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,

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 Yahwe.

All of these blessings will follow them if they follow God.

If they don't follow God, the curses will come, and wow 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.

...