"Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, house of Israel?
Furthermore, it is doubtless true that, "Israel during this period must have restricted their sacrifices very considerably because of circumstances,"[64] which would have more than justified what is implied here by Amos' question.  That prophetic question was also justified by the fact that, although the people did offer sacrifices, they did not truly offer them to Jehovah, but to those favorite gods which they secretly adored during the forty years wanderings, a truth attested by the fact that after they entered Canaan, it was still necessary for Joshua to order them to "put away the strange gods from among them"  (Joshua 24:33).  One gets the proper idea by emphasis upon me.  "Did you bring unto me, etc.?"  No! They did not, but while pretending to worship God, they were actually worshipping idols.  The great Christian martyr quoted this very passage in affirming this very thing (Acts 7:42).  This has the meaning of: