A. It was a legal code that God gave Moses upon Mt. Sinai:

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.

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.

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.

EXO 32:16. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

EXO 32:19. 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.

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.

EXO 34:28. 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.

B. It was a strict code of justice & retribution:

EXO 21:23. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,

EXO 21:24. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

EXO 21:25. Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

HEB 10:28. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

C. The ten commandments were not merely helpful moral guidelines but strict laws carrying the death penalty:

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.

EXO 20:3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

EXO 22:20. He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.

DEU 13:1. If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,

DEU 13:2. And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;

DEU 13:3. Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

DEU 13:4. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

DEU 13:5. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

DEU 13:6. If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;

DEU 13:7. Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;

DEU 13:8. Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:

DEU 13:9. But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

DEU 13:10. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

DEU 13:11. And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.

DEU 13:12. If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying,

DEU 13:13. Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;

DEU 13:14. Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you;

DEU 13:15. Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.

DEU 13:16. And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the LORD thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again.

DEU 13:17. And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;

DEU 13:18. When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD thy God.

EXO 20:4. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

EXO 20:5. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

LEV 26:1. Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.

LEV 26:30. And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

DEU 4:23. Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.

EXO 20:7. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

LEV 24:10. And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: and this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp;

LEV 24:11. And the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the LORD , and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses: (and his mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan:)

LEV 24:12. And they put him in ward, that the mind of the LORD might be showed them.

LEV 24:13. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

LEV 24:14. Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.

LEV 24:15. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin.

LEV 24:16. And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD , shall be put to death.

EXO 20:8. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

EXO 20:9. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

EXO 20:10. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

EXO 31:14. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

EXO 31:15. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

EXO 35:2. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.

EXO 20:12. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

EXO 21:15. And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.

EXO 21:17. And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death

LEV 20:9.

DEUT 21:18. If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that , when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:

DEUT 21:19. Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;

DEUT 21:20. And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.

DEUT 21:21. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

EXO 20:13. Thou shalt not kill

EXO 21:12. He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.

LEV 24:17. And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.

LEV 24:21. And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death.

EXO 20:14. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

LEV 20:10. And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

DEUT 22:22. If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.

EXO 20:15. Thou shalt not steal.

EXO 22:7. If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man's house; if the thief be found, let him pay double.

PRO 6:30. Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;

EXO 21:16. And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

EXO 20:16. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

DEUT 19:16. If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;

DEUT 19:17. Then both the men, between whom the controversy is , shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;

DEUT 19:18. And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;

DEUT 19:19. Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.

DEUT 19:20. And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.

DEUT 19:21. And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

EXO 20:17. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

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

D. The ten commandments were only the beginning; Moses’ law contained hundreds of other commandments:

DEUT 27:26. Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.

GAL 3:10. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

DEUT 4:13. 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.

E. It was impossible to avoid guilt or to keep the whole law: