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Sapphira's shocking tale should strike fear in our hearts, as in "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Psalm 111:10). But Sapphira and her husband were fearless—and foolish.

In the first century, Christians willingly shared their resources, encouraged by believers such as Barnabas, who "sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet" (Acts 4:37), a public expression of devotion to God.

When the leaders heaped praise on Barnabas for his sacrifice, Sapphira and her hubby, Ananias, decided to earn a few accolades of their own. They "also sold a piece of property" (Acts 5:1) and put their profits "at the apostles' feet" (Acts 5:2), with one little difference: Ananias secretly pocketed some of the proceeds "with his wife's full knowledge" (Acts 5:2).

I always wondered, What's the problem? Couldn't they spend their income as they pleased?

Yes, they could. They were under no obligation to sell their property to support the young church. But once they chose to lay the proceeds at the apostles' feet, Ananias and Sapphira openly gave that land to God, while other believers bore witness.

Their hypocrisy, not the amount of their money, was the real issue that made their sin so heinous. As Jesus once charged the Pharisees, "You appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness" (Matthew 23:28).

Secrets and Lies

We can imagine Ananias and Sapphira singing, "All to Jesus, I surrender," with their fingers crossed behind their backs, thinking Peter and the other apostles couldn't discern the truth. "Having a form of godliness but denying its power" (2 Timothy 3:5), Ananias and Sapphira ignored the Holy Spirit, newly bestowed on the true followers of Christ.

But Peter saw right through their hypocrisy and blamed the "father of lies" (John 8:44) for their deceitful behavior. "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit?" (Acts 5:3).

We hold our breath, waiting for Ananias to fall to his knees—confessing, repenting, begging for mercy, something.

He fell down, all right. "And died" (Acts 5:5).

The same phrase was used when Jael drove a tent peg through Sisera's head—"and he died" (Judges 4:21)—a verb reserved in Scripture for someone struck dead by divine judgment. Make no mistake: God called the shot.

The news spread, and "great fear seized all who heard what had happened" (Acts 5:5)—a healthy, holy reverence for a God who wouldn't be mocked.

Jesus had warned his followers, "Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven" (Matthew 12:31). Ananias's death was proof believers weren't to trifle with the Holy Spirit. Jesus also had warned his followers, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test" (Matthew 4:7), yet Ananias had done exactly that: tested the Holy Spirit, to his own demise.

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Average User Rating: 

how true

Great commentary. Agree that the primary issue here is honesty before God and total surrender. In response to Lane's post, I think there are a number of instances in the scriptures that teach the importance of God's law above man's, including examples when it was acceptable to break man's law when it conflicts with God's -- that's why the apostles were jailed. Also, regarding "and he died"... why question that it means judgment? It's clear from the scriptures that it was an act of God... and, since the scriptures are God breathed and not the interpretation of man, then there is no question that God judged the situation... just like Paul taught the Corinthians when he said, "many are sick and die among you because you don't properly discern the body of Christ." Paul was speaking of God's judgment.

I really cannot find support in Scripture, either in the Greek or Hebrew, for the statement that the phrase "and he died" is reserved for those who are struck down by divine judgement. And how does the submission of wives to husbands fit in with Sapphira's decision to support her spouse in his lie? She had no idea what had happened to Ananias, and in Greek culture, she was not allowed to testify against him. Difficult lessons on the limits of submission.

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