Pharisees were the teachers who reminded the people—that those who disobey God’s law are cursed with diseases, famine, exile, and foreign oppressors, while those who obey are blessed with health and abundance in the land (Deut 28:20–52, 58–68; 30:1–20). The logic of working backward, from effect to cause, revealed that Israel in general and the diseased, displaced, and impoverished in particular were cursed by God because they violated his commandments. That’s one of the reasons why the Pharisees