8699. 'You will surely wither away, both you and this people who are with you' means that if it carries on as before the truth which has been implanted is going to perish. This is clear from the meaning of 'withering away' as being consumed little by little, and so perishing. The reason why it is the truth that has been implanted is that 'Moses' is used to mean the truth from God, and 'people' those who receive it. More about all this will be stated in what follows below.

The Lord is called "Jehovah" in the Bible when the text is referring to his essence, which is love itself. He is called "God" when the text is referring to the expression of that love -- which is called Divine Truth. References to other gods, both positive and negative, reflect that meaning. In positive cases -- such as when angels and people are called gods, or when the Lord is referred to as the God of gods -- those gods represent true ideas that come to us from the Lord. In negative cases -- such as when the people of Israel repeatedly adopt the gods of their neighbors -- those gods represent false and twisted thinking that attacks what is good and true.