Re: An even darker view:
that's actually a misunderstanding. God recognized there were other gods. What he said was "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." That's the establishment of a monopoly, not a statement he was the only one. He was saying, "I will honor you and your descendants if you hitch yourselves to me, and only me."
And we see, by the way, how well that covenant worked out for Abe's descendants over the centuries.