Hermeneutics, preaching, and covenant theology

Check out some great stuff over at Green Baggins, where the blogger is reviewing Hughes Oliphant Old's series of books on preaching. This post is a must read. Here's a taste:

...the very nature of a covenant required the reading and the explanation of the covenant. In the ancient Near East, when a covenant was made between suzerain and vassal, the vassal was required to read the treaty regularly to his people, lest the people forget the nature of that covenant. Ancient Near Eastern treaties were always written down. The main reason for this was so that they would be read at solemn assembly to the people (p. 29). Old makes the point even more sharply when he says “Of the very essence of these treaties or covenants is that they are written down and regularly read and taught to the people in a public assembly” (p. 29, emphasis added).