42 "But God turned away and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven ; as it is written in the book of the prophets , ' IT WAS NOT TO ME THAT YOU OFFERED VICTIMS AND SACRIFICES FORTY YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS , WAS IT, O HOUSE OF ISRAEL ? 43 ' YOU ALSO TOOK ALONG THE TABERNACLE OF MOLOCH AND THE STAR OF THE GOD ROMPHA , THE IMAGES WHICH YOU MADE TO WORSHIP . I ALSO WILL REMOVE YOU BEYOND BABYLON .' 44 "Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness , just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen . 45 "And having received it in their turn , our fathers brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations whom God drove out before e our fathers , until the time of David . 46 " David found favor in God's sight , and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob . 47 "But it was Solomon who built a house for Him. 48 "However , the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands ; as the prophet says : 49 ' HEAVEN IS MY THRONE , AND EARTH IS THE FOOTSTOOL OF MY FEET ; WHAT KIND OF HOUSE WILL YOU BUILD FOR ME?' says the Lord , 'OR WHAT PLACE IS THERE FOR MY REPOSE ? 50 ' WAS IT NOT MY HAND WHICH MADE ALL THESE THINGS ?'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Acts 7:42-50
Commentary on Acts 7:42-50
(Read Acts 7:42-50)
Stephen upbraids the Jews with the idolatry of their fathers, to which God gave them up as a punishment for their early forsaking him. It was no dishonour, but an honour to God, that the tabernacle gave way to the temple; so it is now, that the earthly temple gives way to the spiritual one; and so it will be when, at last, the spiritual shall give way to the eternal one. The whole world is God's temple, in which he is every where present, and fills it with his glory; what occasion has he then for a temple to manifest himself in? And these things show his eternal power and Godhead. But as heaven is his throne, and the earth his footstool, so none of our services can profit Him who made all things. Next to the human nature of Christ, the broken and spiritual heart is his most valued temple.