VIDEO LINK: ACTS CHAPTER FIVE
Ananias and Sapphira
What
Happened to Ananias?
1 But a
man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a
piece of property, 2
and kept back some of the price for himself, with his
wife’s full knowledge and bringing a portion of it he laid it at the apostles’
feet.
What was
the harm in Ananias and his wife agreeing to keep a portion of the proceeds
from the sale for themselves?
It wasn't that Ananias and his wife wanted to
keep some of the money for themselves.
It was
that they planed to deceive God.
As we
learned in chapter 4 the sharing of one's possessions with other believers was
a voluntary thing, and the laying of these monies at the apostles feet was in
effect an offering to God
3 But Peter said,
Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep
back some of the price of the land?
This
verse begs the question; how did Peter know?
At this
juncture we can only guess as to how Peter knew.
I believe the Holy Spirit told Peter of this
deception
and this
deception would be used by God as a warning to all who would try to deceive God
This is
not the first time that we have read about Satan, filling the hearts of
men.
Satan,
the Prince of deceit entered the heart of Judas, and caused him to become
corrupted. ( John 13:2 John 13:27)
4 “While it
remained unsold, did it not remain your own? After it was sold, was
it not under your control. Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your
heart you have not lied to men but to God"
We have read in the law that to bear false
witness is a sin.
However
Peter points out that this deceit conceived by Ananias was more encompassing
than merely bearing false witness;
this
deceit was an attempt to deceive the Holy Spirit – God.
5 And as he heard
these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over
all who heard of it.
What is
the real sin here?
Merely
holding back a portion of the proceeds of the sale would not warrant the death
sentence would it?
The real
sin here was not just failing to tell the truth, to the apostles, but rather it
was lying to the Holy Spirit.
When
Ananias lied to the apostles. He was not just being untruthful to Peter he had
tried to deceive God.
the
proceeds from the sale were to be an offering to God.
The
penalty for this offense was quick and decisive
which
served as a warning to all who would deceive the Holy Spirit.
6 The
young men got up and covered him up, and after
carrying him out, they buried him.
“the young men--some of the younger and more active members of the
church, not as office-bearers, nor coming forward now for the first time, but
who probably had already volunteered their services in making subordinate
arrangements.
In every
thriving Christian community such volunteers may be expected, and will be found
eminently useful.” [2]
7 Now there
elapsed an interval of about
three hours. And his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you
sold the land for such and such a price?” and she said, yes that was the
price.”
We can
assume by the phrasing in this verse that Peter knew the amount and stated the
exact amount to the wife of Ananias.
This
would have been an opportunity for Sapphira to come clean so to speak and tell Peter the truth.
She
failed to embrace the opportunity and held to the story she and her husband had
agreed upon.
The
judgment for this sin was quick and final
You may think the
punishment was too severe for her sin.
God
judges all sin with the punishment for sin being death.
9
Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have
agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to
the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the
door, and they will carry you out as well.”
In some
translations the word tempt is used instead of test.
Some
translations may read tried to ‘tempt’ the Lord’s Spirit.
The Greek
word used here is peirazo pi-rad'-zo; to test (objectively), i.e.
endeavor, scrutinize, entice, discipline:--assay, examine, go about, prove, tempt(-er),
try.
Which as
we can see could yield either test or tempt
10 And
immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her
last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her
out and buried her beside her husband. 11 and great fear came
over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.
They
wasted no time in burying her,
it was
the custom of the Jews to bury the dead before sunset on the day of the death.
Now much
fear grew within this newly formed church community.
This is
the first time that Luke uses the word church (ekklesia) in the book of acts.
The Stern
punishment for the sins of Ananias and his wife showed how much God hated
deceit and how much honesty was revered.
If they
did not do this, maybe the church could not continue.
Satan was
trying to destroy the church.
Already,
the believers had enemies who were attacking them from outside the church.
But now,
Satan was working by means of their own members.
God hates
lies.
He wants
his church to be pure (with nothing bad in it).
Peter
knew this, and knew The church was in danger if believers were not honest.
He gave
to both Ananias and Sapphira a chance to repent.
But they did not repent.
So, by
his words, Peter showed that this was a very serious thing.
He showed to everyone it is very important to be honest
always. [2]
12 At the hands of
the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and
they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico. 13 But none of the
rest dared to associate with them; However, the people held them
in high esteem.
The
believers were meeting in the place where the Sanhedrin had arrested Peter.
The
*apostles’ message was more than just words.
It
included actions too.
Miracles
were happening, and because of these miracles. Some people did not want to mix
with the believers.
They kept
away from the believers.
Perhaps they had
also heard what had happened to Ananias and Sapphira.
Many
other people joined the church.
Some
people did not want to go to church.
And did
not want to mix with *Christians.
But they
were not the church’s enemies.
Perhaps
they are afraid of persecution.
They did
not want their lives to change.
Perhaps
they did not realize that their lives could be so much better!
Other
people are bolder.
They were not afraid to give their lives to the Lord.
When they have done this, they have His joy. And their
spirit becomes calm.
14 And all the
more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were
constantly added to their number, 15 to such an
extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets
and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his
shadow might fall on any on of them.
Now the
Holy Spirit was working wonders through Peter
you may
be concern at this point, and I'm sure it was Peter's concern the people would
believe that it was he who was healing the people
some of
the people believed that even if Peter's shadow was shed upon a sick or lame
person, that person would be healed.
Peter
took every opportunity to publically give Jesus all the credit (glory)
16
Also the people from the cities in the vicinity of
Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted
with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.
News
traveled fast giving Peter the opportunity to spread the word.
Although
not specifically mentioned I maintain that Peter while healing these people
gave all the honor and glory the Lord Jesus
and at
the same time using the opportunity to tell the people of the true path to
salvation.
Imprisonment
and Release
17 But the
high priest rose up, along with all his
associates (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they
were filled with jealousy.
Jealousy
and fear controlled these men.
They
feared losing their control over the people.
Jealousy
often breeds anger and such is the case here because of fear and jealousy these
priests were most angered at what the apostles preaching the resurrection and sought vengeance.
This time
the Sadducees arrested all the apostles.
18 They laid hands on the apostles and put them
in a public jail. 19 But
during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and
taking them out he said, 20 "Go stand and
speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this life.”
The Greek
word for Angel is aggelos, which means
messenger.
Even
though the apostles realized the danger involved in preaching about the new
life, they immediately obeyed.
Now the
new life spoken of here is that life obtainable only through Jesus the Christ.
21 Upon
hearing this, they entered into the
temple about daybreak and began to teach. Now when the
high priest and his associates came, they called the Council together
even all the Senate of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the prison house
for them to be brought
The
Council mention here is the same body, the Jewish Sanhedrin.
22 But the
officers who came did not Find them in prison; and they returned and
reported back, find them in the prison; and they returned and
reported back, 23 saying, “We
found the Prison house locked quite securely and the guards standing at
the door; but when we had opened up, we found no one inside.“
In verses
21b-24 Everyone expected that the apostles would be in the prison however when
the jail was checked.
The doors
were not open.
The
guards had not seen anyone go.
The
apostles’ escape was a perplexing surprise.
The men
in the Sanhedrin were worried.
They did
not understand how the *apostles could have escaped. [2]
24
Now when the captain of the Temple guard and the chief priests
heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them as to what would come
of this.
Verses 22
through 24 raise the question, how did the apostles get past the guards without
being seen?
The chief
priests were understandably perplexed by the escape.
They
failed to realize that this escape was engineered and made possible by God
through his angel.
Anything is possible with God.
We read
in the book of John Jesus, after his resurrection, could come and go at will.
The
Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, and therefore it is no surprise
that they were perplexed at this miracle.
25 But
someone came and reported to them, “The men whom you
put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the
people!”
In verses
25-26 The apostles were not hiding. They were in the Temple again!
They were
teaching the people.
So, the
officer and his men arrested them again. [2]
26 Then the
captain went along with the
officers and proceeded to Bring them back without violence (for
they were afraid of the people, that they might be stoned).
the
officer and his men were afraid of the crowd.
They did
not want to make the people angry.
So, they
were polite to the apostles and they did not hurt them.
They did
not use force to make them come. [2]
27 When they had
brought them, they Stood them before the Council. The high priest question
them, 28 saying, “We Gave you
strict orders not to continue teaching in this name. And yet you have filled
Jerusalem with your teaching and intended to bring this man's blood upon us.”
The Chief priest did not use the name of Jesus
Perhaps the chief priest felt guilty or merely his pride got
in the way of saying Jesus’ name.
There were a great number of people following the apostles
who heard of Jesus’ resurrection.
For that reason the Sadducees became worried that the Romans
would think they could no longer could control the people.
Notice the high priest referred to Jesus as “this man”,
29 But Peter and
the apostles answered, “We
must obey God rather than men. 30 “The God of our
fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging him on
a cross.
The
apostles realized that the laws of God or His will supersede that of man.
The
priests once again feared their doctrine and authority was jeopardized by these
men
Peter did
not hesitate in condemning his accusers once again for the crucifixion of
Jesus.
The
message Peter was preaching was in five parts:
1. God
the Father sent His Son
2. The Jewish leaders killed Jesus
3. God the Father glorified Jesus and He sits
at His right hand V 31
4. Repentance
5. The truth would set them free
31 “He is the one whom
God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and
a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and
forgiveness of sins.
Lets look
a little deeper why Peter used Prince instead of King to describe Jesus’
position
The word
prince in this is verse actually equals author
(Hebrew 12:2), or leader.
Prince and a Savior--the first word expressing that Royalty which all
Israel looked for in Messiah,
the
second the Saving character
of it which they had utterly lost sight of.
“Each of
these features in our Lord's work enters into the other, and both make one
glorious whole (compare Acts
3:15 , Hebrews 2:10 ).
dispensing as a "Prince." [2]
dispensing as a "Prince." [2]
32 “And we
are witnesses of these things; and so is the
Holy Spirit, whom God has given to
those who obey Him.”
In this
case Peter had just been miraculously escaped from captivity
Peter was
obedient to the will of God
He
desired to once again give all the glory to God and to proclaim that the Holy
Spirit would be given to anyone who obeyed God.
Gamaliel’s Counsel
33 But when they
heard this, they were cut to the
quick and intended to kill them.
The
Sadducees were very angry.
“They
thought that they knew everything about the Jewish religion.
But Peter
said that they had made a bad mistake.
They had not recognized the Messiah.
And there
was something worse than that.
They had
killed him.
Now they
wanted to kill the apostles.” [2]
Perhaps
some Pharisees were experts who knew the Jewish *Law well.
“The
people respected the *Pharisees more than they respected the Sadducees.
So, the
*Sadducees had to listen to the Pharisees.
Then the men in the whole Sanhedrin could decide what to
do.” [2]
34 But the Pharisee named Gamaliel's, a teacher
of the law, respected by all the people, stood up in the counsel and gave
orders to put the men outside for a short time.
Gamaliel
was the apostle Paul’s teacher (Acts 22:3) and was revered by the members of
the Sanhedrin
He was
considered to be a wise and sensible man
35 And he said to
them, “Men of Israel, take care
what you propose to do with these men.
Gamaliel being a clever man expressed his
opinion to not put these men to death.
Gamaliel
talked about two examples to explain his opinion.
He talked
about two men Theudas and Judas.
These men
said that they were important leaders.
One man
lived ‘at the time when people made the census’. The Romans recoded everyone's name in order
to impose taxes on them. “Many men led the *Jews in order to fight against the
*Romans.
36“Forsome time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to
be somebody, and a group of About four hundred men joined up with
him. But he was killed, and all who followed him word dispersed and came to
nothing.
Theudas
was a Jew from Galilee and was like those who rose up against Rome is dead and
no one remain in their protestor group
37
“After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the
days of the census and drew away some
people after him; he too perished, and all those who followed him
were scattered.
This
revolt is described by the historian Josephus (Josephus, antiquities, 13.1.1)
The followers of this Judas became the "zealots“, spoken of in the New
Testament.
Now Judas
met the same fate as that of Theudas and his followers were no longer.
38 “So in the
present case, I say to you, stay away from
these men and let them alone, for if this
plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; 39 but if it is of
God, you will not be able to overthrow them; Or else you may
even be found fighting against God.”
Now
Gamaliel reasoned this:
“The same
thing would happen to the apostles if their message was not from God.
But if it
was from God, the men in the Sanhedrin could not stop them.
If the
Sanhedrin did try to stop the apostles, its members would be fighting against
God!
The crowd
could rebel and riot and cause much trouble for the Sanhedrin
40
They took his advice; and after calling the
apostles in, they flogged them and Ordered them not to speak in
the name of Jesus, and then release them.
The
Sadducees agreed with Gamaliel. They let the apostles go.
They
could not just let them go again with a warning, they would have to inforce
their last warning with some form of punishment.
As their
punishment, they were to be flogged. They probably were hit 39 times with a whip. The maximum allowable
lashes was 40. (Look at Deuteronomy
25:3.)
41 So they
went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that
they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for his name.
Afterwards,
they were not sad and afraid.
They were
happy!
Their
bodies hurt, but in their spirits they had great joy.
They knew
that God was blessing them.
They
would have a great reward in heaven.
42 And
every day, in the temple and from house to house,
they kept right on teaching and
preaching Jesus as the Christ.
“The
Sanhedrin had tried and failed to stop the apostles
Since
then, many people have tried to destroy the church.
But they
could not destroy it.
Today,
more people than ever before are suffering because they are Christians.
But the
church is eternal and continues to grow in numbers.” [2]
“Satan
will always attack the church. But Jesus has defeated *Satan already, on the
cross. Christians must not be worried and they must not be afraid. The church
will continue. Nothing can destroy it.” [2]
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