OF all the Ten Commandments recorded by Moses as coming from God Himself, the mighty precept, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:3), may be justly considered basic, affirming as it does the essential primacy of God, a fact which forms the foundation of both Judaism and Christianity.
The history of the Hebrew people, as previously set down, had shown in many instances the necessity and practical results of clinging to the true God as their creator, protector, and guide. Centuries before Moses, Abraham, whom the Israelites considered the founder of their nation, had outlined the pattern of their acceptance of the one ever-ruling Deity by renouncing the idolatry rife in his home city of Ur in Babylonia and accepting implicitly the Lord's command to set out for the distant and unknown land of Canaan.
Placing this true God in the foreground of his experience and repudiating the numerous alleged deities of Babylon, Abraham had clung steadfastly to the assurance that only in the recognition of and obedience to God could progress, true prosperity, and peace of mind be obtained. Faith in God's promise assured him of the birth of a son in his old age; and Isaac and Jacob in their turn held to the fundamental thought that all false, local, limited deities should be abjured.
Moses, then, had abundant justification in the past history of the Hebrews for stating to the people the paramount necessity of placing God first in their thoughts and in their lives. Moreover, had he not had a vision of the Lord at the burning bush, receiving from Him a direct commission to lead His people out of Egypt, to release them from their many trials, and to guide them toward the Promised Land?
Such facts as these surely justify the promulgation of the First Commandment as the greatest of them all. In addition, the constant fears and questionings of the Israelites, even in the early portion of their wilderness experience, indicated the urgent need of their setting forth the rallying point indicated in this great command, with its emphasis upon the uniquity of God and the requirement of exclusive allegiance to Him and to His will.
It is interesting to notice also the way in which the stress on the observance of the First Commandment is prefaced by the reminder of the freedom which had come into the experience of the Hebrews, in spite of their doubts, "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Ex. 20:2). The liberation they were now experiencing was surely a foretaste of continuing deliverance contingent upon their obedience to this primary law.
Its wording as recorded in Deuteronomy is closely similar in content to the phraseology found in Exodus; while expanding its implication to emphasize not only the oneness of God but also the necessity of loving Him completely (SeeDeut. 5:6, 7; 6:4, 5). It was clearly this latter passage which the Master himself had in thought when he defined "the first and great commandment" as, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" (Matt. 22:38, 37).
Christ Jesus did not quote the First Commandment directly in the familiar words of Exodus, but unquestionably he shared with Moses and with other great leaders of the Old Testament period an appreciation of its deep and abiding significance. Not only so, but Jesus assured his followers that God alone is good and that He demands complete and unwavering obedience (see Matt. 19:17; 6:24).
