The Ten Commandments

Three months after leaving Egypt, the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped at the foot of the great mountain. The mountain rose like a mighty fortress from the desert floor, its peaks shrouded in mystery and majesty.

Here, at this sacred place, God would give His people the laws that would guide them forever.

The Call to Holiness

Moses went up to God on the mountain, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’”

Moses came down and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him. The elders gathered in a circle, their weathered faces serious as they listened to God’s proposal.

All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.

Preparing for God’s Presence

The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever. Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.”

Moses set bounds around the mountain and warned the people, “Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.”

For two days, the people prepared themselves. They washed their clothes and purified their hearts. Parents spoke in hushed tones to their children about the great thing that was about to happen. Never before had an entire nation been invited to witness God giving His law.

The Mountain on Fire

On the morning of the third day, there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.

The sight was beyond anything the people had ever imagined. The mountain blazed with fire that reached to the very heart of heaven. Lightning flashed continuously across the dark clouds that covered the peak. Thunder rolled and crashed like the voice of the Almighty Himself.

And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice.

Moses Ascends the Mountain

The Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

As Moses climbed higher up the mountain, the people below watched his figure grow smaller and smaller until he disappeared into the thick cloud and fire. They had never felt so aware of God’s awesome power and their own smallness.

The mountain continued to shake and burn. The trumpet blast grew even louder. For forty days and forty nights, Moses remained on the mountain with God, while the people waited below in wonder and fear.

God Speaks the Ten Commandments

In the midst of the fire and cloud, God spoke to Moses, giving him the laws that would govern His people forever. The voice of the Lord thundered across the mountain as He declared the Ten Commandments:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

First: You shall have no other gods before Me.

Second: You shall not make idols. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.

Third: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

Fourth: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work.

Fifth: Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

Sixth: You shall not murder.

Seventh: You shall not commit adultery.

Eighth: You shall not steal.

Ninth: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Tenth: You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

The Stone Tablets

God wrote these commandments with His own finger on two tablets of stone. The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.

As Moses received the tablets, he understood that he held in his hands something more precious than all the treasures of Egypt. These were not merely human laws, but the very words of God Himself - the foundation upon which a holy nation would be built.

The People’s Fear

When the people saw the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they trembled and stood afar off. The display of God’s power was so overwhelming that they could hardly bear to watch.

They said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”

Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.”

But the people stood afar off, while Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.

More Laws Given

On the mountain, God gave Moses many other laws and ordinances - instructions for building the tabernacle, rules for worship, guidelines for justice, and principles for living as God’s holy people.

The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”

The Covenant Established

When Moses came down from the mountain, his face shone so brightly from being in God’s presence that the people were afraid to come near him. He had to put a veil over his face when he spoke to them.

Moses told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.”

Moses wrote all the words of the Lord and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. He offered sacrifices and sprinkled the blood on the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”

A Foundation for All Time

The giving of the Ten Commandments marked a turning point in human history. No longer would people have to guess what God required of them. His laws were clear, written in stone, and applicable to all people for all time.

These commandments would teach them how to love God with all their heart (commandments 1-4) and how to love their neighbors as themselves (commandments 5-10). They were not burdensome restrictions, but loving guidelines for a life that honors God and blesses others.

The children watching that day would grow up knowing exactly what God expected of them. Parents would teach these laws to their children, and their children’s children would learn them too. Kings and common people alike would be judged by these same standards.

As the mountain gradually returned to normal and the supernatural fire and cloud lifted, the people knew they had witnessed something that would echo through eternity. The God who had delivered them from Egypt had now given them His law, and they were truly His covenant people.

The Ten Commandments would be placed in the Ark of the Covenant and carried with them wherever they went, a constant reminder that they belonged to the God who had spoken from the mountain in fire and thunder, and who had written His laws upon tablets of stone with His own finger.