After his detailed listing of the covenant laws (Deuteronomy 12:1-26:19), Moses describes how the Israelites must commit themselves to the Lord by renewing their covenant vows after they cross the Jordan to take the rest of the promised land (27:1-10). This event would take place at Mount Ebal (v. 4) which was on the north side of Shechem, where God first promised the land to Abraham (Genesis 12:6-7). There are helpful keys here to guide our acts of renewing our commitment to God.

The first and last verses of our passage show that covenant renewal requires a commitment to total obedience (Deuteronomy 27:1, 10). Everything else is done within that framework. Without obedience, participation in covenant renewal services would merely be meaningless lip service. Burnt offerings were thus made during the time of renewal (v. 6) to represent the confession of sin and the receiving of forgiveness.

Second, obedience to the commands is the outflow of an intimate covenant relationship with God. God is referred to as ″the Lord your God″ (emphasis mine) eight times in today's passage, to re-emphasise that Israel was in an intimate covenant relationship with Him. Moses and the priests say, ″You have now become the people of the Lord″ (v. 9). They were already that. But now they affirmed this reality afresh. People can lose this sense and live as if they did not belong to God. Times of rededication help reaffirm their identity, which in turn leads to a fresh commitment to ″obey the Lord″ (v. 10).

Third, the Scriptures have a prominent place in covenant renewal. The Law is written on ″some large stones″ (v. 2)-another visual aid to remembering the Word (see 6:6-9). It should be written ″very clearly″ (27:8), making it accessible to all the people. Everyone, even those who are relatively uneducated, must be given opportunity to become mighty in their knowledge of the Scriptures. The most influential Bible teacher in my life was my mother, who converted to Christ from Buddhism in her teens and never went to Bible college.

And while God's Law was being read, the people were to ″be silent . . . and listen″ (v. 9). They were to listen with a humble desire to learn, submit, and obey. Similarly, we must approach Scripture as ″those who hunger and thirst for righteousness″ (Matthew 5:6).

Finally, the people were to build an altar and make two kinds of sacrifices. The first, ″burnt offerings″, as mentioned before, opened the door to forgiveness of sins (Deuteronomy 27:6). The second, ″fellowship offerings″, celebrated fellowship with God with thanksgiving (v. 7). Most of this offering was shared between the priests and the people, with ″rejoicing″. Joyful celebration is a key theme in Deuteronomy and should be part of the life of every Christian community, especially when they meet together.

It would be helpful to refresh our identity in Christ often by renewing our commitment to follow God and, after doing that, to follow through on this renewal with lives of obedience.