Lesson No. 34 

Lesson No. 34 First Commandment

The first of the Ten Commandments is expressed in the following statement:54

Exodus chapter 20: verse 3: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”.51

This means that we should not worship supposed gods or believe in them because they really only exist in the imagination and heart of the misguided man, whether or not they are represented by a graphic or sculptural image. God demands that we worship only Him, the only true one, the eternal, the uncreated, the Creator of all that exists and the one who sustains everything. Regarding this, let us see what the following biblical passage tells us:

Isaiah chapter 43: verses 10 and 11: “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. 11I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour”.51

Although this declaration by the Supreme Creator constitutes an undeniable reality, it is also true, as meticulous theological studies prove, that men have created many gods from the beginning. After man's moral fall, his descendants migrated far away without caring about their relations with their progenitors and their Creator at all. This is how after the first generations passed, most of humanity lost its relationship with the true God.

It is also true, as ethnology studies have shown, that human beings have by their own intuition the tendency to believe in the existence of the supernatural, that is, it is something innate in themselves the conception of some God as the cause of all the natural phenomena that are perceived. This resulted in men creating countless gods who were nothing more than the product of their own minds. These were mainly represented by images or sculptures of those who had been prominent figures among their ancestors. Other gods were symbolized by the very works of creation, such as stars, planets, trees, rocks, and animals.

They were attributed all kinds of powers and faculties and were offered strange cults and sacrifices, to the extent that they came to offer human victims, mainly children. It is known through the Bible that this was a religious practice of the Canaanites, who offered their children in sacrifice to the fire in the arms of the god Moloch. Likewise, some kings of Israel in their deviation, sinned against God by doing the same, despite the divine warning. Let us consider what the following biblical passages say:

Leviticus chapter 18: verse 21: “And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD”.51

Second Kings chapter 16: verses 2 and 3: “Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father. 3But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel”.51

A confirmation of this abominable and criminal sin is reflected in other portions of the Sacred Writings, which say: And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. 31And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. (Second Kings chapter 17: verses 17 and 31).51

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzibah. 2And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. 6And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. (Second Kings chapter 21: verses 1, 2, and 6).51

Besides this evidence that the Holy Scriptures provide us with, it is proven through authentic investigations that many ancient tribes, some of which enjoyed a certain degree of civilization, including some tribes in America, practiced the sacrifice of human victims to their gods, especially of young virgins.

All this has brought great pain and confusion to humanity detached from the true and only God. And it is evident that these evils have persisted today, where there exist such kinds of believers who offer their gods the blood and entrails of children and adolescents, for which they are compelled to kidnapping and crime, to fulfill what supposedly these require of them.

Thus, the worship of other deities or foreign gods has become, from very early in human history, such a tragic and harmful practice that it has resulted in constant pain, terror, and despair for a large part of human beings, who at the same time live in the most tenebrous religious obscurity, for not knowing the true and only really existing God.

A thorough study of this commandment, as an eminent writer32 points out in his commentary, states:

"For what this commandment tells us is that no person, thing, ideology, or purpose, including excessive love of money, should interfere in our exclusive worship of God".

Therefore, it is advisable to always keep in mind the words referred by the Lord himself, that say: I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. (Isaiah chapter 43: verse 11).51

The declaration in this passage does not exclude Jesus Christ as Savior, inasmuch as this message was delivered through the prophet Isaiah approximately eight hundred years before the arrival of the Messiah—whom the very same prophet proclaimed as the Savior provided by God Himself.