Duties Toward God
The First Commandment
Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me
Description
The first commandment establishes monotheism as the foundation of true religion—there is one God, and He alone deserves worship. This prohibits not only the worship of false deities but also any rival that occupies the place belonging to God alone: money, pleasure, self, career, or any created thing. The commandment flows from God's self-revelation: 'I am the LORD thy God'—the covenant name declaring His eternal, self-existent nature. Israel's God had demonstrated His supremacy by delivering them from Egypt; all other gods are nothing.
Key Verses
I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.