“And God spoke these words, saying, ‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me’” (Exodus 20:1-3). The creation account in Genesis states very plainly that “in the beginning, God”! From that point, He created all things. He made everything that was made. It was a beautiful view: sun, moon, stars—the very universe in which He would soon place man.
Mankind, then, could look upon the beauty of God’s total creation. Man has been looking farther and farther into the universe ever since. Man, which God created, was deceived by Satan into believing that he—man—could be as wise as God, knowing good and evil. This was a great lie that led to more trouble than man could imagine.
Mankind fell deeper and deeper into the mire created by his own disobedience of God’s first command—“thou shalt not.” This led man into a spiral that eventually placed the children of Israel under bondage and slavery in Egypt. Even so, God sent Moses to deliver the Israelites from that vile servitude. God, however, found it necessary to remind them just who He is. He was the one and only God. In His work of creation, there is no record of God creating other gods to compete with Him for supremacy in the whole of the universe. From where would the idea of “other gods” come? The answer is very simple. Other gods were the figment and the creation of the evil mind of man himself. They were the gods of money, lust, greed, selfishness and the desire to do things his own way.
God says, “Oh no, no, no. It is I who have made you, and brought you through all of your toils, trials, tribulations and even the thoughts of your own evil mind.” He says you shall not bow yourself down to obey and to worship any image made of wood, gold, silver, stone, precious gems or any other such like.
God promised that if we obey and worship Him and Him alone, we shall prosper and go in and out in peace all the days of our lives and even into the eternal life hereafter. The Bible warns us that there is a place for the disobedient and unbelieving. It is the lake of fire that burns forever and is never quenched. God is pleading with you to shun the false gods that cannot bring you peace, love, consolation and rest eternal in the arms of the one and only God—your Creator and Sustainer.
[Editor’s Note: God made man, and man made false gods to correspond to desires and to actions forbidden by our Creator-God. Throughout history, these false gods have manifested themselves in carved stone and wood, molten metals, the love of money, lust and manmade religions (world religions and derivations of Christianity, too). ~ Louis Rushmore, Editor]
