Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.
I will not go up in the midst of thee ... lest I consume thee in the way. Since their deep-rooted prepossessions for idolatry would certainly manifest themselves by some new breach of the covenant, the continued presence and favour of their Heavenly King would only aggravate their guilt, and lead to their speedy destruction. In consequence of their perverseness, therefore, He deemed it expedient and necessary to abandon the immediate superintendence; and thus even in His judgment He remembered mercy. Here the Lord is represented as determined to do what He afterward did not (see the note at Exodus 32:10).