Deuteronomy 32:20 is God speaking through Moses in the closing song of the book, announcing that He will withdraw His favor from Israel for a time. He says He will watch to see how their story ends, because the people have become faithless and twisted in their conduct. The words are spoken by the LORD Himself, and they are addressed to the Israelites, the generation that had forgotten the God who formed them as a nation.
He said, “I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end will be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.
Deuteronomy 32:20 (WEB)
What Deuteronomy 32:20 Means
The verse begins with God saying He will hide His face from them. In Hebrew thought, the face of God stands for His favor, His nearness, and the sense that He is attentive and kind toward someone. To hide that face is to withdraw the warmth of relationship and let consequences unfold without His protective presence. It is a sober image, not a casual one.
Next, God says He will see what their end will be. This is not God being uncertain about the future. It describes a deliberate step back, letting the people experience the results of their choices so that the truth of their condition becomes plain. The verse then gives the reason: they are a perverse generation, people who have bent away from what is straight, and children in whom there is no faithfulness, meaning no steady trust or loyalty to the covenant.
What the verse does not promise is that God has abandoned His people forever. It describes a season of judgment and discipline within a larger covenant story. The surrounding chapter goes on to speak of God’s compassion for His people once their strength is gone, so the hiding of the face is serious but not the final word.
The Context of Deuteronomy 32:20
Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Torah, presented as Moses’s final addresses to Israel before they enter the Promised Land. Chapter 32 contains the Song of Moses, a poetic composition meant to be taught to the people so that it would stand as a witness against them. The song recounts God’s faithful care, the people’s repeated turning to other gods, and the consequences that would follow. Verse 20 sits in the middle of this warning, describing God’s response to the idolatry and unfaithfulness just named in verses 17 and 18.
Just before the verse, the people are rebuked for sacrificing to demons and to gods they had not known, forgetting the Rock who gave them birth. Just after, God speaks of provoking them to jealousy through a people who are not a people, and of fire kindled by His anger. Read in that setting, the hiding of God’s face is the response of a covenant Lord to persistent betrayal, not an arbitrary display of temper. It shows that the relationship mattered enough for God to grieve its breaking.
Key Phrases in Deuteronomy 32:20
Psalm 51:11
Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your holy Spirit from me.
(WEB)
David pleads with God not to cast him away from His presence, the very fear that Deuteronomy 32:20 describes. The psalm shows a heart that knows the hiding of God’s face is real and therefore prays earnestly for restoration.
Isaiah 54:7-8
7 “For a small moment I have forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather you. 8 In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a moment; but with everlasting loving kindness I will have mercy on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.
(WEB)
These verses speak of God hiding His face for a brief moment and then returning with great compassion. They balance the warning of Deuteronomy 32:20 with the promise that God’s withdrawal from His people is not permanent.
A Short Prayer From Deuteronomy 32:20
Lord, I confess that I have sometimes drifted in small ways and assumed You would not notice or would not mind. Your words about hiding Your face unsettle me, and I do not want to live in the distance my own choices can create. Search my heart and show me where my faithfulness has grown thin.
Turn me back toward You with honesty and humility. Where I have been unsteady, make me steady, and where I have forgotten who You are, remind me of Your faithfulness. Let Your face shine on me again, and let my life show the loyalty that You desire.
Amen.
