NOTES for Deu 26:1-19
Today’s chapter wonderfully shows that the faith of ancient Israel was not merely the religion of a people, but was to be the personal faith of every individual. The prayers that an Israelite was to say before God and the ritual dialogue with the priest placed him at the center of the history of salvation, at the center of the fulfillment of the Lord’s promises. Through this, everyone was called to a personal knowledge of God (and not merely knowledge about God). Every believer must one day (or more than once) face the question: do I know God, or have I only read about Him? Perhaps the account of personal participation in the Covenant that we read today will help us in this.