Renewal at Ebal and Gerizim

Deuteronomy 27

            Deuteronomy 27-30 give credence to the theory that Deuteronomy is just an extended covenantal document. There’s an historical preamble (1-4), a statement of general stipulations (4-11), more specific stipulations (12-26), and now a ratification ceremony focusing on the blessings if the vassal is faithful and curses if they are not.

            Israel is supposed to set up a standing stone as a testimony of the covenant they are agreeing to. (See picture of a similar stone of Assyrian origin.) Then Moses stipulates how the ratification ceremony is supposed to go: half of the Israel on Mt. Ebal, the other half of Mt. Gerizim, the Levites in the middle reciting the curses of covenant unfaithfulness to the people. (In the picture, Gerizim is on the left and Ebal is on the right.)

            I suspect I’ll say this several times this week, but it’s important to understand: these blessings and curses are attached to the Mosaic covenant, which, as St. Paul argues in Galatians 4, was specifically for Old Testament Israel until such a time as the Lord fulfilled the Abrahamic covenant by sending the One who would be a blessing for all the nations of the earth, namely, Jesus. Now that Jesus is come we are not bound the Mosaic covenant.

            That’s not to say there’s no value here. Our Baptism is a sort of covenantal form and often at the Vigil of Easter (which Divine Savior celebrates as part of its sunrise service) we do a Baptismal renewal. It’s not the same “if-then” format as Deuteronomy, and it’s not filled with curses. But it does say: here’s what God gave in Baptism. Do you still value the gift? Will you live as one who has received such a gift (cf. Ephesians 4:1)? And we don’t need to wait for Easter to do it. The Small Catechism’s section on Daily Prayers is essentially about reminding yourself of God’s baptismal blessing every day, beginning and ending the day with the sign of the cross and the baptismal formula, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”