Acts 7:42

“Then God turned, etc.] Away from them, withdrew his presence, and his favours from them: and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; not angels, but the sun, moon, and stars; for since they liked not to retain the knowledge and worship of the true God, who made the heavens, and the earth, God in righteous judgment, in a judicial way, gave them up to a reprobate mind, to commit all the idolatry of the Gentiles, as a punishment of their former sin in making and worshipping the calf: as it is written in the book of the prophets; of the twelve lesser prophets, which were all in one book; and which, as the Jews say f366, were put together, that a book of them might not be lost through the…”

“gave them up--judicially. as . . . written in the book of the prophets--the twelve minor prophets, reckoned as one: the passage is from Amo 5:25. have ye offered to me . . . sacrifices?--The answer is, Yes, but as if ye did it not; for "neither did ye offer to Me only, nor always, nor with a perfect and willing heart" [BENGEL].”

“Then God turned - That is, turned away from them; abandoned them to their own desires. The host of heaven - The stars, or heavenly bodies. The word “host” means “armies.” It is applied to the heavenly bodies because they are very numerous, and appear to be “marshalled” or arrayed in military order. It is from this that God is called Yahweh “of hosts,” as being the ruler of these well-arranged heavenly bodies. See the notes on Isaiah 1:9. The proof that they did this Stephen proceeds to allege by a question from the prophets. In the book of the prophets - Amos 5:25-26. The twelve minor prophets were commonly written in one volume, and were called the Book of the Prophets; that is, the book…”

“God turned - From them in anger; and gave them up - Frequently from the time of the golden calf, to the time of Amos, and afterward. The host of heaven - The stars are called an army or host, because of their number, order, and powerful influence. In the book of the prophets - Of the twelve prophets, which the Jews always wrote together in one book. Have ye offered - The passage of Amos referred to, Amo 5:25, consists of two parts; of which the former confirms Act 7:41, of the sin of the people; the latter the beginning of Act 7:42, concerning their punishment. Have ye offered to me - They had offered many sacrifices; but God did not accept them as offered to him, because they sacrificed to…”

“7:42-43 This passage quotes Amos 5:25-27 (Greek version) to illustrate how the people of Israel rebelled against Moses (Acts 7:39-41). Molech was a Canaanite god to whom human sacrifices were offered (Lev 18:21; 20:2-5; 1 Kgs 11:7; 2 Kgs 23:10; Jer 32:35). Rephan, a star god identified with the planet Saturn, was worshiped by the Israelites during their wilderness wanderings.”

“and gave: Psa 81:11, Psa 81:12; Isa 66:4; Eze 14:7-10, Eze 20:25, Eze 20:39; Hos 4:17; Rom 1:24-28; Th2 2:10-12 the host: Deu 4:19, Deu 17:3; Kg2 17:16, Kg2 21:3; Job 31:26-28; Jer 19:13; Eze 8:16 O ye: Amo 5:25, Amo 5:26 have ye: Isa 43:23 of forty: Psa 95:10; Heb 3:9, Heb 3:15-17 Acts 7:43”