Acts 7:39-43·~1 min

The Rebellion of Israel

Stephen says the fathers refuse to obey Moses, reject him, and in their hearts turn back to Egypt. They ask Aaron for gods to lead them, make a calf, sacrifice to it, and rejoice in the work of their hands.

B³⁹ut our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. ⁴⁰They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us! As for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ ⁴¹At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands.

Because of this, God turns away and gives them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as the prophets say. Stephen closes the citation with Israel carrying along the tabernacle of Molech.

⁴²But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ⁴³You have taken along the tabernacle of Molech

Section summaryStephen says the fathers refuse to obey Moses and turn back toward Egypt in their hearts, asking Aaron for gods to go before them. They make a calf, rejoice in what their own hands have made, and are given over to further idolatry under the prophet's rebuke.

Role in the chapterThis section shows that Israel's problem is not the absence of revelation but resistance to it. Even in the wilderness, with Moses and the living words among them, the fathers turn toward idols shaped by their own hands.