Stephen was accused of disrespecting Moses, the Law and the fathers and in his defense he uses Moses positively as one of the chief architects of the nation of Israel’s development through the Law. Israel was a stubborn people, hard hearted and as we have said previously, prone to wander spiritually. The accusation against Stephen was that the Jews felt he was teaching them to ignore Moses, the Law and the fathers and replace these by the Jesus he was proclaiming as Savior and Lord. If you think backwards to him speaking of Moses at the Burning Bush … it was not consumed … and Israel, even though so stubborn and wayward were not consumed in Egypt. Before this, the forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob died but the covenantal relationship between God and His people did not die. Even though so rebellious, the covenant stood firm. Jesus who is God incarnate was killed by this hard hearted people, yet He rose to life, then ascended and is seated at the Right Hand of God the Father Almighty …. but this did not remove the importance of Moses who prefigured Jesus. They blamed Stephen for speaking against Moses and the Law he brought and the father of the nation … yet as they were rejecting Jesus, so as a nation they rejected Moses. They wanted Egypt (bondage) … they did not want Jesus (freedom). They wanted bondage.
Ac 7:40 “They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’ 41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and held a celebration in honor of what their hands had made.”
Let us understand that bondage in its true form is being enslaved to idolatry. We move from Exodus 19 and 20 to 24 following. From here Moses in on the Mount for 40 days and 40 nights writing down the instructions God is giving to him. To the nation this was too long. They thought their leader would never return and suddenly their hearts return to Egypt and recall what they witnessed amongst those pagans … idols. Moses is gone and seemingly not coming back. This means their access to God has stopped, so they call upon Aaron (Exodus Chapter 32) to make idol gods for them. As Moses had led them out of Egypt, these created idol gods were to be carried in front of the people as they moved ahead. The seriousness of this is unbelievable! That they should think of this was extremely wicked because:
Ex 13:20 After leaving Succoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. 21 By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
Did you see that? By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light. God was going ahead of them, guiding them in the right direction and protecting them from harm and danger. Now they do not want God leading them … they want idol gods, made from metal that God created, to be their guides. If you look at Exodus 25 to 31 you will see the elaborate, carefully planned religious system God has for them … yet they wanted idol gods. What is staggering is that Aaron whom they approached told them:
Ex 32:2 “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
This was blatant apostasy … the rejection of the true faith. Aaron told them what to do. He took their gold and … made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then the people said … “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” With a tool, Aaron fashioned the material into a calf which the people dedicated as Israel’s gods saying these gods brought them out of Egypt. They created a new religion with new gods! This abominable religion needed to be dedicated, which was done by
(1) Building an altar in from of the calf;
(2) Adding God’s name to festival celebrations;
(3) Making burnt offerings and giving fellowship offerings followed by
(4) a debauched party. See:
Ex 32:5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.” 6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.
God sent Moses down the mountain because of what was happening. He immediately approached Aaron:
Ex 32:21 “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”
What had happened was not some minor sin or unintentional sin. This was “such great sin”. That is what leaving the Faith is … apostasy! It is a great sin! Aaron’s response is something of what we would say today when we are caught out in sin.
Ex 32:22 “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”
(a) Do not be angry. In giving Moses respect calling him “lord” does not cut it because although Moses might have been angry, God was furious. The sin is against God! We need to remember that although we sin against a person, it is sin against God firstly.
(b) He blames the people for being “prone to evil”. They were, but he allowed it to happen!
(c) Although accusing them of being prone to evil he tells them what to bring him to make the idols out of.
(d) Then follows his blatant lie! I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf! He says he threw the gold into the fire and out came this calf … whereas earlier we read … He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool.
Aaron was weak. He allowed the people to dictate to him, then he lied to cover up his wickedness. Spiritual leaders must be cautious and not buckle to pressure from a congregation like Aaron did. Always remember God does the empowering! Stephen is saying … you accuse me of disrespecting Moses … but our fathers (yours fathers) did just that and you don’t accuse them!
Father of Glory, thank You for the many lesson we learn from Your Word. Thank You for including them in the Bible for us to read, understand and use as lessons to avoid. Keep us true to You Lord, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.