When the people answered, “We will do everything that the Lord has told us,” Moses then put in writing those words of the Lord. Isn’t it interesting that Moses put in writing the commandments of the Lord only after the people had assented to them? I believe this development speaks volumes about the nature of the commandments.
The commandments were not “imposed” on the Israelites. They were a result of a ‘dialogue’ that was going on between God and the people. Of course, God proposed the contents of the commandments. But it is also clear that the people gave their consent to the items which God had proposed. The commandments, though they came from God, were a result of a dialogue. It is this dialogic nature of the commandments that made them binding. Once the Israelites had given their consent, they could not back out. As such, a transgression against the commandments was not only a sin against God but also a loss of honor on their part. They had given God their word.
Although we were not present when the commandments were given to Moses (and to the Israelites), we cannot excuse ourselves from the obligation to observe them. Moses and the Israelites received the commandments on our behalf (just like parents and godparents making baptismal promises on behalf of an infant). Together with the Israelites, we have given consent to the contents of the commandments. Like them, we too are bound by the terms of the commandments. And for us not to look at the commandments as constraints, we have to see in them God coming to us in order to give us life. The commandments are God looking out for us to see that we have life in its fullness.