Wednesday: Ananias and Sapphira
The pooling of goods in the early church was not compulsory; that is, it was not a formal condition of membership. Yet, there certainly were several examples of voluntary generosity that inspired the whole community. One such example was Barnabas (Acts 4:36-37), who will play an important role later in the book.
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However, there were also negative examples that threatened the unity of the church from within, right at a time when attacks from without had just begun.
Read Acts 5:1-11. What are the lessons of this story?
Though Luke has not given us all the details, there is no question that the fundamental problem of Ananias and Sapphira was not the attempt to keep the money but the practice of deceit within the community. Their sin was not the result of an impulsive act but of a carefully laid plan, a deliberate attempt “to test the Spirit of the Lord” (Acts 5:9, ESV). They were not under the obligation to sell their property and give the money to the church. Thus, when they committed themselves to doing so, perhaps they were acting in their own interest only, maybe even trying to gain influence among the brethren with what appeared to be a commendable act of charity.
This possibility may help to explain why God punished them so severely. Even if the church’s communal life resulted from the conviction that Jesus was just about to come, an act like that of Ananias and Sapphira at such an early stage could disparage the importance of loyalty to God and become a bad influence among the believers. The fact that there is no mention of Ananias’s being given the chance to repent, as in the case of Sapphira (Acts 5:8), may be due only to the shortness of the account.
The bottom line is that, from the beginning to the end, they had acted sinfully, and sin is a serious matter in God’s eyes (Ezek. 18:20, Rom. 6:23), even if He does not always punish it immediately. In fact, that punishment is often deferred should constantly remind us of how gracious God is (2 Pet. 3:9).
| Why must we be careful about pushing the limits of grace, as these two early members of the church did? |
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Any misrepresentation of truth cannot be tolerated by God.
Deceit of satan led 1/3 of the angle to question the character of God.
As children advance in years, parents should not give the slightest occasion for the sowing of that seed which will develop into deceit and falsehood, and mature into untrustworthy habits.1 {CG 150.3}
It is important for the church reflect the character of Christ.
with the unconverted mind, Ananias and Sapphira were robbing the church of it's Christian witness.
The church in its infancy could not afford to go in the path of hypocritical behavior.
The church in the last days will come together and lighten the whole earth with the glory of the Lord.
Then the promised end will come.
The sharing of goods may not have been compulsory how ever the comment in acts 5:3-5 doesn't seem to fit what we might call a democratic approach. Peter apparently had insight from the Holy Spirit. If we faced similar circumstances, with
the same ambience or atmosphere,would we see the situation differently? Our ideologies of political and economical nature are biased. The two words that are the most meaningful are Faith, and Trust.
Our ideologies would have a much different impact. The impact that the church had in verse 11 is much the same as would have under the set of circumstances. Our hind sight is quite often the rational from our point of view. The bottom line is, two words that come to mind are faith and trust. Peter was distrustful at times of his encounters with Jesus. Stubborn might be applicable. He had a number of questions as well poor judgment.
so we must be careful about how we can negatively influence others. we are a walking bible although not perfect we need to show perfection while representing christ
I agree with your comment on negative influence. I wonder if there's any similarity to Ananias and Saphira when officers hold on to church property bought with funds collected for church use. The Children's Division Leader wants to use tables for VBS which were donated by another department's efforts. Many conflicts arise with scarce resources. There are tendencies to padlock what's needed for specific use because of the fear that it will not be kept in the desired pristine condition. This padlocking of resources did not appear to be part of the modus operandi of the early Church. New converts are totally frustrated with the padlocking and question whether "suffer the children" is a pathway to preserving resources. In worldly systems, funds donated for specific purposes should not be misappropriated. Should we expect the "owned by all" must be shared by all" model to prevail in 2018? Are there lessons which VBS kids can learn about caring for property, personal, public or church? Some members view the VBS use of building, padded seating and "no eating in the church" as to be allowed only in emergency. I view it as mission. I welcome biblical guidelines on resolution.
What happened to the money at last? We don't know. This storey tells me how many times we could have punished individually and as a church for all the hypocrisy, we abundantly live in. We should appreciate God's longsuffering towards us.
Giving is an art ,when anania na sapphira decided to give they did not give whole heartedly and I think they wanted to show some how that they are participating in the early church not knowing that nothing can be hidden from God.Thus bringing there instant punishment
When Ananias first brought the money before the apsostles it seemed to be a commendable act matching that of Barnabas and worthy of similar applause. But God sees the motives of the heart. Let us live to be applauded by God and not men.
Immediate and delayed execution of judgement: In this case God carried out the judgement immediately, however in most cases the outcome is delayed until the final judgement after the 1000 years. Which would you prefer if it was a really bad person or if it was yourself? What does this tell us about God's character?
This story is a constant reminder that God is not a God Who can be deceived by appearances. We as humans have to remember that without the power of the Holy Spirit, we can easily be thrown off.
This reminds me of an SDA pastor who claimed to be using "Grace," rather than to follow Jesus' counsel in Matthew 18:15-17 to "discipline," a church member and claimed that "Grace," was better than to follow that counsel. But is "Grace," ever "Better," if it goes contrary to Jesus' Counsel?
Pete, Sadly I have seen this many times. https://ssnet.org/blog/when-good-idea-not-follow-bible/
Did God “punish” Annanias & Sapphira, as the lesson suggests, or is death still the “wages” of sin? The Church, unlike today, was under the direct control of the Holy Spirit. Obviously, in that situation, broken vows are a more immediately serious matter? When a miscalculation is made in the initial construction of a building it is much more dangerous than mistakes made when it is near completion
I'm not sure that disputing over words makes a difference here. We might say that God "judged" Ananias and Sapphira for their bold attempt to deceive the Holy Spirit. But saying they died just as a natural result/wages of sin (and death *is* the natural result of sin) doesn't make a lot of sense in this instance because there were surely more individuals in the world and in the church who should likewise have reaped death as the "wages of sin."
You do make excellent points in the rest of your comment:
I believe that God's judgment of Ananias and Sapphira was intended to discipline the church and teach believers the importance of being honest with God so that He could bless them. As you suggest, strict discipline in the beginning of an endeavor is important to establish the future trajectory. (It even works in the classroom. 😉 )
I wish that I could stop there Bill, but this Pastor went on to try to prove that even EGW was out of step with her counsel on Matthew 18:15-17, claiming that her counsel there was during a very "Legalistic" period of her life and even to where he claimed that he had access to letters that went against her own diet reform in her later years, etc. But does "Grace," actually do away with Jesus' own counsel in Matthew 18:15-17?
Of course grace does not do away with Jesus' counsel. It is a process of grace that works forgiveness and reconciliation.
Jesus counsel is grace applied. Anything else is being silent in a crisis.
Is it our job to punish errant Christians or should we leave that to God? Peter told Ananaias and Sapphira that they had done wrong. He spoke truth. He didn’t give a consequence. He left that in God’s hands. A family member of mine was very hurt by people in SDA leadership who harshly criticized her for listening to worldly music at her birthday party when she was a teenager. She was too hurt and ashamed to go back to church.
Please I want to know the exact sin(s) committed by Ananias and Sapphira
Covetousness
Lying, "Thou shall not bear false witness.
I don't believe they died because of "an exact sin" I think the issue was their attitude and the broken relationship with God. God understood their hearts and he saw that their using their so-called donation as a means to try and increase their standing in the community was just the thin edge of the wedge and they would have a negative influence on the group. So instead He removed them in a way that would be a warning to the rest of them. Jesus in his preaching had clearly spelled out the result of one's choices in the parables in Matt 13, what happened to A&S was just an accelerated judgement.
Mat 13:47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet having been cast into the sea, and gathering some of every kind,
Mat 13:48 which, when it was filled, they pulled up on the shore; and sitting down, they collected the good into vessels, but the rotten they threw out.
Mat 13:49 Thus it shall be at the end of the age: the angels shall go forth and separate the evil from among the righteous,
Mat 13:50 and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Exodus 20:17 New International Version (NIV)
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
This couple promise to sell a piece of land and to bring the proceed to God but after selling they took some part of the money and presented the rest. We know the story. At the very point they promised God the item, the item is no longer their's thus taking part for themselves is coveting God's property.
The story of Anannias and Saphira is unusual and the multitude that heard the outcome of the events caused considerable concern that led them to be fearful. Acts 5:5. Peter made an assertion with regard to the holy Spirit Acts 5:3. How is the Holy Spirit understood by Anannias as well as us? We have Biblical texts that that refer to the holy Spirit and the purpose that the holy Spirit gives us. Our finite minds are limited when we attempt to compare our human abilities with a definition of the holy Spirit. The term spirit meaning air,is something that is un-tangible. There is however, power that the Holy Spirit provides for all our needs. Anannias apparently made a conscious decision that was not what God expected. Peter had the right condemning words in Acts 5:3 The financial arrangement made by new converts was to share equally. Do you think Peter had a personal concern over the way that sharing was misused. When Anannias dropped dead,wasn't that a bit harsh? Acts 5:5,11.
I'm trying to wrap my head around it. The bible said 3 hours had passed before his wife came in. I'm trying to imagine the congregation back then. Great fear fell on the church... In today's congregation there would be bawling and much talking which would alert her that something was wrong. Apparently the congregation didnt behave in anyway to give her any inkling of what had transpired. On another note no sin is minor and it left me thinking how many times have we made vows; financial or otherwise and with the wrong motive?
How many times have we been living contrary and still be engage in the church?
How many times people have lobbied for position(church/conference) just to be seen?
How many times have we sacrifice health, family etc. and believe we can make up for it by tithe/offerings or weekly Sabbath involvement?
Just the very thought shows how gracious & merciful God has been towards me/us. I owe Him everything!!!