"put no other god before me"? This implies that they believed there were other gods besides theirs. If they didn't mean that, they could have said "put nothing else before me". That would have made much more sense.
2006-12-03 08:27:21 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Simply because THERE ARE "other gods" out there since time immemorial... the golden calf, the groves, Baal, Isis, the sun, the moon, the stars, money and worldly possessions, etc.
Peace be with you.
2006-12-03 08:34:11 · answer #1 · answered by Arf Bee 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure there were other gods. The nations all around them worshiped lots of other gods. They had just come from Egypt were lots of gods were worshiped.
The thing that separated the Jews from the people around them was the exclusive devotion to the one true God.
The people around them could worship many gods at the same time or switch whichever one they thought would help them the most for a given problem. We have no idea if the gods back then were just made up by people and/or had some kind of supernatural backing to them. The Bible describes angels that rebelled against God, becoming the demons. It's possible they might be the forces behind some of the gods of that time.
1 Kings 18 is interesting reading. Jehovah smacks down Baal.
2006-12-03 16:46:14 · answer #2 · answered by matthewd 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The Israelites had just come from Egypt, a land of many idols and many gods. Because each god represented a different aspect of life, it was common to worship many gods in order to get the maximum number of blessings. When God told his people to worship and believe in him, that wasn't so hard for them - he was just one more God to add to the list. But when he said, "worship me only" that was difficult for the people to accept. But if they did not learn that the God who led them out of Egypt was the only true God, they could not be his people - no matter how faithfully they kept the other nine commandments. Thus, God made this his first commandment and emphasized it more than the others.
2006-12-03 16:52:11 · answer #3 · answered by Freedom 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If God had said, don't put false gods before me, would that have been satisfactory?
Your unasked, but implied, question appears to me to be, "So, is the bible saying that there really are other gods besides the God of the monothiest?"
Jeremiah 16:20 "Can man make gods for himself? Yet they are not gods!"
Daniel 5:22-23
22 "Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this, 23 but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and your ways, you have not glorified."
Joh 10:34 ... "Ye are gods (theoi este). Another direct quotation after eipa but without hoti. The judges of Israel abused their office and God is represented in Ps 82:6 as calling them "gods" (theoi, elohim) because they were God's representatives. See the same use of elohim in Ex 21:6; 22:9,28. Jesus meets the rabbis on their own ground in a thoroughly Jewish way.
2006-12-03 16:41:07 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because at that time, people around and among them did worship "gods", stone carvings, trees, the sun, moon, etc. It didn't mean they were real, just that they shouldn't be drawn into that.
Today people put great importance on all kinds of things that become like "gods" for them - they give them worship. Nothing in your life should be more important to you than your connection with God.
2006-12-03 16:34:13 · answer #5 · answered by guitar teacher 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The ten commandments were written towards the beginning of the creation of the christian religion. At this time, the culture was in a transition from a pagan society to a society that believed in the christian beliefs. Transitions take time, and are going to be evident in the things that are written in those times.
2006-12-03 16:31:09 · answer #6 · answered by the guru 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Idololatry was rampant then. He was insuring that they did not turn to them instead of him, unfortunately they couldn't even wait long enough to get those commandments before they made a golden calf to replace God. Now other objects have replaced idols of stone and gold. So yes, the application to other areas of your life are perfectly valid.
2006-12-03 16:31:25 · answer #7 · answered by The GMC 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because in God's (and Satan's) eyes man is as a god, (albeit a false god). That may be part of why God told the Jews and Christians to have two or more witnesses for what they call fact.
2006-12-03 16:44:23 · answer #8 · answered by jefferyspringer57@sbcglobal.net 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
People have made gods of all sorts of things but God the Father is the God that we are to worship.
2006-12-03 16:34:35 · answer #9 · answered by deacon 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
We are not suppose to put anything before God, whether it be material things of this world or other "gods". People worship false gods..when there is only One true God and that is God Jehovah..Creator of all.
2006-12-03 16:38:09 · answer #10 · answered by Judah's voice 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋