Deuteronomy 31:20

20 For when I bring them into the land that I swore to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey, {they will eat their fill}, and they will become fat, and [then] they will turn to other gods, and they will serve them, and they will spurn me, and they will break my covenant.

Deuteronomy 31:20 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 31:20

For when I shall have brought them into the land which I
sware unto their fathers
To give it to them, and put them into the possession of it, even the land of Canaan, often thus described, and as it is by the following character:

that floweth with milk and honey;
aboundeth with all good things; see ( Exodus 3:8 ) ;

and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat;
that is, after they have for a considerable time enjoyed the good things of the land, and they abound with them, and increase in them, and have great fullness of them:

then will they turn unto other gods:
turn from the Lord who has brought them into all this plenty, from the fear, worship, and service of him, and turn to the worship of idols:

and serve them:
the works of men's hands, and at most but creatures, and not the Creator; than which nothing can be more absurd and stupid, as well as wicked and ungrateful:

and provoke me:
nothing being more provoking to the Lord than idolatry, it striking at his very nature, being, and glory:

and break my covenant;
now made with them; this being foretold by the Lord, which exactly came to pass in numerous instances, proves his precise foreknowledge of future events, even such as depend on the inclinations, dispositions, and wills of men.

Deuteronomy 31:20 In-Context

18 But I will certainly hide my face on that day, because [of] all of the evil that they did because they turned to other gods.
19 "And so then write this song for yourselves and teach it to the {Israelites}; put it in their mouth, so that this song may be for me as a witness against the {Israelites}.
20 For when I bring them into the land that I swore to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey, {they will eat their fill}, and they will become fat, and [then] they will turn to other gods, and they will serve them, and they will spurn me, and they will break my covenant.
21 {And then} many disasters and troubles will come upon them, and this song will give evidence before them as a witness, because it will not be forgotten from [out of] the mouth of their descendants, for I know their inclination that they [are] having {today} before I have brought them into the land that I swore."
22 And Moses wrote this song on that day and taught it [to] the {Israelites}.

Footnotes 7

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.