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The major emphasis in Dt 12 has been debated by scholars, Wesleyan and Reformed, Catholic and Protestant. Some claim that ch. 12 emphasizes the unity of Israel’s worship, and others assert that it emphasizes the purity of its worship. In fact, the chapter deals with these as inseparable issues of importance for God’s people: purity and unity in Israel’s worship of Yahweh is required. Ch. 12 sets the stage, the tone, and the perspective for all the instructions for God’s people that follow. It elaborates what Israel must do/be in worship and in life to be holy before God. The chapter is an elaboration of Dt 7:6—“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.” The nation’s worship must be according to his place, his time, his instructions (chs. 12, 16), and directed solely to him.
Israel must not worship as neighboring nations worshiped their gods (12:4, 31); therefore total separation from surrounding religious practices is demanded (12:1-4). Israel must worship at God’s chosen place, among their tribes. This requirement runs through chs. 12-26. Both Yahweh’s choice and his place are emphasized.
Dt 13:1-18 is more concerned with the contamination of Israel’s religion by Canaanite practices and theology and with the purity and holiness of Israel’s worship. Israel must cling to Yahweh according to the Shema (6:4-9), which is alluded to and partially repeated in 13:3. The call of the Shema is clearly echoed: “To find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
The places from which corruption and impurity and resultant apostasy may spring are dealt with in a systematic fashion in ch. 13. The writer cites the prophet, the family, and the city as sources of faithlessness. Even the prophet, however, cannot overrule the Torah’s demand for Israel to love and serve Yahweh exclusively. No future revelation of any prophet could ever overrule the essence of the Torah: supreme love for Yahweh and a life of faith demonstrated through obedience. Those engaged in rebellious practices are placed under the death sentence (13:5, 9, 15). Ch. 12 rules out any external corruption of Israel’s holiness unto Yahweh (7:6), and ch. 13 deals with internal corruption.