The constitution for Israel was the law that God gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Until that point, Israel was an ethnic group, a large group of tribes, an extended family, but not really a nation. But when God gave Moses the law, Israel became a nation.

Sometimes we call the Mosaic law a covenant. A covenant is an agreement or a contract. In this contract/covenant between God and Israel, God promises to do some things and Israel promises to do some things.

This passage is a call to covenant commitment and obedience. Israel is about to enter the PL, and Moses leads them in a re-affirmation that Israel is God’s people and that they promise to obey God’s commands. Israel accepts her responsibilities under the covenant, and God affirms that he will bless the nation for its loyalty and obedience.

Throughout the Bible, we find a statement made repeatedly: “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” We find these same statements in this passage. This seems to be the overall theme of the entire Bible. God recognizes a certain group of people as his people, and they respond by believing in him and keeping his commandments.

The “people of the Lord your God” in the OT was Israel. God had made a covenant with Israel; they were his people. The NT shows us that we become the people of the Lord through faith. We are covered by a new covenant when we confess Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Gal 3:26  For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

So Christians are the NT people of God. We are not the nation of Israel, but we are the sons of Abraham by faith.

In this covenant ratification statement, we find out who the people of God are and what they are supposed to be doing. If we are the people of God, we should know who we are and what we are supposed to be doing.