Charles Ellicott Commentary Deuteronomy 31:16-19

"And Jehovah said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and play the harlot after the strange gods of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. Then 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 come upon them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us? And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evil which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods. Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach thou it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel." — Deuteronomy 31:16-19 (ASV)

Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers ... now therefore write ye this song. — This prophecy that the children of Israel would forsake Jehovah and break His covenant is quite remarkable, when we consider His dealings with them as a nation. It is one of the many proofs in Holy Scripture that our Creator is not like the man in our Lord’s parable, who “intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he hath sufficient to finish it.” When He chose Israel to be His people, He knew the risk of doing so, and He provided for it beforehand.

No less, when He said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” did He provide the means of forming in us the Divine character by all that Christ has done. The fall is recorded in Genesis 3. Redemption and restoration are exhibited in type and symbol in Genesis 2. God brought Israel into Canaan in full foreknowledge of what the people would become when there.