Why Did God Give the Commandments?

By Heather Scarborough

Before we look at the Ten Commandments, we need to understand why they were given in the first place. The commandments did not appear out of nowhere at Mount Sinai. By the time Israel stood before that mountain, God had already been working through generations to bring His people to that very moment. It began with a promise.

God called Abraham and made a covenant with him. He promised to make him into a great nation, to bless him, to give his descendants a land, and to bless all the families of the earth through him. God repeated that promise to Isaac and then to Jacob. Jacob had twelve sons, and through them his family began to grow into the people God had promised. But the path God used to bring that family to Egypt was not an easy one.

Joseph, one of Jacob’s sons, was hated by his brothers and sold into slavery. He was taken away from his family and carried into Egypt. There, Joseph served faithfully, yet he was falsely accused and imprisoned. His circumstances seemed to move further and further away from the life he had known and the promises God had made. But God had not lost sight of Joseph. God was with him through the suffering, and in time He raised Joseph from prison to a position of authority in Egypt. When a severe famine came upon the land, Joseph was in the position God had prepared for him, and God used him to preserve many lives—including the lives of his own family. Jacob and his sons came down to Egypt. What began with Joseph being carried away as a slave became the means God used to bring Jacob’s entire family into Egypt and preserve them during the famine. They settled there, and there they remained.

Exodus 1:7 tells us:

“But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.”

The family had become a people. But generations passed, and Joseph died. Eventually, a new Pharaoh came to power who did not know Joseph. He looked at Israel’s growing numbers and became afraid of them. The people God had preserved in Egypt were now viewed as a threat. Pharaoh subjected them to forced labor. Their lives became bitter with hard labor, and eventually Pharaoh ordered that the Hebrew sons be killed. Israel had gone from a favored family in Egypt to an enslaved people under Pharaoh’s authority.

But God had not forgotten His covenant. Exodus 2:24 says:

“So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

God heard. God remembered. And God acted. He raised up Moses. Moses himself had been preserved from Pharaoh’s command to kill the Hebrew sons. He was drawn from the Nile, raised in Pharaoh’s household, and later fled Egypt after defending a fellow Hebrew. For forty years Moses lived in Midian. Then God called him.

At the burning bush, God told Moses that He had seen the affliction of His people, heard their cry, and knew their sufferings. He was sending Moses back to Egypt to lead Israel out of bondage. Moses questioned whether he was capable of such a task. God did not point Moses to his own ability. He said:

“Certainly I will be with you.”

— Exodus 3:12

The deliverance of Israel would depend upon God. Moses returned to Egypt and stood before Pharaoh with the command of the LORD:

“Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go.’”

Pharaoh refused. God then displayed His authority over Egypt through the plagues. The nation that had enslaved His people would see that Pharaoh was not the highest authority. The LORD was.

Then came the final plague. God provided a way for Israel to be spared from judgment. Each household was instructed to take a lamb and place its blood on the doorposts and lintel of the house. When judgment passed through the land, the houses marked by the blood would be passed over. This was the Passover.

Israel was not delivered because they had the power to deliver themselves. God provided the way, and they were called to trust Him and follow His instructions. Pharaoh finally released them. After generations in Egypt, Israel was leaving.

But their freedom was immediately tested. Pharaoh changed his mind and pursued them with his army. Israel found itself trapped between Pharaoh and the Red Sea. They were afraid. Moses told them:

“Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today.”

— Exodus 14:13

And God made a way where there was no apparent way. He divided the sea, and Israel walked through on dry ground. When the Egyptians pursued them, the waters returned and Pharaoh’s army was destroyed. Israel had entered that moment with Pharaoh’s army behind them. They came out on the other side because God had delivered them.

But God’s purpose was not simply to bring Israel out of Egypt. He was bringing them somewhere. The wilderness became the place where God taught His newly delivered people to depend upon Him. When they were thirsty, He provided water. When they were hungry, He provided manna. When they faced enemies, He protected them. He led them with the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Again and again, Israel was learning who God was and what it meant to trust Him.

They were also learning something about themselves. Although they had been brought out of Egypt, they still struggled to trust the God who had delivered them. They complained. They feared. They questioned His provision. At times, they longed for what they had left behind. God was not merely taking a group of former slaves out of Egypt. He was forming a nation.

By the third month after leaving Egypt, Israel arrived at the wilderness of Sinai and camped before the mountain. This is where the story reaches a significant turning point.

God reminded Israel of what He had already done:

“You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.”

— Exodus 19:4

Notice where God says He brought them. Not simply out of Egypt. To Himself. God had delivered them, preserved them, provided for them, and brought them to the mountain.

Now He was establishing His covenant with them as a nation. He said:

“Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine.”

— Exodus 19:5

Israel was about to become a nation set apart under the authority of God. And this is the setting in which God gave the Law.

The Law was not simply a list of rules handed down to people who had no relationship with God. It was given to a people God had already chosen, delivered, and brought into covenant with Himself. The Law would establish how this nation was to live under His authority. It would reveal God’s holy standard. It would distinguish Israel from the nations around them. It would establish their worship and regulate their national life. It would provide instruction concerning the priesthood, sacrifices, festivals, marriage and family, property, justice, work, community, servants, foreigners, agriculture, and countless other aspects of life.

The Law was much larger than the Ten Commandments. Traditionally, the Law is counted as 613 commandments. Some instructed Israel in what they were to do, while others instructed them in what they were forbidden to do. The Ten Commandments were the first ten. The remaining commandments expanded that instruction throughout Israel’s life as a covenant nation. God was not merely telling Israel what not to do. He was teaching them what it meant to live as a people who belonged to Him.

But the Law served another important purpose. It revealed the difference between God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness. God’s standard was holy. Israel was not. Romans 3:20 says:

“Through the Law comes knowledge of sin.”

The Law made God’s will known. It showed Israel what righteousness looked like according to God’s standard, and in doing so, it exposed sin. That matters because Israel could not understand what God required without also coming to understand how far they fell short.

The commandments were therefore not disconnected rules. They were part of a much larger story. God had made a promise to Abraham. He had preserved Isaac and Jacob. He had used Joseph’s suffering and position to preserve Jacob’s family. He had heard Israel’s cries in Egypt, raised up Moses, judged Pharaoh, provided the Passover, brought His people through the Red Sea, sustained them in the wilderness, and brought them to Himself at Sinai. Only then did He give them the Law.

The Law was not the beginning of God’s relationship with Israel. It was part of what came because of the relationship He had established with them. God had brought a people out of bondage and established them as His covenant nation. Now He was giving them His instruction for how they were to live under His authority.

Israel stood before Sinai with everything that had happened behind them: the promise, the bondage, the deliverance, the wilderness, and now the mountain. They were about to hear the voice of the God who had brought them there.

Before the commandments are understood as rules, they must first be understood as revelation. They reveal the God who speaks. And Israel is standing before Him, ready to listen.