Deuteronomy 31:17

17 My anger will be kindled against them in that day. I will forsake them and hide my face from them; they will become easy prey, and many terrible troubles will come upon them. In that day they will say, "Have not these troubles come upon us because our God is not in our midst?'

Deuteronomy 31:17 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 31:17

Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day
As the anger of a man is against his wife who has treacherously departed from him: and jealousy, which is the rage of such a man, is very cruel; and much more the wrath and anger of a jealous God, who is a consuming fire:

and I will forsake them;
withdraw his favours from them, and his protection of them:

and I will hide my face from them;
take no notice of them in a providential way for good, nor hear their cries, to deliver them from evil:

and they shall be devoured;
by their enemies, or by the sore judgments of God, by famine, sword, pestilence, and evil beasts, they and their substance:

and many evils and troubles shall befall them;
both in their own land, and in other countries, where they would be, and have been carried captive:

so that they will say in that day, are not these evils come upon us,
because our God [is] not amongst us?
of which they would be sensible by their being exposed to their enemies for want of his protection, and by the evils upon them through his displeasure, and by their being deprived of the good things that came from him; but no intimation is given of their being sensible of their sins as the cause of all this.

Deuteronomy 31:17 In-Context

15 and the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud; the pillar of cloud stood at the entrance to the tent.

16 The Lord said to Moses, "Soon you will lie down with your ancestors. Then this people will begin to prostitute themselves to the foreign gods in their midst, the gods of the land into which they are going; they will forsake me, breaking my covenant that I have made with them.

17 My anger will be kindled against them in that day. I will forsake them and hide my face from them; they will become easy prey, and many terrible troubles will come upon them. In that day they will say, "Have not these troubles come upon us because our God is not in our midst?'

18 On that day I will surely hide my face on account of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods.

19 Now therefore write this song, and teach it to the Israelites; put it in their mouths, in order that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites.