Exodus 20:3

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT, Exodus 20:3.

3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me The rendering before me follows the Vulgate. The Septuagint has πλην εμου , besides me . But the Hebrew words על פני mean rather over against me; in front of me; and the commandment prohibits all recognition and worship of any deity that could be conceived as a rival of Jehovah . A proper conception of the unity of God, and of his omnipresence and other attributes of infinity, necessarily excludes the existence of other gods . Hence, a correct knowledge of divine things shows, as the apostle says, 1 Corinthians 8:4, “that no idol is any thing in the world, and that there is no God but one.” A proper concept of God lies at the foundation of all pure worship. “Gods many and lords many” produce confusion of thought and consequent darkness of soul; for the acknowledging of such changes the truth of God into a lie, and leads logically to a worship of the creature rather than the Creator. Comp. Romans 1:21-25. Hence it is that the recognition and worship of the one true God is the basis of pure morality as well as of religion . Vainly will men seek to divorce these from one another . This commandment stands against all doctrines and forms of heathen idolatry and polytheism . It strikes at the root of all degrading superstitions . Atheism and infidelity, as well as polytheism, are herein condemned . Pantheism cannot stand the test of these words of a personal God . The commandment is holy and uplifting, and, applied to the inner life, condemns also every species of spiritual idolatry the setting of the affections on earthly rather than on heavenly things . So he who claimed to have observed all the commandments from his youth had in reality failed to know fully the import of the first one, and loved and clung to his “great possessions” when they stood between him and eternal life . Mark 10:17-22.