"You have seen what I have done for you, how I have protected you, and have sheltered you," God told Moses to remind the people. God then says, "If you obey my voice and keep my covenant, this relationship can continue."
We can read this statement as a continuation in the theme of protection and shelter. Or, we can read it as a threat, "Do what I say (implicitly, everything I say) or else, you are out. Some Christians read this passage as confirmation that they have replaced God's former close friends. Here's what Ronald J. Allen and Clark M. Williams have to say about that "if" in their Preaching the Old Testament: The point of the 'if' is not that Israel might lose the covenant. the question is if Israel will carry out its vocation in the covenant; that is, to follow the way of life that God intends for them and, through that life, to witness to others so that they, too, will know God and God's intentions.
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