הסדרה בהלכה בראשית ה

During the times of Enosh, mankind made a great mistake, and the wise men of that generation gave thoughtless counsel. Enosh himself was one of those who erred.
Their mistake was as follows: They said God created stars and spheres with which to control the world. He placed them on high and treated them with honor, making them servants who minister before Him. Accordingly, it is fitting to praise and glorify them and to treat them with honor. [They perceived] this to be the will of God, blessed be He, that they magnify and honor those whom He magnified and honored, just as a king desires that the servants who stand before him be honored. Indeed, doing so is an expression of honor to the king.
After conceiving of this notion, they began to construct temples to the stars and offer sacrifices to them. They would praise and glorify them with words, and prostrate themselves before them, because by doing so, they would - according to their false conception - be fulfilling the will of God.
This was the essence of the worship of false gods, and this was the rationale of those who worshiped them. They would not say that there is no other god except for this star.
This message was conveyed by Jeremiah, who declared (10:7-8): "Who will not fear You, King of the nations, for to You it is fitting. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You. They have one foolish and senseless [notion. They conceive of their] empty teachings as wood;" i.e., all know that You alone are God. Their foolish error consists of conceiving of this emptiness as Your will.

The essence of the commandment [forbidding] the worship of false gods is not to serve any of the creations, not an angel, a sphere, or a star, none of the four fundamental elements, nor any entity created from them. Even if the person worshiping knows that ‘ה is the [true] God and serves the creation in the manner in which Enosh and the people of his generation worshiped [the stars] originally, he is considered to be an idol worshiper.
The Torah warns us about this, saying [Deuteronomy 4:19]: "Lest you lift your eyes heavenward and see the sun, the moon, and the stars... [and bow down and worship them], the entities which God apportioned to all the nations." This implies that you might inquire with "the eye of the heart" and it might appear to you that these entities control the world, having been apportioned by God to all the nations to be alive, to exist, and not to cease existence, as is the pattern of [the other creations with] the world. Therefore, you might say that it is worthy to bow down to them and worship them.
For this reason, [Deuteronomy 11:16] commands: "Be very careful that your heart not be tempted [to go astray and worship other gods]." This implies that the thoughts of your heart should not lead you astray to worship these and make them an intermediary between you and the Creator.

The people of the [generation of] the Flood became haughty in front of the Place only due to the goodness that He showered upon them, as it says (Job 21:9-11): "Their homes are secure, without fear [and they do not feel the rod of God]. Their bull breeds and does not fail ... They let their infants run loose like sheep, etc." This was the cause of their [downfall]. And they said to God (Job 21:14-15): "Leave us alone ... What is Shaddai that we should serve Him?" They said, "Why does He trouble Himself with us? All we need are two drops of water. Behold, ours are the rivers and the springs with which we supply ourselves on hot summer days and on rainy days, as it is said (Gen 2:6), "But a surge would well up from the earth [and water all the face of the ground]." The Place said to them, "It was with goodness that I bestowed [all this] on you, and you come with haughtiness before me? I am coming to destroy you," as it is said (Gen. 6:17), "As for me, here, I am about to bring on the Deluge, water upon the earth, etc." Rabbi Yosei ben Dormaskit says, the people of the [generation of] the Flood became haughty in front of the Place only with the sphere (galgal) of the eye, which resembles water, as it says (Gen. 6:2), "And the b'nei ha'elohim ("the sons of the judges/nobles"; alt., "the sons of the divine beings") saw how beautiful the daughters of men were, etc." In the same way, the Holy One Blessed be He did not destroy them with anything but a gathering (galgal) of waters, which resembles the eye, as it is is said (Gen. 7:11), "On that day, all the fountains of the great deep burst apart [and the floodgates of the sky broke open]." (Note: Tanakh translations generally follow JPS.)