ISB ~ Acts 7 v41

they made a calf:Worship of the golden calf was the original sin of the nation of Israel, a sin that led to repeated idolatry.

• Literary analysis of the Pentateuch suggests the calf episode in Ex 32 was a pivotal event that made necessary what Yahweh never desired for his people in the first place—a sanctuary cult of continuous animal sacrifice. It was this act of apostasy that called forth an entire body of sacrificial laws and liturgies (Exodus, Leviticus) as a means of ordering the worship of Israel toward Yahweh and eradicating idolatry from the heart of the nation. Several OT texts stress that the ritual laws of the Temple are laws of secondary importance in the eyes of God (1 Sam 15:22; Ps 40:6-8; Jer 7:22-23; Hos 6:6). See note on Mk 12:33.