For he established a testimony in Jacob
So the law is called, being a testification of the divine will, ( Exodus 25:16 Exodus 25:22 ) and the Scriptures, the writings of the Old Testament, which testify of Christ, his person, office, sufferings, and death, ( Isaiah 8:20 ) ( John 5:39 ) and particularly the Gospel, which is the testimony of God, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of his apostles, ( 2 Timothy 1:8 ) which bears witness to the love and grace of God in the salvation of men by Christ; to the dignity of Christ's person, to the fulness of his grace, to each of the offices and relations he bears and stands in to his people; to the virtue of his obedience, sufferings, and death; to redemption, righteousness, peace and pardon by him: this is established in the house of Jacob, as the Targum; in the church, which is the pillar and ground of truth, among the saints and people of God, to whom it is delivered, and by whom it will be kept, and with whom it will remain throughout all ages; for it is the everlasting Gospel:
and appointed a law in Israel;
the law given on Mount Sinai was peculiar to them, and so were the word and oracles, they were committed to them; and not only the writings of Moses, but the prophets, are called the law, ( John 10:34 ) ( Deuteronomy 4:8 ) ( Psalms 147:19 Psalms 147:20 ) ( Romans 3:1 Romans 3:2 ) ( 9:4 ) , but the Gospel seems to be here meant, (See Gill on Psalms 78:1): this was ordained before the world for our glory, and is put and placed in the hands and hearts of the faithful ministers of it, and is published among, and received by, the true Israel of God:
which he commanded our fathers that they should make them known to
their children;
that is, the testimony and the law, and the things contained in them; the Jewish fathers were frequently commanded to teach their children the law of Moses, ( Deuteronomy 4:9 Deuteronomy 4:10 ) ( Deuteronomy 6:6 Deuteronomy 6:7 ) ( 11:19 ) and it was their practice to instruct them in the knowledge of the Scriptures, ( 2 Timothy 3:15 ) , and it becomes Christian parents to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, by making known to them the principles of the Christian religion, and the truths of the Gospel, ( Ephesians 6:4 ) .