The first command of ten says that Israel is to have no other gods before Yahweh. It's important to understand the first as the foundation for the remaining nine. Having Yahweh alone as their God means that his precepts and laws, his desire for them as a people, their purpose in history, is what Israel needs to know and attend to. Loyalty to him is mandatory.
But when we consider the prior reminder of his grace: “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,” then knowing and attending to God’s will is more than perfunctory obedience. It is an expression of gratitude and love. He is the one who created, preserved, protected, and provided for them. No other gods? Absolutely! How could any other god match that display of divine power and grace?
But is Israel alone to have no other gods but Yahweh? No, for the prohibition extends to all humanity, for the God of the Bible is the God of the whole earth. He made and upholds everything; he showers rain and sun on the just and unjust; he is the one before whom all will have to stand to give an account. This is the reality of things despite the multitude of gods, philosophies, and humanistic rationales that have been conjured up by fallen humanity. As Paul teaches, “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles” (Romans 1:22, 23). As a result, humanity is “storing up wrath for . . . the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:5).
On that Day, the substance of the prosecution will be, “How did you express your loyalty, love, devotion and gratitude to the One who made you and provided you with all things, including his only begotten Son to bear the cross on your behalf? What ought you to have done, and did you do it?” No one on that day, including any Israelite or Christian, will be able to claim, by their own merit, a perfect record in that regard. Only in Christ will a defendant be found to be righteous, for He alone lived as we are meant to live.
The life we live flows out of the God we worship. To live righteously we must be united to the One who is true and righteous.
