664) The very first of the 10 Commandments says to have ‘no other gods before Me.” Considering this, I can sit back and say with confidence, I’ve got this one! This is arrogant thinking because any time I decide to break one of God’s statutes, I have put myself in God’s place. I’m saying, “I know better than God.” Moses does this very thing in Exodus 2:11-25. He knows God had called him to be an advocate and deliverer of God’s people, who are slaves in Egypt. Knowing this, Moses saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite slave, and he took it upon himself to deliver that Hebrew. He killed the Egyptian but it doesn’t go well for Moses. Because he made himself god, Moses had to run for his life and hide for 40 years in the desert.

Could it be that the Israelites were slaves for 40 extra years? Maybe. Maybe not. What we know is that any time we put ourselves in the place of God, the outcome is never good.