The natural flip-side of rejecting idolatry is the acknowledgment of the true Deity. Let me quote some verses that will form the basis of this section.
In the beginning Deity created the heavens and the earth. ..., in the day that YHWH, Deity, made earth and heaven. (Genesis 1:1, 2:4b)
(1) And Deity spoke all these words, saying: (2) I am YHWH your Deity, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves. (Exodus 20:1-2)
For YHWH your Deity, He is Deity of deities, and Lord of lords, the Mighty, the Great, the Overpowering, and the Awe-inspiring, who is not partial concerning people, nor does he accept bribes. (Deuteronomy 10:17)
Two important and inter-related questions to ask is: why the scripture starts by telling who created the universe and; why the beginning of the giving of the Torah, the Instructions, to Israel starts with Yahweh introducing himself as their Deity.
The Hebrew word translated Deity, or "God" in most bible translations, "elohim" implies a powerful authority. That is why the Hebrew word has more scope that our english word "god" which has come to have the more limited popular meaning of "a supernatural creator, the almighty". Whereas "elohim" can refer to human judges and angels in scripture, we have trouble using the english word "god" in the same way.
Anyway, since this word implies authority and power, we can see that this "Person" of authority, Yahweh, made everything, thus placing everything that was made under His authority, including us humans. Because He created everything, He is not only the basis of the "laws" of nature. Because He made us as well, He is, objectively speaking, the one who should rule our moral laws as well. His word and will should be the basis of our laws, our morals. This fact that we are under His authority is seen by the fact that the very first man was commanded by Him (Gen 2:16), and it was He who meted out the judgment and punishment for disobedience, even upon a being that wasn't directly given that command, i.e., the snake (Genesis 3).
Also, the reason why Israel is first shown that Yahweh is their Deity is that in order for a people to accept commandments, they must first acknowledge and accept the authority of the One giving the commands. For an Israelite who asks, "Who is Yahweh that he can command us to do anything?", the answer shall be given that He is the authority, the ruler of Israel.
And Deuteronomy 10:12 clarifies that Yahweh is the authority in the absolute sense, unlike human judges and angels. He is "the Deity of deities", i.e., the Supreme Deity. And He is the Lord of Lords, i.e., the Lord over all lords. That makes him the Highest authority.
That being the case, what can be said about people who just do good things, for maybe purely rational reasons, yet reject or do not acknowledge the authority of Yahweh over themselves, as the basis of the laws of morality, as well as all natural law?
To be perfectly honest, they are their own authority. Since they have rejected the Almighty's authority, they are no better than an idolator, one who relies on another "ultimate" authority other than Yahweh's, namely, their own. There are implications to this.
The most obvious consequence, biblically, is that the person is in a state of rebellion against the Creator, and classed as outlaws. Outlaws may be nice to one another, maybe even nice to people under the rule of the rightful King. But their outlaw status ultimately sets them at odds with the King Himself. A dangerous position!
The case cannot be made that "as long as I'm a good person, God will accept me and I'll have a place in the afterlife." How is that sensible? You live your life serving yourself and maybe even serving people in this life, in this material world, or the world of purely human ideas and ideals, and then you expect Deity to reward you??? You expect benefits in a world or universe separate to this one, in the afterlife??? That is like spending your life serving one master and the turning round and expecting payment from someone else, someone with whom you had made no agreement, had done no work for. It is Yahweh who is both Master of this world and the next. To ignore his rule in this life means inevitably that you forsake and benefit or reward in seeing the next life. Even if some of your good deeds coincidentally help his cause, because you are following your own dictates, you are still outside of His rule and thus outside His benefits.
To summarize, if you choose to live simply by and in the laws of nature and human endeavour, which is limited by those laws, then expect to "win" and lose based on those principles. Nature neither knows nor cares, and human endeavour will always be fallible and limited. So expect their wages whatever they may be. When it ends, or when you die, that really is the absolute end of the road for you.
Also, the human basis for morality is purely subjective, i.e., it depends on the individual. So it becomes changeable according to the circumstances and conditions one lives in. One group believes one set of values and another group accepts another. What is good to one is evil to another. Even what is moral at one time of life becomes evil and immoral at another time of life in the very same person. Morality then has no real foundation, and thus true success in life becomes based on who can exploit it the best, or who is luckiest. When the absolute and objective basis of morality is gone, having nothing to stand on, it becomes quicksand, impossible to negotiate, and from which, humanly speaking, there is no escape.
For all these reasons and more, acknowledging the Almighty and His rightful position as the one who has the absolute authority over us is the basis of all the principles that follow.
Back
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.