1 And God spoke all these words, saying,
This is the message that God sent down with Moses;
2 “I am the I AM thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Deuteronomy 5:6 I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.
Deuteronomy 4:20 But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto Him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day."
Be sure you know who you are worshiping.
This is the God who performed all those miracles in Egypt talking.
This is the beginning of Ethical Monotheism, which is the belief that One God is the source of all morality. This scripture teaches us that what God wants most from us is that we treat other humans morally. (see PragerU.com)
God did not identify Himself here as the Creator, but as the granter of freedom. That is how important He thinks freedom is.
You can not be a free people if you do not follow these commandments. Violating these commands will violate your or someone else's freedom.
And these commandments prove God cares about us. He's not some spirit floating around demanding service, but a God who knows what is best for us and desires that.
3 Thou shall have no other gods before Me.
Deuteronomy 5:7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
8 Thou shall not make 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 waters beneath the earth:
9 Thou shall 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 to the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me,
10 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments.
Psalm 81:9 "Let there be no strange god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god."
Deuteronomy 18:20'But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.'
2 Kings 17:35 "With whom the I AM made a covenant and commanded them, saying, "You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down yourselves to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them."
Exodus 22:20 "He who sacrifices to any god, other than to the I AM alone, shall be utterly destroyed."
Deuteronomy 4:19 "And beware not to lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven."
Ephesians 5:5 "For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God."
There is only one God, and only this God is to be worshiped.
One God means there is only one human race. We are all brothers and sisters. No person or group is more important or of greater value, because we all have the same God, the same Creator.
At this time in history each country had their own "patron god" and it was believed which ever god was the strongest would help his people win their battles. This verse declares this idea untrue. There is only one God.
One God means one moral standard. You can't pick a different god with a different moral standard. There is only one option. Choosing to believe differently results in cruelty. Worship the true God and you make a good world. Worship a false god and you make evil.
"Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry." Colossians 3:5
Anything can become a “god" to us; money, power, comfort, health, entertainment, “worthy causes,” the environment, as well as physical statues. None of this is supposed to ever be more important than God Himself.
Since we are now under Grace, not Law, the Ten Commandments are no longer binding to us.
However, the New Testament replaces them with tougher Laws to live by. In this case, Jesus reaffirmed this command, calling it the most important.
“And he answering said, Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” Luke 10:27 (and "mind" was not in the original. Jesus added it.)
(Short hand for "Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:
5 And thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7 And thou shall teach them diligently to thy children, and shall talk of them when thou sit in thine house, and when thou walk by the way, and when thou lie down, and when thou rise up.
8 And thou shall bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
9 And thou shall write them on the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.")
Paul also reaffirms this command:
Acts 14:11-15 "And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, 'The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.'
12 And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.
13 Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.
14 Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they tore their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,
15 And saying, “Sirs, why do ye these things? We are men of like passions just like you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities to the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:”