Dictionary of Biblical Words:
That which is commanded or ordained by God. Such ordinances, however, may only be of a temporary nature, such as all the Jewish, and ceremonies concerning which see Heb. 7; 8; 9 Col. 2, &c. Now that we have the substances, all ordinances designed merely to shadow it dimly forth are superseded. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the two Christian institutions common to all who bear the Lord’s name.
Concise Bible Dictionary:
This term in the Old Testament generally signifies that which God “ordered” for His people to observe. “They kept His testimonies, and the ordinance that He gave them” (Psa. 99:7). “Ye are gone away from Mine ordinances” (Mal. 3:7). It is also applied to things in creation: God giveth “the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night” (Jer. 31:35). David made an ordinance (Ezra 3:10: Compare Neh. 10:32). In the New Testament it refers especially to the enactments of the law: “ordinances of divine service” (Heb. 9:1,10); “blotting out the handwriting of ordinances” (Col. 2:14). It is also applied to human laws (Rom. 13:2; 1 Peter 2:13); and to the rules of the moralists (Col. 2:20). The directions that Paul had given to the Corinthians are in the AV called “ordinances” (1 Cor. 11:2); margin, “traditions.”