"If instead" Does it have to be one or the other? I believe it's both

Jews or whatever they were called before the term Jew came to be, have always struggled with obedience to God. That's precisely why even after being freed from Egypt they wandered the desert so long because they couldn't keep their promise to God immediately after a divine intervention. The word Hebrew means wrestle with God.

They became uppity. Thought they were as important as God. He smacked them down. Later he sent Christ to redeem us. They refused to worship him, not because of what they claimed (that doing so was idol worship) but because they knew it was true and they had fashioned themselves as idols of their own making. They essentially think they are God's gift to man and/or mans savior (is their twisted take of Jesus), so it's not just idol worship, it's self deification.