01-19-2026, 06:24 AM
RoboR Wrote:The phrase “there are no gods before Me” can be understood in the following way.
Let us examine Moses’ knowledge of the structure of faith at the time of his encounter with the True God.
It is clear that Moses was familiar with the divine pantheon of Egypt, and possibly with the gods of other religions of that time as well. It is clear that the first encounter with the True God was a new event, in which God declares that the gods mentioned in earlier religions (before Him) are not gods.
“You shall have no other gods before Me” can be understood precisely in this way—as referring to the gods named earlier, prior to the revelation that Moses received from the True God. That is, they were not gods at all.
Hmm, that's an interesting take RoboR, one I had not considered before. So by "before me" God means to say before now ("me" being "the event of me being here"). So do not worship the gods that came before me. Sort of saying "get rid of the old ways." But you say it goes even further... you say it means that the other gods weren't even real gods. Lesser gods, I can understand, but not even qualifying as gods? Can you elaborate on this?