Acts 7:41

And they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands. But God turned, and gave them up: to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, Did ye offer unto me slain beasts and sacrifices Forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? And ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of the god Rephan, The figures which ye made to worship them: And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.

This quotation is from Amos 5:25ff and was introduced here as a further comment by Stephen upon the apostasy of Israel; and although the outright rejection of God and the widespread idolatry during the period of the monarchy came much later, Stephen's application of Amos' prophecy shows that even during the period of the wilderness wanderings they had already rejected God in their hearts. As Hervey expressed it:

What Amos means to say is that because of the treacherous, unfaithful heart of Israel, as shown by the worship of the golden calf, and all their rebellions in the wilderness, all their sacrifices were worthless.[15]

Moloch ... This old god of the Ammonites "was worshipped at Mari about 1800 B.C.. and was associated with the sacrifice of children in the fire."[16] Solomon built a high place for this god on a hill east of Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:7); Ahaz burned his children (2 Chronicles 28:3), and Manasseh did the same (2 Kings 21:6); and Samaria was judged for this sin (2 Kings 17:17).

Rephan ... "This is the name of a god identified or connected with the planet Saturn."[17] Adam Clarke says that "Moloch was generally understood to mean the sun";[18] thus the declaration of Stephen that God "gave them up to serve the host of heaven" was accurate.

God gave them up ... What Stephen here declared concerning Israel, Paul also declared concerning the Gentiles (Romans 1:24-28). For a somewhat extensive review of this see my Commentary on Romans, under Romans 1:25. God's giving men up is not a passive judgment, but active. It means more than merely withdrawing from men that they may walk in their own lusts and includes a punitive judgment to the effect that those given up will reap the debauchery and degeneration which are the consequences of their rebellion.

In establishing the pattern of Israel's repeated rejection of God, Stephen here brought into view the fact that not only had the ten northern tribes been lost entirely, but that even the southern remnant had been sent away into Babylon as punishment for their idolatry. See under Acts 26:7.

(iii)

[15] A. C. Hervey, op. cit., p. 220.

[16] The New Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, Publishers, 1962), p. 836.

[17] Ibid., p. 1083.

[18] Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1837), Vol. V, p. 732.