God has originally put the Ten Commandments in place for the Israelites ... rules for them to follow in order for them to live like humans and not regress to an animal state.
One can imagine ... They were a nation without a ruler and without laws, by the time that Moses had lead them out of Egypt. They must have lived wild lives ... doing just what they want to, and getting away with it. They must have fallen to a barbaric level, while they were enjoying their new found freedom in the desert. And Moses, their leader, was a stuttering introvert and spoke to God most of the time. It must have been an impossible situation. The only leading character that they had was the brother of Moses, and his name was Aaron, but he had no backbone and could easily coward away from tough decisions.
When Moses received the first set of Commandments he nearly got a heart attack while climbing down the Sinai Mountain with the heavy tablets on which God had written the Commandments Himself. The nation had a big golden calf, that they had made themselves with all the jewellery and things that they could lay their hands on, and they were worshipping this calf and having a hell of a party in honor of their new god!
Moses totally lost it! With reason. There they were, free of slavery, they witnessed God's Ten Plagues and they witnessed God's Ultimate Power when He divided the sea for them to finally escape Egypt, and God provided them with food, by way of Manna and Quail [birds and bread that fell from the sky] and drink EVERY DAY ... and they STILL go make themselves none other than a golden calf!
He threw the tablets at them and they shattered into pieces and then he gave the Israelites a tongue lashing of note!
They were of course, in the face of Moses's anger, very apologetic and they melted the calf and humbly crawled around at Moses's feet. They had no idea of what was coming.
God's Wrath hit them like a ton of bricks as His Voice thundered from the heavens, enveloping them in His Anger! They were hysterical and screaming, running around like ants trying to escape His Voice.
They pleaded with Moses to make it stop ... they promised him ANYTHING, anything that he would want, and he felt sorry for them and he went to speak to God on the mountain. God calmed down and gave Moses a second set of tablets and then He sentenced the nation to 40 years in the desert for their little stunt.
Post Script. The Ten Commandments is the cornerstones for a functional society, and has survived for a long, long time.
Source ... The Bible : Old Testament : Exodus 20
