Exodus 20:3
“Do not worship any god except for me.”
Out of all the commands God gave, as recorded in the Bible, this is one of the most important concerning human beings. Because, more than any other creation known, humans have a strong desire to look up, admire, and even worship a more powerful being than themselves: Particularly the one(s) that had to do with creating them/the universe and controlling it. Since The God of the Bible is the creator of the universe/humanity and still controls all reality today, he rightfully deserves human worship. Why this makes complete sense, God, in reality, does not get worshiped by most of humanity. Why? Well Instead, most of humanity throughout history has worshiped other gods besides the God of the Bible. The ancient world was full of all different types of gods/goddesses that were claimed to be the rightful creators of humanity/the universe and were worship/adored for it. So, you see while the human desire to worshiping a being greater than themselves is not necessarily wrong, it can be misdirected to another god which is very wrong! This is why God says for those who want to worship him and follow him to NOT worship all these other gods!
He first officially told Moses this:
Exodus 20:3
“And God spoke…these words: ‘I am the Lord your God…Do not worship any god except for me.’”
Because he alone wants to be worshiped! And this not only means not to just reject him for some other god, but also to not worship other gods along with him!
Exodus 20: 22-23
“... the Lord said to Moses, ‘...Do not make any gods to be alongside [worshipped with] me; …’”
While it's pretty obvious why God should alone be worshiped the rest of the Bible tells why this is the right thing to do:
God is the only true god: all other so-called gods are not even real
One of the biggest reasons why God wants humans to worship him and him alone is because he alone created the universe and the human race: there was no other co-god(s) helping him out, nor did any other god(s) do it: The Bible is clear God alone made the universe, planet Earth, and the humans on it all by himself. But then, what about all the other gods/goddesses that also are claimed to have created the universe/ humanity as well?
The Bible reveals these other gods/goddesses worshiped by humans are not even real: all their stories of how they created the universe and even existing are all nothing but human invented myth.
Deuteronomy 4:28
"...man(human)-made gods..."
In reality, these gods cannot hear their worshipers worshiping them or praying to them, nor can they respond to their prayers or worship nor can they feel or do any:
Deuteronomy 4:28
"...man-made gods...which cannot see or hear or eat or smell."
Psalms 115:2-8
“…But their…(gods) are…made by human[s]…They… cannot speak,…cannot see…cannot hear,…cannot smell….cannot feel,…cannot walk,…[they can’t]…utter a sound with their throats (they can’t even speak)…”
Isaiah 45:20
"...gods that cannot save."
Jeremiah 10:3-5
"...Their…[gods]…cannot speak;…they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.”
they can't do anything because they don't even exist!
God makes it clear he is the only real god who created everything:
Isaiah 45:18
"this is what the Lord says:
'the one who created the heavens,
he is God;...I am the Lord,
and there is no other.'"
Isaiah 45:5
"...I am the Lord, and there is no other;...apart from me there is no God."
So, if he is, then why should any other god get God's rightful worship from his human creations?
And more importantly, why should any human waste their time, energy, and love worshiping and believing in gods that don't even exist? This is total ignorance for a human to waste their time on these non-existence gods:
Isaiah 45:20
“...Ignorant are those who...who pray to gods that cannot save."
But that's not the only problem with this:
When human worship other gods they deprive God of the rightful worship he truly deserves: and as a result, this makes him angry because of jealousy of his worship being given to these fake gods:
Exodus 20:5
“You will not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord...am a jealous God,..."
Deuteronomy 4:23-24
“...do not…[worship other gods that]..the Lord your God has forbidden. For...God is a consuming fire (full of rage), a jealous God.”
God considers all other nations who worship other gods as spiritual rebels/prostitutes who have betrayed him as their creator:
Exodus 34:15
“...they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them,…”
and in his anger God might even declare war on a pagan nation to make war against their fake gods they love so much to prove to them he is the only true god worthy of worship:
Exodus 12:12
“…I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.”
Isaiah 21:9
"'Babylon has fallen (been destroyed), has fallen! All...of its gods lie shattered on the ground (defeated)!'”
Isaiah 46:8-9
“Remember this, keep it in mind,
take it to heart, you rebels (those worshiping other gods).
...I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me."
So, The Bible gives many good reasons why to worship God and God alone: God is completely worthy of all human worship because he is the great creator of all, all other gods do not exist so worshiping them is a waste of time, and worst of all God gets very jealous and angry and can even curse a nation who worships other gods. Don’t worship any other gods except for him because he is the only true god worthy of worship.