<p>7:8 <em>You leave the commandment of God and cling to the tradition of men</em>- The contrasts are between 'leaving' and 'clinging'; between &quot;commandment&quot; and &quot;tradition&quot;; and finally, between &quot;of God&quot; and &quot;of men&quot;. &quot;Leaving&quot; is literally 'to put away' and is used of divorce. The marriage contract between God and Israel was the Mosaic law. But they were putting that away, and thereby effectively divorcing God; His action in divorcing Israel was therefore only confirming them in what they themselves wished to do. &quot;Cling&quot; or 'cleave to' is likewise a marriage allusion; they had applied 'leave Father and cleave to wife' to their relationship with God. They had left Him and cleaved to men, with human tradition as their marriage contract with them. This is how serious it is to become enslaved to following tradition. God &quot;commands&quot;, from God to man, whereas &quot;tradition&quot; is that which is passed on from men to man. The acceptance of tradition is therefore effectively a playing God.</p>