And my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them, and they will say in that day, Have not these evils befallen me because my God is not in my midst?
Before Israel enters the land, God tells Moses what will happen after his death. The people will turn to other gods, God will hide His face, and they will name the cause of their troubles without turning back.
One writer stresses who is speaking and what He already sees:
The all-knowing One, who knows everything from the beginning, announced that the nation would fail and fall away. He had treated them with wonderful kindness. They had seen His power and glory for themselves. They would break the covenant and abandon Him. He would forsake them also, because they turned away from Him to run after other gods. He would hide His face. All the predicted and threatened evils and troubles would come upon them. Their past history, and their present history too, prove the solemn truth of these divine words.
Knowing this did not stop God from bringing them in, and it did not reduce their responsibility:
God knew that Israel would lose the land of Canaan by their sins and be scattered, as they are now. He told them He knew this before He brought them in. (See Deut. 31:16-21). Still, He brought them in. He knew they would reject the prophets and messengers He sent. Through them He spoke to Israel and offered forgiveness and mercy, if they would only repent... Did God's foreknowledge of how they would treat the messengers of His mercy make them any less responsible? Surely not.
The covenant itself had already set out what disobedience would bring:
It was fully in keeping with the old covenant itself that Jehovah should hide His face from His people. Their disobedience would provoke His anger. The result would be a course of discipline. Its sharpest edge was this: He took back the favour He had shown them, and without it they were defenceless prey before their enemies.
Commenting on the same warning elsewhere, one writer shows why God's presence could not stay with a disobedient people:
The presence of God should always have been their shield and defence. No weapon formed against them could succeed. But only an obedient people could enjoy that presence. Jehovah could not give His approval to disobedience or wickedness by His presence. The nations around them, who had no part in His covenant, might depend on their own strength and their armies. Israel had only the arm of Jehovah to depend on. That arm would never reach out to shield unholiness or disobedience.
Israel would name the cause of their trouble, and God would still hide His face:
God's anger would rise, and He would leave Israel to the painful results of their rebellion. Many evils would befall them, so they would realize that God was no longer among them (v.17). Yet, even then God would hide His face from them to make them feel their serious condition as they ought (v 18).
One writer presses how far confession alone falls short:
They confess, but God is faithful, and He must show them that getting away from Him is one thing, and getting back is quite another. It is one thing to have left Him and to admit the power of the enemy. But confession by itself will not undo my departure from God.
The chastening has lasted, but it is not the end. One writer marks the difference between God's government and His heart:
At a point like this we must mark the difference between God's ways in government with His people and His ways in grace. In the righteous government of God, the Jews have been and still are under His chastening hand, because of their sins and their refusal to repent. Yet the grace and love of His heart towards them stay the same and never change. Note the terms of the covenant: "And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever."
But these words do not describe the Christian's place before God:
God's faithfulness is always true, of course. But the Spirit of prophecy here speaks about the people of Israel and their state — for example, God hiding His face from them. We know this does not apply to us in a literal way. He cannot hide His face from us. His face is shining on us in Christ. Does He hide His face from Christ?
- Foreseen. God announced Israel's turning away before they entered the land. He brought them in anyway, and it excused them nothing.
- Forfeited. His presence was their only shield. That shield was never stretched over disobedience.
- Felt. The hidden face means favour taken back. It left them open prey to their enemies, just as the covenant had said.
- Half-confessed. They could name the cause of their troubles and still not return; saying it is not the same as coming back.
- Fixed term. The affliction belongs to God's government, not to the end of His love — "not forever". For the believer, God's face now shines in Christ.
And I will entirely hide my face in that day for all the evils that they have wrought, because they turned unto other gods.
Moses is near death, and God tells him what Israel will do once he is gone: they will turn to other gods. Verse 18 raises the hardest question in the chapter — does hiding His face mean God has left them for good?
If God already knew Israel would fail, why keep warning them at all?
It is amazing how much care God took to make Israel see their responsibility to Him, from every angle. And He knew full well that they would rebel.
God's answer was a song. It turned Israel's role inside out.
Israel should have been a witness for the Lord before all nations. Instead, the song of Moses would be a witness for the Lord against the children of Israel. They were called to be His witnesses. Their task was to declare His Name and show His praise in the land He brought them into, in His faithfulness and sovereign mercy.
What did Israel actually lose when God hid His face?
Under the old covenant, the Lord hiding His face from His people matched the terms of the covenant itself. Their disobedience would provoke His anger. The effect would be a course of discipline. Its sharpest edge was the withdrawal of that visible favour. Without it they were defenceless prey before their enemies. So they would say when suffering this way: "Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?"
Notice that the hiding continues even after Israel says those words in verse 17. God's aim in verse 18 goes further than making them notice.
Yet, even then God would hide His face from them, to make them feel their serious condition as they ought.
The verse gives its own cause, and one commentator draws the lesson out for any reader.
"The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply." So says the Spirit of Christ in Psalm 16. Israel has proved, is proving, and will yet prove more fully how solemnly true these words are. Look at their history in the past, at their present scattering and ruin, and beyond all that at the "great tribulation" they must still pass through at "the time of the end". It all confirms one truth: the sure and certain way to multiply our sorrows is to turn away from the Lord and look to any created thing.
One book of the Bible never mentions God's name. Readers have long linked that silence to this verse.
This book especially teaches us God's invisible care for those of His people who chose to stay in the land of exile. They could have returned to Palestine ever since the days of King Cyrus of Persia. The Lord watched with tender goodness and care over this large part of the Jews. He could no longer recognise them as His people in front of the world. He hid Himself from them, as it were. This is why God is not mentioned once in this book. Long ago the Jews already saw this striking feature as the fulfilment of the prophecy in Deuteronomy 31:18.
A hidden face is not an absent God. The two truths stand together.
The importance of Esther is most evident, besides its typical instruction. Nothing could be more so in its place. It is the providential care of Israel scattered among the nations, when God could not own them at all outwardly or publicly. That is why He does not appear in the book. It is His unseen hand that does it, in a providential way.
The warnings run all through Scripture. One writer points to the time limit set inside them.
The law, the Psalms, and the prophets are clear about it. Israel would fail as God's witness so completely that He would disown them for a season.
And through the hiding, God is watching for the first sign of a turn back.
The Lord had to hide His face from His people. He handed them over for a time to the nations around them. Yet His loving heart was always turned towards them, always ready to notice and recognise the faintest traces of a repentant spirit.
- Foreknown. God said Israel would turn away before they ever crossed into the land. He brought them in anyway, and pressed their responsibility on them from every angle.
- Forfeited. Hiding His face means the loss of visible favour under the covenant. Without it they were defenceless prey. That was the sharp edge of His discipline.
- Felt. Verse 17 is Israel noticing; verse 18 is God continuing, so they would feel their condition as they ought.
- Followed. Even hidden, He is not absent. In Esther His name is never spoken, yet His unseen care guards a people He could not own before the world.
- Finite. The disowning lasts for a season. The heart behind the hidden face is watching for the faintest trace of repentance.