Amos 5:26Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

During these events, they received sacrificial laws and remembered the covenant: When the Lord your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers to give you (Exod. 13, etc.), you shall observe these commandments and offer sacrifices. Throughout their forty years in the wilderness, they willingly presented offerings without any obligation, awaiting their entrance into the promised land. Therefore, declares the Lord, the Lord states, for forty years I provided sustenance for the house of Israel through sacrifices; yet they were saved without such offerings, as noted by another prophet: You have not brought Me incense with silver, nor have you honored Me with the sheep of your burnt offerings, yet you have made yourselves destitute (Isaiah 43:23, 24). Despite having no reason to turn away, at that time they were wandering aimlessly, dishonoring the true God, and turned to the worship of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan.

It is crucial to examine this matter thoroughly. When Moses ascended the mountain to receive the law, the Israelites approached Aaron, demanding, ‘Make us gods to go before us; for we do not know what has happened to this Moses who led us out of Egypt’ (Ex. 32:1). Consequently, they fashioned a golden calf in the wilderness, which became widely recognized as an idol, and each person created various other idols for themselves. Having strayed from their genuine reverence for God, they turned to their previous customs learned in Egypt. They showed particular dedication to celestial beings. Some may ask how this is evident. It is not difficult to demonstrate it to those who seek understanding, as the Holy Scriptures reveal it. Moses expressed his anger and confronted Aaron, falling before God, saying: I beseech You, O Lord, these people have sinned greatly; they have made for themselves gods of gold (Ex. 32:31). Although the calf was constructed, he was well aware that they had devised other idols for themselves. The blessed Stephen, when accused of blasphemy by the Jewish leaders, skillfully defended his stance and showed how their cruelty and disrespect towards Christ mirrored the hard-heartedness of their forebearers. He explicitly recalled the incident of the calf in the wilderness, stating: This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, and he who received living oracles to give to us, whom our fathers wanted to hear but rejected, and he cited, The images that you made to worship, and I will carry you beyond Babylon (Acts 7:38-43).

Notice how Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, testified that they erected the calf and turned to the worship of heavenly beings; he also referenced the words of the prophet (Acts 7:44). Thus, it is evident that, in addition to the calf, they also took up the tabernacle of Moloch; having established the tabernacle, they placed an idol within it, naming it Moloch or Molchom. This idol represented Moab, featuring a radiant jewel on its head in place of the morning star. Moloch is interpreted as "their king," according to Aquila and Theodotion, and this very statue symbolized the morning star. Therefore, consider the tabernacle of Moloch, that is, your king. What king is this? - The star of your heart. Rephan is understood to mean darkness or blindness. They worshipped the morning star because it heralds the dawn, signaling the start of the day for the inhabitants of the earth, yet for its worshippers, it resulted in Rephan, meaning darkening or blindness—this because their devotion became the cause of their spiritual obscurity. The Lord declared that, having emulated the foolishness of the Moabites and neighboring Damascus, they would be carried further than Damascus, even to Babylon because the seventy translators indicated: further than Damascus, while Stephen stated: further than Babylon. How should we interpret this? Blessed Stephen aligned his words with the Hebrew texts, suggesting that "further than Damascus" implied Babylon; for the dominion of Damascus or Syria included the eastern and southern territories, while the land of Babylon bordered it.

From this passage, we understand that all the offerings made by the Israelites in the wilderness were not directed toward God, but rather to Moloch, their king. They carried his tabernacle and worshipped the images of their idols. The nature of these idols is revealed by the subsequent phrase "the star of your god," which is translated in Hebrew as "cochab," meaning "the morning star"—the very one whom some still revere today. Thus, the Lord led them beyond Damascus, that is, into Assyria and Chaldea, underscoring His sovereignty as the Lord God of Hosts.

We might ponder how they offered sacrifices in the wilderness, not to God, but to their ruler, whom they dubbed Lucifer. It appears that all their actions were not intended for God, but for idolatry. Even when they later made offerings to the Lord, these acts were born not of true devotion but from fear of retribution, especially in light of the deaths that occurred due to their idolatry. Yet the Lord concerns Himself not merely with the substance of what is offered, but with the heart of the giver.

At the first opportunity, they longed for the leeks, onions, cucumbers, and meat of Egypt, disregarding the heavenly manna (Num. 11). This truth is further affirmed in the accounts from the apostolic history by Stephen, the first martyr: "And they made a calf in those days, and sacrificed to an idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands. And God turned away, and delivered them up to serve the hosts of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: 'Did you offer to Me slain beasts and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? And you took up the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god Remphan, figures which you made to worship them. Therefore I will carry you away beyond Babylon'" (Acts 7:41-43).

It should not be assumed that the first martyr was mistaken in his statement of "beyond Babylon," differing from the prophet's "beyond Damascus." He was conveying a deeper meaning, for they were indeed taken beyond Damascus to Babylon and even further. Where Luke mentions "Moloch" and the Hebrew text uses "Melchechem," various translations have rendered these terms differently, indicating diverse understandings of their meanings.

It is also significant to note that the apostles, when referencing the Old Testament, focused more on the underlying meanings rather than the precise wording, choosing to reflect the essence rather than adhere rigidly to every term. The criticisms expressed against the Jewish people apply equally to those today who, under the guise of Christianity, engage in idolatry, constructing distorted doctrines for themselves and carrying the tabernacle of their true king—the devil—alongside their idols.

They do not serve a single idol, but worship various deities based on differing doctrines, as well as the star of their god. This figure, being an agent of Satan, masquerades as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14), descends from heaven like lightning (Luke 10:18), and manifests as the Antichrist in the likeness of Christ. It is poignantly remarked that these idols were of their own creation—crafted from their imaginations rather than bestowed by God.

Thus, the Lord has led them beyond Damascus so they may not partake in His blood, but instead be taken to Babylon, allowing them to heed the prophet's words: "The golden cup of Babylon has made all nations drink" (Jer. 51:7). Damascus represents "the drinker of blood," symbolizing the call to repentance where we are invited to partake in the blood of Christ.

Ephrem the Syrian substitutes Chiun for Remphan, noting that instead of my tabernacle, they constructed for themselves the shrine of Moloch, and for a beacon of fire, they created the star of your god (Chiun), which they worshipped. The Septuagint renders Remphan in place of Chiun or Kiun, indicating that the star of your god refers to Remphan. Thus, it can be inferred that Remphan (or Chiun) was regarded as a false deity, one of the celestial bodies, and that the image revered by the Hebrews during their wilderness sojourn was a star.

The term 'tabernacle' here signifies that the Egyptians and other pagan nations typically transported their gods in portable shrines while traveling. The Hebrews followed suit, bringing their idols with them from Egypt. Regarding Moloch, our introductory remarks on the interpretation of the prophet Hosea are relevant. Blessed Jerome, Remigius, Rupert, and others suggest that the Hebrews worshipped Moloch in the wilderness, indicating they honored more than one deity during this period, as noted by Josephus Flavius (Antiquities, Book IV, Chapter 6).

Concerning the name Hiun in Hebrew, Kiun or Hiun are readings found in Aquila and Symmachus. Chiun is identified as a deity that the Israelites revered in the wilderness, associated with the celestial bodies or stars venerated in Egypt. Some interpreters connect this name to the star Saturn, known as Khivan by the Persians, for which images were made in its honor. St. Stephen the First Martyr refers to the worship of heavenly entities, signifying the celestial luminaries (Acts 7:42, 43). The Septuagint translated it as Ραιμφαν or Ραιφαν, as seen in Loch's edition. Generally, scholars believe that this term was altered by transcribers and instead of Hevan or Hiun, they wrote Rephanus. Consequently, Hiunus, Hevanus, Remphanus, and Rephanus represent one deity associated with one of the stars, whose visible manifestation was a star worn by the Hebrews in the wilderness. Notably, Blessed Jerome, Albertus, Reminius, Beda, Lyranus, and others, along with Cornelius a Lapide, more likely surmise that this refers to the star of Venus, recognized in the morning as Lucifer, the morning star, and in the evening as Hesperus, the evening star.