Ezekiel 20:10,11 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of Egypt Removed all obstacles, furnished them with all necessaries, went before them, and showed them the way they should go, Exodus 13:17; And brought them into the wilderness It was not Moses's error, though Pharaoh thought so, Exodus 14:3-4, but the peculiar conduct of God that brought them thither. And I gave them my statutes A favour not afforded to other nations: see Deuteronomy 4:8; Psalms 147:20. This was a treasure which David declared he prized above thousands of gold and silver, Psalms 119:72. Which if a man do, he shall even live in them That is, in keeping God's commandments there is abundance of comfort, and a great reward. “By life is generally meant, in the Old Testament, all that happiness which is contained in the literal sense of the promises belonging to that covenant. Under these were mystically comprehended the promises of a better life, wherein God will bestow upon his servants the peculiar marks of his favour, Psalms 16:11. These promises were made to the Jews upon condition of their punctual obedience to the whole law, Leviticus 18:5; Leviticus 26:3, &c.; Deuteronomy 27:26. And several persons under that dispensation are styled blameless, by reason of the sincerity of their obedience, though it was not perfect, or unsinning: see Luke 1:6; Philippians 3:6. But if we understand the forementioned condition in its rigorous sense, as implying a perfectly exact and unsinning obedience; and as the word life contains the promise of eternal life under it; (a promise which the pious Jews expected, and hoped to obtain, Matthew 19:16-17; Acts 26:6-7;) as it was impossible to be performed, so no person could lay claim to eternal life by virtue of any promise therein contained; from whence St. Paul infers the necessity of seeking to Christ, and laying hold on the promises in the gospel, for the obtaining of justification and eternal life.” Lowth. It must always be remembered, that the promises of spiritual blessings that we find in the Old Testament, such as pardon, acceptance with God, the Holy Spirit, sanctification, &c., belong to the gospel, or covenant of grace, as much as those in the New Testament: see 2 Corinthians 1:20; Hebrews 6:17-18; Hebrews 8:10-12; Hebrews 11:13.