What Does Deuteronomy 31:18 Mean?

Reiterating the determination to "surely hide my face" because of the "all the evils" committed highlights the severity of the divine rejection of the idolatry. By identifying the turning to other gods as the specific cause of the withdrawal, the Law reveals that the Lord provides a silence that is a direct response to the noise of the paganism. This verse reveals that the Lord considers the "provocation" of the false worship to be an intolerable insult to the covenantal relationship.

Withdrawal of the presence reveals the logic of the divine jealousy that demands the exclusive devotion of the people who bear the Name. The Law reveals that the Lord detests the "pluralism" that attempts to mix the truth of the Creator with the lies of the creation, providing a standard where the "Darkness" is the result of the "Defiance." It teaches that the true mourning of the nation is the "Hiding" of the Spirit, demonstrating that the goal of the community is the maintenance of a land where the light of the divine favor is the only hope of the resident.

The surely hidden face points toward the supreme "Light" who was obscured by the darkness of the tomb to the end that the veil might be rent and the way opened to the Father. As the Gospel reveals a King who "hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel," the work of Christ provides the final illumination. Through the victory of the Son, the believers find that "we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image," find their peace in the One whose "Unveiled Presence" has secured the eternal vision for the assembly of the God.