These are portrayed as being spoken by God Himself to a vast number of people...
These are portrayed as being spoken by God Himself to a vast number of people, mostly descendants of Jacob, but including a vast internationally mixed multitude as well. The very first commandment is in Exodus 20:1-3: `And God speak all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' The import of these words is radical.
The sentence does not imply a hierarchy with the God of the Bible as the head of a pantheon of lesser deities below Him. We are confronted with only one speaker, the God who says `f and `me'. His message is that He will not accept any relations whatsoever between human beings and other gods. The second commandment in verses 4-6 shows what precisely is unacceptable and what is necessary.
It is unacceptable to make an image of anything to bow down to or serve, because God is jealous, that is, He does not accept other gods before Him. What is necessary is to love God and to obey His commandments.
It has now been established on the basis of the most authoritative texts in the Bible that according to the Bible, people must acknowledge the one God of the Bible alone as God, avoid making any kind of image, mental or otherwise, of any deity to be bowed down to or served, but love God and do what He tells them to do. There are plenty of supporting texts for these first basic principles. Some of them are listed below. Those which claim to be the words of God are marked with a star.
Deuteronomy 4:35. `Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightiest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him. This text, purported to be the words of Moses, clearly states four things: 1) Something has been shown, that is, revealed. 2) This revelation is not a matter of opinion or even of faith, but it is a matter of knowledge. To deny it is to be ignorant. 3) The first point of this revelation is that the one referred to as YHWH (Lord) is God.