Acts 7:41-43

Acts 7:41-43

[41] And  they made a calf  in  those  days,  and  offered  sacrifice  unto the idol,  and  rejoiced  in  the works  of their own  hands.  [42] Then  God  turned,  and  them  up  to worship  the host  of heaven;  as it  is written  in  the book  of the prophets,  O ye house  of Israel,  have ye offered  slain beasts  and  sacrifices  by the space of forty  years  in  the wilderness?  [43] Yea,  ye took up  the tabernacle  of Moloch,  and  the star  god  Remphan,  figures  which  ye made  to worship  them:  and  away  beyond  Babylon. 

What does Acts 7:41-43 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The Israelites turned from Moses to idolatry, and in this their high priest, Aaron, helped them. Consequently God gave them over to what they wanted (cf. Romans 1:24). He also purposed to send them into captivity as punishment ( Amos 5:25-27).
By implication, turning from the revelation that Jesus had given amounted to idolatry. Stephen implied that by rejecting Moses" coming prophet, Jesus, his hearers could expect a similar fate despite the sacrifices they brought to God.
"Stephen"s quotation of Amos 5:27, "I will carry you away beyond Babylon," differs from the OT. Both the Hebrew text and the LXX say "Damascus." The prophet Amos was foretelling the exile of the northern kingdom under the Assyrians which would take them beyond Damascus. More than a century later, the southern kingdom was captured because of her similar disobedience to God and was deported to Babylon. Stephen has merely substituted this phrase in order to use this Scripture to cover the judgment of God on the entire nation." [1]
Israel had turned from Jesus to idolatry, and her high priest had helped her do so. One of Stephen"s concerns in this speech then was false worship. The Israelites rejoiced in their idolatry in the wilderness and more recently since Jesus was out of the way. God had turned from them for their apostasy in the past, and He was doing the same in the present. They did not really offer their sacrifices to God, and He did not accept them since they had rejected His anointed Ruler and Judge. The Israelites were heading for another wilderness experience. They adopted a house of worship and an object of worship that were not God"s choice but their creations. God would remove them far from their land in punishment (i.e, in A.D70).
Stephen had answered his accusers" charge that he had spoken against Moses ( Acts 6:11; Acts 6:13) by showing that he believed what Moses had predicted about the coming prophet. It was really his hearers, like Jesus" hearers earlier, who rejected Moses since they refused to allow the possibility of prophetic revelation that superseded the Mosaic Law.
"Joseph"s brethren, rejecting the beloved of their father, Moses" people, turning with scorn and cursing on the one who only sought to give them freedom-these were prototypes which the audience would not fail to refer to themselves." [2]