your towns the tithes of your crops, and your wine and oil, the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, nor anything which you will vow, or which you will offer spontaneously, nor the first-fruits of your hands.
Deuteronomy 12 deals mainly on the guidelines given by Moses to the people of Israel about the place and the correct way of worshiping God, highlighting the importance of not following the pagan practices of neighboring nations. Below are five verses related to the topics covered in this chapter:
Joshua 24:15: "But if it seems evil to you to your eyes to serve the Lord, I chose today to those who serve; if to the gods whom they served your parents, who were beyond the river, or to the gods of the Amorites, in whose earthly land But I and I will serve the Lord. " This verse shows the importance of choosing worshiping only to the Lord, not bend before other gods.
2 Kings 17:35: "The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them," Do not fear other gods, neither worship them, nor serve them nor offer them sacrifices. " This verse reinforces the importance of the covenant between God and His people, and highlights the need not to worship other gods.
Jeremiah 7:3-4: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, God of Israel: Amend your ways and your works, and make you dwell in this place. You do not trust false words, saying, Temple of the Lord, Temple of the Lord It's this one." This verse shows the importance of sincerity in the worship of God, in contrast to the mere observance of religious rituals.
Micah 6:6-8: "What will I introduce myself to the Lord, and will include myself before the Most High God? Thousand Ribeiros de Olive Oil? Will I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He declared you, O man, what is good; and what the Lord asks you, but to practice Justice, and love benignity, and Andes humbly with your God? " This verse highlights the importance of justice, goodness and humility as central elements of worship of God.
John 4:23-24: "But the time comes, and now it is, in which true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeks to worship it. God is spirit, and matters that the who worship him worship in spirit and in truth. " This verse reinforces the importance of worshiping God genuinely, in spirit and truth, rather than simply following empty rituals.
“O amor nada mais é do que o brilho de Deus nos homens”. São Padre Pio de Pietrelcina