By: Dale Weckbacher
Acts 5:3
But Peter said,
“Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit
and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?
(ESV)
After washing the Disciple’s feet
(John
13:1-20) and letting them know that one of them would betray him (John
13:21-30), Jesus gives the Disciples a new commandment. This new commandment is for them to love one
another just like Jesus has loved them for by this, all people will know they
are Jesus’ disciples. While this new
commandment was given to the Disciples, It applies to the Church as well (John
17:20-21). The chaotic events of
Covid19, racial unrest, and violence on the streets make it even more crucial
that the church with its diversity of members, have unity of purpose and
demonstrate a community of love for one another.
The early church took the words
of Jesus seriously and functioned with unity of heart and soul with people
freely sharing with those in need to the point that there were no needy people among
them (Acts
4:32-34). While scripture does not
indicate why some of the members of the church were in need, it is possible
that the Jewish community economically persecuted those professing Christ in
defiance of the edict not to speak of Jesus issued by their religious leaders (Acts
4:18). This might explain why some
in the Church were moved to sell their property to raise money to care for
those in need among the congregation.
One of the individuals selling
land to raise money for the needy was Barnabas (Acts
4:36-37). This was just the
beginning of Barnabas’ service to the Lord beginning with him assuring the
Apostles of Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus (Acts
9:27). Barnabas would continue to
serve the Lord with Paul on Cyprus (Acts
13:4-12), at Antioch (Acts
13:13-52). The frequent mention of
Barnabas in the book
of Acts indicates he was someone of notoriety in the Church but his
continued service with Paul indicates he was not serving for the notoriety and
content with being a helper to Paul on his missionary journeys.
Ananias and Sapphira may not have
shared the level of a servant's heart like Barnabas and instead sold some land expecting
to receive the same notoriety as Barnabas.
This could explain why they did not give all the proceeds from their
land sale to the Apostles, keeping some of the proceeds for themselves
believing the Apostles will never know (Acts
5:1-2). Ananias and Sapphira made
the mistake we all make when sinning for they believed they were lying to the
Apostles, forgetting that God who knows all knew of the sin. Ananias would find out too late that Peter
did know of his deception, with God sentencing him to death for his sin (Acts
5:3-6). His wife too would suffer
death for her role in the deception (Acts
5:2, 7-10). This leads to the
question, was the death penalty appropriate in this case.
In God’s eyes, all sin, no matter
how small carries a death penalty (Romans
6:23). The good news is that Jesus
paid the death penalty for us on the cross, so we do not need to die in sin (Romans
5:8), but Ananias and Sapphira are under the new covenant of grace so the
penalty does seem severe. However, this
passage parallels the account of Achan in Joshua
7:10-26 and teaches the importance of,
1) Obedience
to God (Acts
5:1-2; Joshua 7:1) – For Achan, the disobedience involved taking items from
Jericho that God had devoted to destruction with clear instructions not to take
them (Joshua
6:18). For Ananias, it was
disobedience in selling land and telling Peter the proceeds he brought in were
all the proceeds from the land (Acts
5:2). This disobedience occurred at
the beginning of great movements of God, the occupation of the promised land by
Israel and the beginning of the Church. If
left unchecked, this disobedience would have hindered or stopped this movement
of God. In both accounts in Scripture, a
righteous God issues a death sentence to illustrate the seriousness of
disobedience to God.
2) Honesty
with God – Both Achan and Ananias were deceptive and tried to hide their
sin. Achan took the items stolen from
Jericho and hid them among his personal belongings so no person would see them
(Joshua
7:11). For Ananias, it was holding
back part of the proceeds from the land sale and presenting what was left to
Peter, believing Peter would believe the money presented was the entire
proceeds from the land sale (Acts
5:2). What Achan and Ananias forgot was that you
cannot lie to God with God using Joshua and Peter to reveal the sin. The death penalty was to illustrate the
severity of dishonesty with God.
3) Trust
and unity in a community about to do something great for God – Both Israel about
to occupy the Promised Land and the Church about to spread the Gospel message
and make disciples must have a unity of purpose and community to succeed. The severity of the penalty in both accounts
in scripture illustrates the importance God places on obedience, honesty, and
trust.
Like Israel entering the Promised
Land and the beginning of the community of the Church, the Church today faces
unprecedented challenges and must model obedience to God, honesty with God, and
a spirit of trust and unity as a community to model Godliness in a chaotic
world. The news media continually runs
reports creating fear in the hearts of people who were not created to live in
fear of what is happening around them but to fear the Lord which is the root of
knowledge, wisdom, and instruction (Proverbs
1:7). I encourage anyone reading
this to detach themselves from the barrage of fearful news reports and spend
time with God in His Word, not out of fear of condemnation (John
3:17) but to gain encouragement, knowledge, and wisdom. A good place to start is reading one Psalm
and one Proverb each day. I challenge
you to not just read them to check them off the list of things to do but to
take time to meditate on how these Psalms and Proverbs apply to your life. Detachment from media and its fearful reports
and attaching ourselves to the encouragement, knowledge, and instruction of God’s
Word out of a righteous fear of the Lord will bring God’s light to a dark world
through us, attracting others dominated by fear into a relationship with Jesus
as their savior. If you are reading this
and have never made a profession of faith in Jesus as your savior, I invite you
to do so now by praying with me,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, spent
three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord
of my life.
God has not given us a spirit of
fear but love, power, and soundness of mind (2
Timothy 1:7). A World dominated by
fear needs an infusion of God’s love, power, and soundness of mind but can only
find it through believers in Christ who have attached themselves to God through
the wisdom and knowledge found in the Word of God. I encourage everyone reading this to take
time to detach from the fearful reports in media and fear the Lord by seeking
knowledge, wisdom, and instruction through God’s Word. May God bless everyone reading this
post.
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