Deuteronomy 4:20 (ESV)

20 But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.

The exodus from Egypt had led to the establishing of a special relationship between Israel and its God. That relationship, wherein Israel was to be a people of the Lord's inheritance and thereby distinct from all other nations, made any worship of creation false worship. Israel was to base their existence on knowing and experiencing the living God.