IDOLATRY
Idolatry is the fundamental sin of man. Knowing this, God sets forth in the
First of the 10 Commandments, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” However,
before He lists each of the Statues of the Commandments, God emphatically
declares that He alone is the Lord God Who is responsible for the deliverance of
Israel.
“I [am] the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from
the house of bondage.”
(Deuteronomy 5:6 AV)
This declaration establishes God’s ownership over the people, making
them accountable to Him, and responsible for their actions under His Law-order,
the 10 Commandments. It must be understood that although there is a specific and
intimate accountability/ responsibility relationship between God and His elect,
this precept of God’s Dominion-Ownership over all flesh is also universal. In
other words, God holds all flesh accountable to Him, and responsible to keep His
moral Law.
“For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things
contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also
bearing witness, and [their] thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing
one another;” (Romans 2:14-15 AV)
Only those who are the called and sanctified, true regenerate souls, have the
power by the Grace of God, to hear, understand and do that which is written in
the Holy Scriptures.
When Adam rebelled in the Garden against the Lord and
His Law, he sought to establish himself as both Lord and Lawgiver. Adam’s
transgression was more than a simple infraction against the Divine Law and
Sovereign Lawgiver. His rebellion was an attempt to “Divinize” himself.
The serpent promised that “he would be like God, knowing good and evil.”.
Through Adam’s rebellious action, he hoped to gain autonomy, setting himself
up as Law, and Lawgiver. Adam essentially forgot the Commandment which forbade
the eating of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and fell
headlong into idolatry, attempting to be like God.