Deuteronomy 31:19

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17 Then My anger shall be ^aaroused against them in that day, and ^bI will forsake them, and I will ^chide My face from them, and they shall be¹ devoured. And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, ^d‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is ^enot among us?’

18 And ^aI will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods.

19 “Now therefore, write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be ^aa witness for Me against the children of Israel.

20 When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves ^aand grown fat, ^bthen they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant.

21 Then it shall be, ^awhen many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for ^bI know the inclination ^cof their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land of which I swore to give them.”

22 Therefore Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel.

Commentaries:

No entry exists in Forerunner Commentary for Deuteronomy 31:19.

Deuteronomy 31:19-21

When the book of Deuteronomy was written, the forty years were just about up. Israel was ready to go into the land and God could clearly see what they were already purposing in their heart. They were simply going to continue the behavior, a behavior that was motivated by what was in their heart, by the attitudes that were there. Even though this was the second generation, they were not free from the mental shackles even after all the experiences that they had—direct experiences and demonstrations of His providence.

Everyday they got up and the manna was out there. Whenever they needed water, it came out of rocks. Whenever they needed protection He gave it to them. Yet even though their clothes did not wear out, their shoes did not wear out, the cloud was up there and the pillar of fire was there, they still did not believe Him. Their heart was shackled to thinking, which under the circumstance they could not change.

Now we understand that God was not trying to convert these people. He was putting them through lessons for our behalf so that we can read these things and understand. We can begin to see that the level of faith that God is talking about is not a function of mere knowledge of God—mere knowledge of God's existence. There is more to it than that.

Excerpted from Growing Into Liberty

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