Acts 7:39-43 - Our ancestors refused to obey him

7:39-41

Stephen now sharpens the attack, having prepared the ground with the stories that they all knew and accepted, but failed to see the full implications of. Their ancestors were sinful men and women who rejected Moses and rejected God. In their hearts they worshipped idols, and at the first opportunity got Aaron to make an idol for them to worship. They delighted in idol worship! That is what was in their hearts.

7:42-43

“But God turned away from them ...” The history of Israel was one of repeated disobedience. The Law of Moses, so much revered by the religious leaders, had sacrifices for sins running right through it. Yet they did not realise that they needed forgiveness, and that Christ was the means of forgiveness provided by God. So God gave them over to the worship of idols. This doesn't just mean that they worshipped idols, but they came under the power of these idols, as they came under the power of Babylon. The quote comes from the LXX version of Amos 5:25-27.