Deuteronomy 26 - "His Peculiar People"

Deuteronomy 26 reminded me once again just how unique was the situation with the Jewish people.  Looking at a broader picture of all the different peoples who lived at that time, one can start to see how "peculiar" and exceptional were that particular people.  It makes no sense that one small wandering tribe of people would be the caretakers of monotheism, in a world that had become completely polytheistic, unless they were divinely aided.  It makes no sense otherwise that they would have survived in that world, or even that they would have wanted to preserve monotheism in the face of hostile neighbors.  But their preservation of the knowledge of the One True God did in fact happen, against all odds, and it eventually led to monotheism taking back over the world and reclaiming its place of domination.  There is an exchange of sorts in Deuteronomy 26 that captures both the epicness of what these people did on the world stage, and also the intimacy of what it was they had between them and their God:  "Thou hast chosen the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and keep his ceremonies, and precepts, and judgments, and obey his command. / And the Lord hath chosen thee this day, to be his peculiar people, as he hath spoken to thee, and to keep all his commandments" (Deuteronomy 26:17-18).  It's almost like a wedding ceremony, where both parties, in this case God and the Jewish people, are vowing to each other their dedication and solemn fidelity.  It's really a covenantal promise.  The covenant made between God and His chosen people, through Moses, is so sacred and so significant, because these people were literally saving the Faith, saving all true religion, for the people of the future, in all reality for God's future Church, established by His only Son.  If monotheism had been swallowed up by polytheism, Jesus would have walked into an entirely different earth.  Deuteronomy really reminds us how profound and sacred was the covenant God established between Him and His people.  It will go on to establish all else that is written about in the Old Testament.  Until a covenant even more profound and more sacred is established by Jesus Christ.