Acts 5:1–11
Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”
When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”
“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”
Peter said to her, “How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”
At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events (NIV).
Do you think the account of Ananias and Sapphira is an example of two Christians being Satan-filled?
Remember that, if you are a believer, your temple is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and that temple will not be shared by a demon (1 Cor. 3:16–17; 2 Cor. 6:14–18). Remember also that there are so many people that we would look at from the exterior and say, “Wow! That is a really cool believer that I want to emulate and be like.” But we just look at the exterior, God looks at the heart (1 Sam. 16:7). Judas is always the favorite example because he was in the inner circle of Jesus Christ and he did the things of the Lord, but Jesus lets us know that he was there not because he loved the Master but rather what was on the Master’s table (John 6:70–71; 12:1–8). There are a lot of examples like that in the Bible.
Ananias and Sapphira knew the Holy Spirit’s power. They had experienced the Holy Spirit’s power. They had seen it unfold all around them in their circumstances; yet they purposed to deceive. They were not simply deceiving human beings but they were attempting to deceive God. If you are really attempting purposefully to deceive God, it is an indication you probably do not know Him in the first place.
Do you think God’s punishment of Ananias and Sapphira was too harsh of a judgment?
First of all, I do not think that anything God does is too harsh. It is a perfect blend of His mercy, love, and grace, taking all converging circumstances into consideration. That is precisely what happened in this case.
You have to remember that this is a nonnormative situation because this is the first recorded sin in the life of the New Testament church. Here you have Ananias and Sapphira, who are accountable for allowing Satan to fill their hearts with lies, for breaking the integrity of the emerging New Testament church. Their sin is not only keeping back possessions but deception; they were lying to the church, and lying to the church can be equated to lying to the Spirit of truth. This is a very, very serious sin. They had conspired to lie, which is to say that they had little regard for the Holy Spirit and for the embryonic New Testament church.
This is nonnormative, but taking all the converging factors into consideration, God’s justice is always perfectly meted out with His love.
—Hank Hanegraaff
For further related reading, please access the following:
The Great Comfort of God’s Wrath (Drew Dyck)
Was the Early Church Communist? (Jay Richards)
Nadab and Abihu (Hank Hanegraaff)
Does Satan Have Access to Our Minds? (Hank Hanegraaff)
This blog adapted from the March 22, 2017, and April 4, 2014, Bible Answer Man broadcasts.
