27:9,10
Moses and the priests were to declare to all the people that they should be silent and listen. They had “now become the people of the Lord your God”. This was their identity. When we become Christians, belonging to Christ is our identity. This is followed by yet another reminder to follow the Lord’s commands. Without the Law the people of Israel were nothing. Likewise, without faith in Christ we are nothing. Our existence is totally dependent upon Christ.
27:11-14
We now get this rather strange command. The tribes were split into two groups. Half of them were to stand on Mount Gerizim and to bless the people. The other half were to stand on Mount Ebal and they were to pronounce curses. There is no mention of the blessings, but there will follow a list of the curses. It is perhaps significant that the curses were to be pronounced from Mount Ebal, the place where the Law was written. If the people had been able to fully obey the Law they would indeed have been blessed, but we know that this was not possible, and so the Law was a curse for them. The Levites had to recite the curses in a loud voice. The people were to be made very clear of the consequences of not following the Law.
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