When you hear someone mention "the Ten Commandments," of what do you think? Perhaps you conjure up an image of Moses--or Charlton Heston--coming down Mount Sinai, stone tablets in hand. Or maybe you think of that ancient seraphim-clad box in the "Raiders" film with streaming flashes of light and melting Nazi faces. But whatever your image, what's in the box itself probably holds no more interest for you than you would have in enduring the Egyptian plagues or being dropped into a snake-pit! But consider this: no single set of laws has had a more direct and enduring influence on Western Civilization than these ten words. That's a fact! The Jewish nation alone has built its religious character and identity on them. And then on a more personal level, you should know that Christ Himself insisted on these standards as a basis for participation in his Kingdom (Matthew 5:17f.; 19:17). God's ten timeless words are "the key to human happiness." God gave these directions that we might have "life" with Him. They are designed to guide us into an experience of blessedness both in this life and the life to come. Or you can look at it this way: If you want to avert the spiritual "plagues" which afflict those who refuse to heed God's truth and to avoid descending into the "snake-pit" of the world's moral chaos, but instead desire true spiritual health, deliverance, and eternal life; then these ten timeless words are for you.
