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JUNE 26
DAY 25:What does it mean that God “gave them up”in Acts 7:42?
“Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven.” Here Stephen quoted
from Amos 5:25–27. It means that God judicially abandoned the people to their sin and idolatry
(Hos.4:17).The worship of the sun,moon,and stars began in the wilderness and lasted through the
Babylonian captivity (Deut.4:19;17:3;2 Kin.17:16;21:3–5;23:4;2 Chr.33:3,5;Jer.8:2;19:13;Zeph.1:5).
Similarly, in Romans 1:24, it states that “God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of
their hearts.”The Greek word used is for handing over a prisoner to his sentence. When men con-
sistently abandon God, He will abandon them (Judg. 10:13; 2 Chr. 15:2; 24:20; Ps. 81:11,12; Matt.
15:14). He accomplishes this 1) indirectly and immediately, by removing His restraint and allowing
their sin to run its inevitable course and 2) directly and eventually, by specific acts of divine judg-
ment and punishment.“Uncleanness”is a general term often used of decaying matter,like the con-
tents of a grave.It speaks here of sexual immorality (2 Cor.12:21; Gal.5:19–23; Eph.5:3; 1 Thess.4:7),
which begins in the heart and moves to the shame of the body.
And “God gave them up to vile passions” (Rom. 1:26). This is identified in vv. 26, 27 as homo-
sexuality, a sin roundly condemned in Scripture (Gen.19; Lev.18:22; 1 Cor.6:9–11; Gal.5:19–21; Eph.
5:3–5; 1 Tim. 1:9,10; Jude 7). Rather than the normal Greek term for “women,”this is a general word
for female. Paul mentions women first to show the extent of debauchery under the wrath of aban-
donment, because in most cultures women are the last to be affected by moral collapse.
And “God gave them over to a debased mind”(v. 28).This translates a Greek word that means
“not passing the test.” It was often used to describe useless, worthless metals, discarded because
they contained too much impurity.God has tested man’s minds and found them worthless and use-
less (Jer. 6:30).

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hundred and twenty of his brethren; of the sons
JUNE 26 of Gershom, Joel the chief, and one hundred
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and thirty of his brethren; of the sons of
Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and two hun-
dred of his brethren; of the sons of Hebron,
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1 Chronicles 15:1–16:43
Eliel the chief, and eighty of his brethren; of
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David built houses for himself in the City the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and
15 of David; and he prepared a place for the one hundred and twelve of his brethren.
ark of God, and pitched a tent for it. Then Da- 11 And David called for Zadok and Abiathar
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the priests, and for the Levites: for Uriel,
Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.
12 He said to them, “You are the heads of the
15:1 David built houses for himself. He was
able by the alliance and help of Hiram (18:1) to
build a palace for himself and separate houses
for his wives and their children. While the ark 15:11 Zadok…Abiathar. These two high
remained near Jerusalem at the home of priests, heads of the two priestly houses of
Obed-Edom for 3 months (13:13,14), David Eleazar and Ithamar, were colleagues in the
constructed a new tabernacle in Jerusalem to high priesthood (2 Sam. 20:25). They served
fulfill God’s word in Deuteronomy 12:5–7 of a the Lord simultaneously in David’s reign.
permanent residency. Zadok attended the tabernacle in Gibeon (1
Chr. 16:39), while Abiathar served the tempo-
rary place of the ark in Jerusalem. Ultimately,
vid said, “No one may carry the ark of God but Zadok prevailed (1 Kin. 2:26,27).
the Levites, for the Lord has chosen them to
carry the ark of God and to minister before Him
forever.” And David gathered all Israel togeth- fathers’ houses of the Levites; sanctify your-
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er at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord selves, you and your brethren, that you may
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to its place, which he had prepared for it. Then bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel to the
David assembled the children of Aaron and the place I have prepared for it. For because you
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Levites: of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, did not do it the first time, the LORD our God
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and one hundred and twenty of his brethren; of broke out against us, because we did not consult
the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and two Him about the proper order.”
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