Here was _the_ one grand and all-important point. It was the dwelling-place of Jehovah which was dear to the heart of every true Israelite. Restless self-will might desire to run hither and thither, the poor vagrant heart might long for some change, but, for the heart that loved God, any change from the place of His presence, the place where He had recorded His blessed name, could only be a change for the worse. The truly devout worshiper could find satisfaction and delight, blessing and rest, only in the place of the divine presence; and this, on the double ground,--the authority of His precious Word and the powerful attractions of His presence. Such an one could never think of going anywhere else. Whither could he go? There was but one altar, one habitation, one God,--that was the place for every right-minded, every true-hearted Israelite. To think of any other place of worship would, in his judgment, be not only a departure from the word of Jehovah, but from His holy habitation. This great principle is largely insisted upon throughout the whole of our chapter. Moses reminds the people that from the moment they entered Jehovah's land there was to be an end to all the irregularity and self-will that had characterized them in the plains of Moab, or in the wilderness. "Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, _every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes_. For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord your God giveth you. _But when ye go over Jordan_, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit, and _when He giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety_; then there shall be a place _which the Lord your God shall choose_, to cause His name to dwell _there; thither_ shall ye bring all that I command you.... Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt-offerings _in every place that thou seest_; but _in the place which the Lord shall choose_ in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt-offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee." (Ver. 4-14.) Thus, not only in the object, but also in the place and mode of Israel's worship, they were absolutely shut up to the commandment of Jehovah. Self-pleasing--self-choosing--self-will was to have an end, in reference to the worship of God, the moment they crossed the river of death and, as a redeemed people, planted their foot on their divinely given inheritance. Once there, in the enjoyment of Jehovah's land, and the rest which the land afforded, obedience to His word was to be their reasonable, their intelligent service. Things might be allowed to pass in the wilderness which could not be tolerated in Canaan. The higher the range of privilege, the higher the responsibility and the standard of action.