Deuteronomy 27:9 And Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel, saying, Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the LORD thy God.
To Be United
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It seems that with each passing day, America becomes more of a country, but less a nation. While “nation” and “country” are terms we often use interchangeably, they are actually emphasizing two different things about the same group of people. “Country” tends to emphasize the ground or terrain we hold in common, and “nation” emphasizes the concept of the authority that we have in common.
In Deuteronomy 27, God’s people, Israel, were about to take on a new land, and therefore, a lot of adversity and enemies. They were growing from a loosely knit family of runaway slaves into a nation. It’s interesting to note that this nation did not even have land, yet it was a nation, a people unified around something very important.
Deuteronomy 27:9 says, “And Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel, saying, Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the LORD thy God.” Weren’t they already a people belonging to God? Yes, but here was an occasion when the people of Israel were very clearly united as a nation before they went in to conquer Canaan. Now a united people need two things in common: a common authority and a common allegiance to that authority.
In the first several verses, God told them to take up stones, plaster them, and “write upon them all the words of this law.” God wanted them to know what the authority was, and He was also emphasizing this authority they were to have in common. You cannot face adversity as a group of people, whether a nation, a church, or some other organization, except to the extent that you share a common authority.
The second thing is a common allegiance to that authority. I have more in common with an American who lives abroad but who has an allegiance to the common authority of our Constitution than someone who lives in the same town as I do but does not acknowledge that authority. The point is that a united people need a common authority and a common allegiance to that authority.
So Israel was given God’s commands, and then Moses had half the tribes stand on one mountain, half the tribes stand on the other mountain. The Levites in the valley were to affirm God’s truth. At the end of each statement, all the people from both sides were to say, “Amen.” The last verse says, “Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.” They had a common authority and were expressing allegiance to it.
The more devoted we are to the LORD, the closer we should be drawn together with people who are likewise devoted to the Lord. Our primary allegiance is to God, and when it is, we will find ourselves doing right by everyone else and being stronger as a group in the day of adversity.