Yet this chosen and exalted nation faced a God-ordained decision, a division in the road ahead of them.  They could choose to obey Him or not.  The alternatives and their consequences were clearly spelled out.  With equal precision, God declared that He knew Israel would make the wrong choice!  The central drama of Deuteronomy is the setting forth of this choice, and its physical representation on Mts Ebal and Gerizim.  
 
          I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse -- the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today;  the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods....You are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings,  and on Mount Ebal the curses (Deut 11:26-9).

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           I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction (Deut 30:15).

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See all of Deut 27, in which Moses told the people that when they crossed the Jordan, they were to write God's commands on plastered stones on the two mountains.  He also told the Levites to recite the curses to all the people.  See also Deut 30:19-20.

         

Once again, Biblical faith is corporeal.  It kills lambs, smears blood, and sets up stones with the laws written on them on the two mountains.