Deuteronomy 27:9

"And Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel, saying, Keep silence, and hearken, O Israel: This day thou art become the people of God. Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of Jehovah thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day."

"This day thou art become the people of God ..." This indicates that these two verses were spoken by Moses and the Levites upon the same day as the oath of ratification reported in Deuteronomy 26. It was that oath that made Israel God's people:

"Israel became a nation, not by virtue of acquiring a land or language of their own, but by taking on itself the yoke of the Torah even while it was still in the wilderness, without a land or the other tangible attributes of nationhood."[16]

"The silence commanded in this passage marked the climax of the ceremonies just concluded. Nehemiah 8:11; Zephaniah 1:7; Zechariah 2:13 record examples of the use of silence in such a manner. See also Habakkuk 2:20."[17]

This silence was also symbolical of a very important fact: "In the covenant relationship, the parties were by no means equal: God issued the commands, but Israel could not command God in any manner."[18] The silence dramatically symbolized that truth.

"Thou shalt therefore obey ..." (Deuteronomy 27:10). Many Protestant commentators insist on misconstruing this order to "obey." Again from Cousins: "Obedience is fundamental to the covenant, but as a consequence, not as a condition of the covenant."[19] But, of course, obedience was indeed a condition of the covenant, as proved by the fact that when Israel disobeyed, God commanded Zechariah to break Beauty and to break Bands, dramatically indicating that God abrogated the covenant on the grounds of Israel's disobedience. As Phillips accurately stated it, "It was obedience to the law which not only determined Israel's physical welfare, but ultimately possession of the land itself."[20]

Not satisfied with attempting to shout the command for OBEDIENCE out of the N.T., some would like to eliminate it from the O.T. as well. The history of Israel is the only refutation that such theories require. When Israel obeyed God they prospered; when they disobeyed they suffered. And when they finally rebelled against God they were rejected as the chosen people and removed from the promised land.