“‘Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel? You also carried along Sikkuth your king and Kiyyun, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. Therefore, I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,’ says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts” (Amos 5:25-27).
Have you ever pulled on a loose thread sticking out from your shirt, only to realize (and regret) that the thread is far more deeply entwined in the fabric than you expected? By the time you finish pulling, you are holding not a tiny thread but the entire sleeve.
When we pull really hard on the phrase “in the wilderness for forty years” (Amos 5:25), we soon realize that two passages from the book of Numbers begin to move: Numbers 14:33 and 32:13 (and Num 32:13 is itself a citation of Num 14:33). Numbers 14 is a key passage in the plot of the Torah, for in this chapter Israel is denied entrance to the Promised Land because of their lack of faith (see Num 14:11, 33). “Faith” (or the lack of it) is one of the most important theological themes in the storyline of the Torah (see Gen 15:6; Exod 4:31; 14:31; 19:9; Num 14:11; 20:12; Deut 9:32; 9:23).
By citing Amos, Stephen brings into his defense both Moses and the Prophets, all of whom testify to our sinful hearts and our need for a new heart provided by the Prophet like Moses.
Within the Torah, Numbers 14 highlights Israel’s chronic lack of faith (see Psa 106:12, 24, 31) and their desperate need for a circumcised heart (Deut 30:3), which is to say, the making of a new covenant. By reusing this phrase, Amos roots his accusation of Israel deeply in the theological soil of the Torah, painting, as it were, the essential backdrop for his reuse of Deuteronomy 30:3 at the end of the book in his hope-filled eschatology (Amos 9:11-15; see also Jer 29:14; 30:3, 18; 31:23; 32:44).
Once we appreciate Amos’s engagement with Numbers 14, we can better understand Stephen’s use of Amos 5:25-26 in Acts 7:42-43. By citing Amos, Stephen brings into his defense both Moses and the Prophets, all of whom testify to our sinful hearts and our need for a new heart provided by the Prophet like Moses.
“This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN’” (Acts 7:37).
