Commands & Covenants De-Mystified: The Ten Commandments Weren’t Rules, They Were a Relationship

Hey friends,

We’re starting something new inside the Vault: a series called Commands & Covenants De-Mystified.

We’ll with the Ten Commandments. Not as rules written on stone, but as relationship written into history.

Get ready to see God’s commands through a different lens; not as burdens to bear, but as invitations to belong.

“Then God spoke all these words saying, “I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ” — Exodus 20:1-2

When most of us hear “The Ten Commandments,” we picture stone tablets, stern rules, and an even sterner God. But if you stop at the list, you miss the love.

The Ten Commandments weren’t the start of God’s relationship with Israel, they were the confirmation of it.

1. Covenant Before Command

Before God said, “Thou shalt not,” He said, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out.”
That’s covenant language… deliverance before demand.

He didn’t give commandments to earn His love; He gave them to express it.
He was saying, “Now that you’re free, here’s how free people live.”

2. Law as Love Language

Every “you shall not” protects a “you shall.”

• “You shall have no other gods” = You’re safe with Me alone.

• “Honor your father and mother” = Family matters to Heaven.

• “Do not steal” = Trust that I’ll provide.

The Law isn’t legalism; it’s love in structure. God was teaching His people how to live in shalom, right relationship with Him and each other.

And in many ways, the giving of the Law was like a marriage covenant—a ketubah.
In Jewish tradition, a ketubah is a wedding agreement that outlines the commitments of faithfulness, care, and belonging between two people.

That’s what God was doing at Sinai. He had already rescued Israel, His chosen bride, from bondage. Now He was saying, “Here’s how we’ll live together.”

Each commandment was a vow of covenant love:
“You shall have no other gods before Me” — faithfulness.
“Remember the Sabbath” — rest together.
“Do not covet” — protect our intimacy.

The Ten Commandments were never cold regulations; they were wedding vows carved in stone.

And let me pause here for a little seminary story.

When I was in seminary, I took a Tanakh class with Rabbi Dr. Joshua Brumbach, and something he said has stayed with me ever since. He told us that whenever God said, “Do not…” in the Torah or the Commandments, it was because the people were already doing it.

God wasn’t throwing out random restrictions, He was redirecting behavior. He wanted His people to be different from the pagan nations around them. Set apart. Holy. Whole.

So those “thou shalt nots”? They weren’t divine control tactics. They were divine course corrections… a call to rise above the culture and reflect the character of their covenant God.