The first thing we must ascertain is—to whom did God speak and give the Ten Commandments? Though most people are under the impression that God gave this set of laws to mankind in general, that is not what the Scriptures teach. These laws where given specifically to the nation of Israel as part of the covenant relationship they were to have with God in their Promised Land. Nowhere in the Bible does it ever say or teach that the Gentiles—anyone who is not an Israelite—was ever given these laws. If fact, under the Old Testament—of which the Ten Commandments are the foundational stone—non-Israelites had absolutely no relationship with God. Gentiles were “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise”; they had “no hope, and” were “without God in the world:”

Exo 20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage

Deut 4:7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
8 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;
10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.
12 And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.
13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

Rom 9:3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

Eph 2:11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

The next question that needs to be asked is—for what purpose were the Ten Commandments given? Again, many people are under the misconception that these laws were given as a means whereby a man might be justified before God—if such a man where to obey these laws. However, that was not the reason God gave them to Israel, and certainly the Gentiles have no hope in that aspect of them either.

Rom 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Therefore, what do the Scriptures teach was God’s purpose for giving the law to Israel?

1. These laws formed the basis of the Covenant that God made with Israel. This Covenant was a bi-lateral covenant—meaning that both God and Israel had conditions that must be met in order for the Covenant to be effectual. God's promised blessings to Israel were conditioned upon their obedience to the law. This Covenant differed from the Covenant of Promise that God made with Abraham. That was a uni-lateral covenant—meaning that only God committed Himself to fulfilling any demands.

Exo 19:3 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.
8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.

Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.
18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

2. It would be by the keeping of these laws that Israel might receive the blessings of God and remain in the Land of Promise.

Deu 4:1 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.
2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

Deu 5:32 Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.

Deu 6:1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:
2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.

3. By the keeping of these laws Israel was to be a witness for God among the nations of the world.

Deu 4:5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.
6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
8 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

Isa 43:10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.

4. It would be by the keeping of these laws that Jewish society might be preserved. God made promises to Abraham their father that could only be fulfilled through his descendants. God’s greatest blessing to Israel would be the sending forth of the Messiah to that nation; and these laws were meant to keep Israel from self-destructing.

Deu 12:28 Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God.
29 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

Josh 23:15 Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.
16 When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.

Gal 3:19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

Rom 9:4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

5. These laws were meant to show Israel the significance of the animal sacrifices and to point them to their need of a Redeemer.

Lev 4:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them:
3 If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin offering.
4 And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head, and kill the bullock before the LORD.

Lev 6:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour;
3 Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein:
4 Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found,
5 Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass offering.
6 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest:
7 And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD: and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath done in trespassing therein.

Gal 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Another thing we want to look at concerning Israel and the Ten Commandments is—how where they given? What we find is that there were three distinct times that God actually delivered the Commandments to Israel. The first time is when they encamped around the mountain and saw the fire, the smoke, and the lightening. They felt the earth quake and heard the sound of a very loud trumpet. Finally, they heard the voice of God speaking to them from Heaven.

Exo 19:16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
17 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.
18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.

Exo 20:1 And God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

After they heard the voice of God giving to them the Ten Commandments, they were in great fear. They trembled greatly before this awesome display of majesty and power because they thought that God would reach out and destroy them. The reason for their consternation was “they could not endure that which was commanded.” When men actually hear God’s voice proclaiming to them His law, they come under condemnation. The law of God only produces guilt and fear in those that really hear it, because they know in their hearts that they cannot measure up to its demands. Furthermore, God is spiritual, and when He speaks we must be spiritually attuned to what He is saying. Israel, after the flesh, had no such ability to comprehend the purpose behind the Ten Commandments; and therefore, they “intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more.”

Exo 20:19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.

Heb 12:18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)

Gal 4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?

Rom 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

John 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

1 Cor 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The second time God gave to Israel the Ten Commandments is when He calls for only Moses to come up into the mountain. Moses now becomes a mediator between God and His law and the people of Israel. This is why so often you find the law referred to in the New Testament as Moses Law or the Law given by Moses. Because the people did not want God to speak to them directly, He will now speak only through Moses. Also, instead of God directly speaking to His people, He delivers to them, through Moses, “two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” These tables of stone are meant to signify the rigidity of God’s written Law. We use the expression “written in stone” as being something that is unchangeable and enduring—even so was this written law. Also, instead of the Living God having a relationship with His people, they have chosen the cold, hard, written tables of stone to base their relationship with God upon. This is why so often we find written in both the Old and New Testaments that the Jews had a “stony heart”—because that is how they choose to relate to God. Many times also, Jesus admonished the Jews about the “hardness of your hearts” because that is what the Law did to them. All of this signified that the children of Israel were unable to comprehend the spiritual aspect of what God was saying—as most people are unable to do today.

Exo 24:12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.
13 And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.
14 And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them.
15 And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount.
16 And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.
18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.

Exo 31:18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

John 7:19 Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?

John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Eze 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Matt 19:8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

Now, we might think that Israel, after all they had seen and heard, would have cleaved unto the Lord and sought to obey Him. However, before Moses even came down from the mountain—he was there for forty days and nights—the people turned to idolatry. Moses became so angry that he threw the tables down and broke them before the people. What this pictured was Israel’s inability to keep the Law of God, even the written carnal commandments that God gave to them. It revealed that they had no heart for God or desire to obey His Word; and throughout Israel’s history we find them falling again and again into idolatry and disobedience. The breaking of these tablets also signified that this written law would one day be done away with.

Exo 32:15 And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.
16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.
17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.
18 And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.
19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

2 Cor 36:15 And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:
16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.

The third time that God gives to Israel the Ten Commandments is after Moses breaks the first tables he is again called to go up into the mountain. However, this time Moses must make the tables and write upon them. Here we find in Scripture the first record of a man being used to write the Word of God.[1] We know that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, called the Pentateuch—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy; he is also credited with a least one Psalm—Psalm Ninety. Although many would say that Job is the oldest book in the Bible—we do not know for sure when it was written or who the author was. The events of Job probably took place before the Mt. Sinai account, but could have been inspired after and even written by Moses also. Nevertheless, what we find here, in God having Moses to write again the Ten Commandments on tables of stone, is God’s revealed method of inspiring men to write His divine Word. Although Moses is the first, God used some forty different writers to pen His sacred writ. This third account also further establishes in the mind of Israel that this is Moses law.

Exo 34:1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.
2 And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount.

Exo 34:27 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.
28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

An important point that we want to look at in this account is this statement by God—“for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.” The tenor, or underlying thought of the Ten Commandments was never comprehended by Israel or by those today who still embrace this written code. Because God was dealing with a nation of people who had no spiritual insight, His purpose for the Ten Commandments, and the rest of the Mosaic Law, was never seen by this chosen nation. Indeed today, even with the full revelation of the completed Word of God, people still live in ignorance concerning the Old Testament Law. The problem with all humans is that we are born spiritually dead—unable to grasp what God is trying to say to us. The written Word was the best means He had to relate to Israel, and still they could not see its purpose. That is why God’s purpose from all eternity was to make a new covenant with Israel that provided the means whereby they, and all who would embrace His salvation, could have spiritual sight and life.

Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

2 Cor 3:13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

This also brings up another important point to consider—the Old Covenant, which includes the Ten Commandments, was only designed for a specific period of time. Its purpose was never intended by God to an everlasting one. We have already seen why they were given to Israel, and once those reasons were fulfilled, they are now “ready to vanish away.” Their usefulness would only last until they were replaced by a “new covenant.” Now we realize that some aspects of the Ten Commandments have underlying moral principles that will never be outdated; and we realize that Israel today—because of their unbelief—still embraces that Old Covenant; but what is hard to understand is why New Covenant believers still want to place so much emphasis on something that has been done away with in Christ. Many “Christian” believers have gone to extremes defending what is “ready to vanish.” The Old Covenant with those tables of stone, are like an old grave marker that can hardly be read. What was intended for them by God was once clearly seen, but “that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”

Heb 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

2 Cor 3:7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.
11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

Gal 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?