Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

Today we drop back in on Moses as he's reviewing the blessings and curses portion of the covenant.

He reminds the Israelites of the blessings that await them if they obey God. He will give

them victory in battle. And Moses even says God will command his blessing on them. Wow,

blessings go where God tells them to go. And he promises to give the things only he can give,

life, growth, and rain. When that happens, the people around them will take notice that there seems to be a unique blessing on this nation state.

Because of God's very evident protection and provision, these other nations will be afraid of the Israelites, because nothing is more terrifying than when your enemy is thriving.

When Israel thrives, they'll lend to their neighbors in need. And remember,

their neighbors here are their enemies. Neighbor isn't just some word to suggest friend. The

surrounding nations oppose them and don't follow Yahweh. All of these blessings will follow

them if they follow God. If they don't follow God, the curses will come. And wow, they sound

terrible. Covenant curses were typically not just the absence of blessing, but the complete

reversal of blessing. So you may have noticed those parallels. For example, the blessing would have

them be victorious over their enemies who would scatter in

seven directions, but the curse would have them losing to their enemies while they scattered in

seven directions. That's how covenants were typically written, a complete reversal of outcome

for blessings and curses. That's one reason why some of these verses might seem extra

harsh, but they're more of a demonstration of covenant

language than of character. For instance, 2863 says, as the Lord took delight in doing you

good and multiplying you, so the Lord will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying

you. This is typical covenant language, and it's the opposite of what we've seen about God's character in how he regards his people.

He doesn't delight in harming them.

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