Deuteronomy 32:20 "And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith."
God speaks a word of warning to us in the book of Proverbs. In fact, He states
it in two different places. "There is a way which seemeth right unto
a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." (Proverbs 14:12)
And then again in Proverbs 16:25, "There is a way that seemeth
right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."
God is allowing Moses to warn the people of what will happen once they are
settled in the land of Canaan. They will be lured away from the only true
God and will participate in worship of idols. They will forget the Lord Who
brought them into the land. They will suffer because of their
disobedience. God will allow other nations to overtake them because they have
forgotten God. A study of the history of the Old Testament will quickly
show this to be true. Israel has suffered much through the centuries because of
their neglect of the Lord. Indeed, "there is a way that seemeth right unto
a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."
In today's passage, the Lord was telling the people what He would do as a
result of their neglect. "I will hide my face from them."
If you have ever experienced the gloom of guilt, you can understand to a
small degree what is being said in this passage. God is true to His
promises. He had told the people He would not forsake them. That is, He would
not turn away from them. He has promised us that He will not turn away
from us. But I must say we are the ones who have turned away from God when we
experience such darkness in our lives.
We can know the ultimate result when you read the passage for today and place
it alongside the passage from Proverbs. There is a way that seems right
unto a man, but God is not going to bless anything that is contrary to
Him. I do not try to bring God down to man's level, but it seems He is
saying, "Let's just see what they can do on their own. Let's just see how
far they can get on their own ability." I think we all know the answer
to that: Without the Lord, we can do nothing. Jesus said it in John
15:4, "without me ye can do nothing." I believe that to be the
absolute truth.
But thank God, there is an alternative to that truth. For every action,
there is an equal and opposite reaction. "Without me ye can do
nothing," but the opposite of that is also true. "I can do all
things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4:13)
Which shall it be? God will hide His face from us because we want to have
it our way? Or - Experience the blessings of God by walking in the light
of His Word? Joshua would later say, "As for me and my house, we
will serve the Lord."