With all these minute and burdensome exactions it was a practical impossibility for the people to keep the law. The great principles of righteousness set forth in the Decalogue, and the glorious truths shadowed in the symbolic service, were alike obscured, buried under a mass of human tradition and enactment. Those who were really desirous of serving God, and who tried to observe the whole law as enjoined by the priests and rulers, groaned under a heavy burden.

Det var umuligt for folket at holde loven, da alle disse detaljerede og besværlige krav var blevet føjet til. Retfærdighedens store principper, som var fremsat i de ti bud, og de herlige sandheder, som var skildret i den symbolske tjeneste, blev fordunklet og begravet under en dynge menneskelige traditioner og love. De mennesker, der virkelig ønskede at tjene Gud og prøvede at holde hele loven ifølge præsternes og forstandernes forskrifter, stønnede under den tunge byrde.