And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.
God gave Israel His statutes and showed them His judgments to be lived in, so that the one who does them shall live in them. They were good for the obedient and ordained to life. The verse states the terms of the old covenant, in which life was promised on condition of doing what God commanded.
In its setting this gift of life through obedience is joined to God's Sabbaths, given as a sign between Him and His people that He is the Lord who sanctifies them. The house of Israel rebelled in the wilderness, walked not in His statutes, despised His life-giving judgments, and greatly polluted His Sabbaths. Because of that rebellion God said He would pour out His fury upon them to consume them. He withheld the promised land from that generation, yet spared them from destruction and instructed their children to keep His statutes and hallow His Sabbaths as a sign between Him and them.
The commandment itself is not sin but holy and just and good. It detects sin and condemns the transgressor, and sin taking occasion by the commandment deceives the sinner and slays him, so that what was ordained to life is found unto death. For continual disobedience penalties were annexed to transgression that were not good for the transgressor, so that he should not live in rebellion. Death was the penalty for open contempt of the Lawgiver, and punishment inflicted under the civil law was meant to restrain others through fear.
The law under that covenant demanded complete obedience to all its words, so that failure brought a curse. This contrasts with the new covenant, in which God forgives sin and gives grace to renew the heart, writing the same law within it. The holy day in the chapter is the seventh day, and its warning against refusing God's statutes and polluting His Sabbaths applies to efforts to enforce Sunday observance.
God gave Israel His statutes and showed them His judgments to be lived in, so that the one who does them shall live in them. They were good for the obedient and ordained to life. The verse states the terms of the old covenant, in which life was promised on condition of doing what God commanded.
In its setting this gift of life through obedience is joined to God's Sabbaths, given as a sign between Him and His people that He is the Lord who sanctifies them. The house of Israel rebelled in the wilderness, walked not in His statutes, despised His life-giving judgments, and greatly polluted His Sabbaths. Because of that rebellion God said He would pour out His fury upon them to consume them. He withheld the promised land from that generation, yet spared them from destruction and instructed their children to keep His statutes and hallow His Sabbaths as a sign between Him and them.
The commandment itself is not sin but holy and just and good. It detects sin and condemns the transgressor, and sin taking occasion by the commandment deceives the sinner and slays him, so that what was ordained to life is found unto death. For continual disobedience penalties were annexed to transgression that were not good for the transgressor, so that he should not live in rebellion. Death was the penalty for open contempt of the Lawgiver, and punishment inflicted under the civil law was meant to restrain others through fear.
The law under that covenant demanded complete obedience to all its words, so that failure brought a curse. This contrasts with the new covenant, in which God forgives sin and gives grace to renew the heart, writing the same law within it. The holy day in the chapter is the seventh day, and its warning against refusing God's statutes and polluting His Sabbaths applies to efforts to enforce Sunday observance.