Moses lived about 3,500 years ago and wrote the first five books of the Bible. These are called the Pentateuch or the Torah. His last book, Deuteronomy, records his final words before he died. In this book, he gave both Blessings and Curses to the people of Israel — the Jews. But Moses also said these words were important for all people, not just the Jews. So they are meant for you and me to think about too. The complete Blessings and Curses are here. Below is a summary of the main points.
The Blessings of Moses
Moses began by explaining the blessings the Israelites would receive if they obeyed God’s Law. These laws had already been given in the earlier books, and they included the Ten Commandments. The blessings would come from God and would be so great that other nations would notice:
“Then all the peoples on earth will see that you belong to the Lord, and they will be afraid of you.”
Deuteronomy 28:10
… and the Curses
But Moses also warned that if the Israelites disobeyed God’s commands, they would receive Curses that would be just as strong — but in the opposite way. Other nations would also see these Curses:
“You will become something terrible to see. People will laugh at you and say bad things about you in all the places where the Lord will send you.”
Deuteronomy 28:37
These Curses would continue through history:
“They will be a warning and a sign to you and your children forever.”
Deuteronomy 28:46
God warned that the worst part of the Curses would come from foreign nations:
“The Lord will bring a nation from far away to attack you. It will be like an eagle swooping down. It will be a nation whose language you don’t understand, a fierce nation that doesn’t care about old people or show kindness to the young. They will eat your animals and crops until you are destroyed. They will attack and surround all your cities until your high, strong walls — the ones you trusted in — fall down. They will surround all your cities across the land.”
Deuteronomy 28:49–52
And things would get even worse:
“You will be taken out of the land you are about to enter. The Lord will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There, you will not find peace. You won’t even be able to rest your foot. The Lord will give you a worried mind, eyes that are tired of looking for hope, and a heart full of fear.”
Deuteronomy 28:63–65
God gave these Blessings and Curses through a covenant — a special agreement — between Him and the Israelites:
“You are standing here today to enter into a covenant with the Lord your God. He is making this agreement with you today, confirming you as His people so that He will be your God, just as He promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I am making this covenant not only with those of you standing here today in the presence of the Lord our God, but also with those who are not here today.”
Deuteronomy 29:12–15
This means the covenant was meant for future generations too — not only for Israelites but also for foreigners.
“Your children who come after you, and foreigners who come from faraway lands, will see the disasters and sicknesses the Lord has brought on the land. The whole land will be burned like a desert of salt and sulfur. Nothing will be planted there. Nothing will grow. It will be like Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboyim — cities the Lord destroyed in His fierce anger. All the nations will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do this to the land? Why was He so angry?’”
Deuteronomy 29:22–24
And the answer will be:
“It is because the people turned away from the covenant with the Lord, the God of their ancestors — the covenant He made when He brought them out of Egypt. They went and served other gods they didn’t know, gods the Lord did not give them. So the Lord was very angry and brought all these curses on the land. In great anger, He removed them from their land and sent them to another land, where they are today.”
Deuteronomy 29:25–28
Did The Blessings and Curses happen?
There was nothing neutral about these messages. The Blessings were joyful, but the Curses were harsh and terrifying. So the most important question we can ask is: Did they happen?
The answer is not hard to find. Much of the Old Testament tells the history of the Israelites, and from this we can see what actually happened. We also have records from outside the Bible — from Jewish historians like Josephus, Roman historians like Tacitus, and many archaeological discoveries. All of these sources tell the same story about the history of the Israelites. Review the summary of this history, given through the building of a timeline here. Read it and decide for yourself if the Curses that Moses warned about really happened.
The Conclusion to Moses’ Blessings and Curses
But Moses didn’t end his message with the Curses. He gave a final promise. Here is how he ended:
“When all these blessings and curses I have spoken about happen to you, and you remember them while you are living in the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you, and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul, just as I command you today, then the Lord your God will be kind to you again. He will bring you back from where He scattered you. Even if you have been sent to the farthest parts of the earth, the Lord your God will bring you back. He will bring you to the land your ancestors owned, and you will take it as your own. He will make you more successful and have more children than your ancestors did.”
Deuteronomy 30:1–5
After Moses, many other writers in the Old Testament continued this promise. They said that even though the Curses would happen, there would be a time of restoration afterward. These later writers gave bold and detailed predictions — and many of these things are happening today.