2. Not to entertain thoughts of other gods besides Him.

Status: Active

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me." ~ Exodus 20:3

Rosaus J. Rushdoony wrote about this verse:

"When the law declares, "Thou shalt have not other gods before me", it means in part that every violation of any law involves placing ourselves and our will above God's word and is therefore a violation of the first commandment." [1]

This magnitude of this commandment CANNOT be overemphasized.  The adversary knows of its significance and has from Garden, sought to lead mankind astray by believing in other gods.

"And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God." 2 Nephi 28:8

 The adversary tempted Eve in the Garden with similar words:

"And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." Genesis 3:4-6

 If you know a commandment of God, and you choose to violate it because you believe the Lord will let you off the hook, you do not know the God of Abraham.  There is incredible danger in making your reasoning supersede the commandments of the Lord.  You are essentially placing yourself above God.

[1] Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law. p.223.