Jesus made it clear that He honored the Ten Commandments and considered them to have eternal authority. He also said, “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17). When asked to be specific, Jesus named several of the ten. And far from abolishing the commandments, He extended them to the heart, showing how hate is tantamount to murder, lust is adultery in God’s eyes, and so on (Matthew 5:21–30).

Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). Therefore, Jesus does not represent a break with the Old Testament Law, but rather the Law’s perfect expression.

Wise old Solomon, Israel’s king, spent his days examining the meaning of life. He summarized his accumulated wisdom in this formula: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

In this chapter, I want to take a fresh walk through these ten immortal directives. We need to rediscover what they meant then and what they mean now. I can assure you we’re going to find the love of God again and again in the Word of a Father eager to protect His children. We will come to realize that when God gave Moses the Law on Mount Sinai, He indeed carved His love in stone.

The First Commandment: The Fundamental Rule

And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.”

—EXODUS 20:1–3

The first commandment is like the hub of a wheel from which all the others are spokes. This isn’t simply another commandment—it’s the one that brings all of them together.

As you read the narrative leading up to the giving of the commandments, God’s love is everywhere on display. For instance, when Moses arrives at the top of Mount Sinai to receive the commandments, God tells him to remind the people of His great love for them in the past and His careful watch over their lives throughout their redemption from Egypt: “And Moses went up to God, 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” ’ ” (Exodus 19:3–4).

Later, as Moses returns to the mountain, bearing the second set of two stone tablets, God passes before His servant again and refers to Himself as “the LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:6–7).