Albert Barnes Commentary Acts 7:42

"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?" — Acts 7:42 (ASV)

Then God turned. That is, He turned away from them, abandoning them to their own desires.

The host of heaven refers to 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 JEHOVAH of hosts, as being the Ruler of these well-arranged heavenly bodies (Isaiah 1:9). The proof that they did this, Stephen proceeds to allege by a quotation 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—the book containing these several prophecies: Daniel, Hosea, Micah, etc.

They were small tracts separately and were bound up together to preserve them from being lost.

This passage is not quoted literally; it is evidently made from memory. Although in its main spirit it coincides with the passage in Amos, in some important respects it varies from it.

You house of Israel. You people of Israel.

Have you offered, etc.?

That is, you have not offered. The interrogative is often an emphatic way of saying that the thing had not been done.

But it is certain that the Jews did offer sacrifices to God in the wilderness, although it is also certain that they did not do it with a pure and upright heart.

They kept up the form of worship to idols. Through the continuous space of forty years they did not honor God, but often departed from Him and worshipped idols.