"All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. Then they said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die."Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was." - Exodus 20:19-21

Where do you go after the 10 commandments in a study of the Law? It is very helpful to realize that there is a progressive revelation - an order to how it is revealed and documented across the Books of Moses.

Here is the sequence of events in Exodus.
1. God speaks the 10 commandments. ( Chap 20 )
2. The people request Moses ( our text above ) to be their mediator.
3. God gives Moses a set of ordinances ( listed up to Chap 24 ). He also invites Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu (Aaron's two sons) and 70 elders up to the mountain to worship Him at a distance. Exo 24:1
4. Moses comes back and recounts these ordinances to the people. The people agree to abide by them. Exo 24:3
5. Moses builds an altar (the first one ever!) ,and erects 12 pillars ( one for each tribe ) and sacrifices burnt and peace offerings on it. He writes the ordinances in a book. He sprinkles some of the blood of the sacrifices on the book to seal the covenant between the people and God. Exo: 24:8 This was the LAW v 1.0!!!
6. Moses and the invited people go up the mountain a way and eat and drink in the presence of God! "and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank." Exo 24:10,11 This is truly amazing to contemplate! God had lunch with His people :-)!!!
7. Moses is asked to come up all the way to collect the stone tablets God has written. He starts up with Joshua, leaves him to wait for him, and is there with God for 40 days and nights. God gives him the instructions for building the Wilderness tabernacle and worship, and the tablets of the Law. ( Upto Chap 32 ) Poor Joshua !! I don't think people realize his grit and determination waiting alone for Moses to return.
8. Meanwhile..... the people forget what they have promised, and Aaron leads them to build a golden calf, and throw a party. God tells Moses what they are doing, and Moses intercedes for the people the first time.
9. Moses and Joshua return and see what is happening. Moses in his fury, shatters the tablets. The sons of Levi stand with him when he calls for those who are for the Lord. 3000 people are killed in one day by them. The Lord kills others. Exo 32:11-35
10. Moses returns to plead for the people to the Lord. "But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!" Exo 32:32 The Lord relents, but threatens to withdraw His presence from them. There is a period of mourning. Moses pleads for the Presence to go with them, and his prayer is granted. "The Lord said to Moses, "I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name."" Exo 33:17
11. Moses comes back up for another 40 days and nights. At this time, he is the only human privileged to catch a glimpse of the Almighty, ..."So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments." Exo 34:28 God also gives him further instructions, including the observance of the Passover and other feasts.
12. The rest of the book of Exodus has Moses repeating these instructions back to the people , and details the building and consecration of the Tabernacle.

We suggest reading the areas of the Bible we have outlined / referenced here to get a first hand picture of events for yourself!

The reason for the outline is simply to explain that the whole Law was not delivered in one lump. Rather, over 40 years of wandering time:
(a) in Exodus 10 commandments were spoken.
(b) A set of ordinances were given, and a covenant sealed in blood and sacrifice, which was immediately broken by Israel.
(c) instructions were given for the Wilderness tabernacles' construction and worship.
(d) separate instructions were given ( some were repeated ) at another time regarding appointed times and feasts etc

All of these concluded with the creation and consecration of the Tabernacle and the presence of God with His people. Thereafter,
(e) the book of Leviticus goes into detailed laws re: worship, hygiene, cleanliness, feast days
(f) further events are captured, and other laws are given in the book of Numbers and finally,
(g) a recapitulation happens in the book of Deuteronomy

We have looked at the items in (a) in previous posts, we shall now start to look at (b).

Do you know what the eleventh commandment is ? What do you think it could be about? What will it tell us about God and His nature and priorities ? Pause and try to guess right now before you read on .... all right no more suspense.... here it is. Remember we are back in time to just after the 10 have been spoken.

"Then the Lord said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves. You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it." Exo 20:22-26

It is ironic that the people, after agreeing ( in BLOOD ) to obey all the laws Moses recounted for them, started by breaking the very first one, by making a golden calf! It would be funny if it wasn't so sad. God knew what would happen ... This is the first and second commandments repeated in a different form so we are not at number eleven yet..

The eleventh is actually the instructions regarding an altar. Contrary to the elaborate temples and golden altars raised to pagan deities, there is a stark contrast in the materials prescribed here, earth and stone. Please note that they are not man made materials! Other than heaping up the earth, or stacking stones, no other craft of man is to be employed, and is actually forbidden. This is probably the kind that Moses made when he went down and sacrificed for the very first time. Now, the exceptions are the altar made for the wilderness tabernacle and the later one in the Jewish temple - however - those were the one and only exceptions. Elsewhere, if an altar needed to be built, this prescribes the manner and materials ( e.g Samuel & Saul, Elijah would use this kind ) to construct one.

This sends a powerful message about worship and sacrifice. We worship God with what is already His through the means He provides. The animal, the rain which brings food, the food itself, and the material of the altar are all from His hand. Our well intentioned efforts to glorify Him (shaping the stones with tools) actually have the reverse effect of profaning His altar. It has to be pure and free of our pollution. We cannot make up our means of approaching Him, it has to be on His terms. The poorest man can approach Him. He is accessible everywhere, through means He himself has provided. It is a Holy place and must be treated with respect.
Nakedness is not a good thing. Every person and angel in all the Bible is clothed. Adam and Eve realized this only after their eyes were opened, and Gods first act was to provide clothes for them. This is a very powerful clue that though they sinned of their own free will, God knew what the serpent and they would do, and did not intend them to be naked under the eyes of heaven for too long. He always intended for us to have that knowledge of good and evil, but it's deprivation was a test of our obedience. That is why Adams knowledge of his nakedness was the evidence he had eaten that fruit.

The altar of Earth brings man back to contemplating his roots. That is what he was created from, and is, and in a sense, we are temples of the Spirit- altars of earth, made by God to worship Him! Hallelujah!