Bible Questions Answered:
“... Why were not Ananias and
Sapphira given to repent?...”
Himanish/ Mumbai, Maharashtra India
Bible Answer:
Bible Text:
Acts 5:1-11 KJV
1 But a certain man named Ananias,
with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession (property vs. 3),
2 And kept back part of the price,
his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid
it at the apostles' feet.
3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath
Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back
part of the price of the land?
4 Whiles it remained, was it not
thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why
hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied
unto men, but unto God.
5 And Ananias hearing these words
fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them
that heard these things.
6 And the young men arose, wound him
up, and carried him out, and buried him.
7 And it was about the space of
three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in.
8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell
me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so
much.
9 Then Peter said unto her, How is
it that ye have agreed together to tempt The Spirit Of The Lord?
behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the
door, and shall carry thee out.
10 Then fell she down straightway at
his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and
found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.
11 And great fear came upon all the
church, and upon as many as heard these things.
Here in Acts 4 is
an event that preceded our story of Acts 5, an event no doubt which
gave Ananias and Sapphira an idea.
Acts 4:32-37 KJV
32 And the multitude of them that
believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them
that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had
all things common.
33 And with great power gave the
apostles witness of the resurrection of The Lord Jesus: and great
grace was upon them all.
34 Neither was there any among them
that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold
them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
35 And laid them down at the
apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as
he had need.
36 And Joses (Joseph),
who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being
interpreted, The son of consolation, (encouragement)
a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,
37 Having land, sold it, and brought
the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.
No doubt Joseph,
because of his loving gift, received the thanks and admiration of
many.
Ananias and
Sapphira were in the wings watching.
What had they done?
Acts 5:3 KJV
“...why hath Satan filled thine
heart to lie to the Holy Ghost...”
Acts 5:4 KJV
“...why hast thou conceived this
thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto
God.
Acts 5:9 KJV
“...ye have agreed together to
tempt *The
Spirit Of The Lord?
*Tempt-Greek:
Peirazo (Pi-rad-zo): Assay, examine, go about, prove, tempt, try
(test).
Synonyms of
TEMPT: Dare, invite, coax, provoke, test.
Matthew 6:24 KJV
No one can serve two masters. For
you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and
despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
By lying, and
collusion (Contrived-Deceit), they had by their actions, dared God
The Holy Spirit, to bless them as well as (honest) Joseph had been
previously.
Only difference of
course being, that they were dishonest, and expected the same
blessing.
A great shock to
many, is the fact that God is alive and well, and that He inhabits
His church!
Unlike worthless
idols of mans making, He sees, He hears, He knows the workings of
man.
Jeremiah 17:9,10
KJV
9 The heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
10 I The Lord search the heart, I
try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and
according to the fruit of his doings.
Confronted by
Peter, instantly Ananias drops dead, at his feet.
No rebuttals, no
time for sorry.
Sapphira enters,
and the events are repeated.
Yes Peter could
have said, “hey look Sapphira, let me tell you about what happened
here three hours ago,” but he did not do that, Sapphira was
complicit in the event, so no special favors were afforded her.
Why did God kill
them?
- This was the glorious beginning of something called the church of The Lord Jesus Christ.And at its inception, clarity as to its call and purpose, was a must!
I Peter 1:15,16
KJV
15 But as He which hath called you
is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
16 Because it is written, Be ye
holy; for I am holy.
- Deception, must be defeated, while Truth, must be the tabernacle of the redeemed.
John 14:6 KJV
Jesus saith unto him, I am The Way,
The Truth, and The Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.
3 God had warned His people many times not to “tempt-test” Him.
How faithful The Living God had been
to Israel, delivered them from the hand of Pharaoh, given them food
and water, and yet they murmured against Him.
So God tested them.
At Marah they wanted water, but the
waters were bitter, could they trust The Living God who had been so
faithful to them?
At Marah.
Exodus
15:24 KJV
And the people murmured against
Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
At Rephidim (Massah), again there
was no water to drink, what did God's people do?
And again at Massah.
Would The Lord provide water?
Exodus 17:7 KJV (1-17)
And he called
the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of
the children of Israel, and because they tempted The Lord, saying, Is
The Lord among us, or not?
Always the
result of tempting The Lord, is judgment:
Numbers
14:11,22,23 KJV (To
tempt The Lord is to treat Him with contempt!)
11 And The Lord
said to Moses, “How long will these people treat Me with contempt?
Will they never believe Me, even after all the miraculous signs I
have done among them?
22 Because all
those men which have seen My glory, and My miracles, which I did in
Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me now these ten times,
and have not hearkened to My voice;
23 Surely they
shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither
shall any of them that provoked me see it:
Deuteronomy 6:16
KJV
Ye shall not
tempt* The Lord your God, as ye tempted Him in Massah.
*Tempt-Hebrew: Nach (Naw-saw): To attempt: adventure, assay, prove, tempt, try (test).
Psalm 78:10-32; 40-42; 55-62 KJV (Read the whole chapter.)
10 They kept
not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in His law;
11 And forgat
His works, and His wonders that He had shewed them.
12 Marvelous
things did He in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in
the field of Zoan.
13 He divided
the sea, and caused them to pass through; and He made the waters to
stand as an heap.
14 In the
daytime also He led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light
of fire.
15 He clave the
rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great
depths.
16 He brought
streams also out of the Rock, and caused waters to run down like
rivers.
17 And they
sinned yet more against Him by provoking The Most High in the
wilderness.
18 And they
tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
19 Yea, they
spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the
wilderness?
20 Behold, He
smote The Rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams
overflowed; can He give bread also? can He provide flesh for His
people?
21 Therefore
The Lord heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against
Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;
22 Because they
believed not in God, and trusted not in His salvation:
23 Though He
had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,
24 And had
rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of
heaven.
25 Man did eat
angels' food: He sent them meat to the full.
26 He caused an
east wind to blow in the heaven: and by His power He brought in the
south wind.
27 He rained
flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of
the sea:
28 And He let
it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.
29 So they did
eat, and were well filled: for He gave them their own desire;
30 They were
not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their
mouths,
31 The wrath of
God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the
chosen men of Israel.
32 For all this
they sinned still, and believed not for His wondrous works.
40 How oft did
they provoke Him in the wilderness, and grieve Him in the desert!
41 Yea, they
turned back and tempted God, and limited The Holy One Of Israel.
42 They
remembered not His hand, nor the day when He delivered them from the
enemy.
55 He cast out
the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by
line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
56 Yet they
tempted and provoked The Most High God, and kept not His testimonies:
57 But turned
back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned
aside like a deceitful bow.
58 For they
provoked Him to anger with their high places, and moved Him to
jealousy with their graven images.
59 When God
heard this, He was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:
60 So that He
forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which He placed among men;
61 And
delivered His strength into captivity, and His glory into the enemy's
hand.
62 He gave His
people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with His inheritance.
Psalm 106:7-15
KJV
7 Our fathers
understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the
multitude of thy mercies; but provoked Him at the sea, even at the
Red sea.
8 Nevertheless
He saved them for His name's sake, that He might make His mighty
power to be known.
9 He rebuked
the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so He led them through the
depths, as through the wilderness.
10 And He saved
them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the
hand of the enemy.
11 And the
waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left.
12 Then
believed they His words; they sang His praise.
13 They soon
forgat His works; they waited not for His counsel:
14 But lusted
exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.
15 And He gave
them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.
So, what is the end of the matter? God killed Ananias and Sapphira,
but that does not necessitate that they were forever lost, on the
contrary, we are never told that, but that they were stopped, yes.
Did Ananias and Sapphira know better? Absolutely.
I Corinthians
10:9-12 KJV
9 Neither let
us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were
destroyed of serpents.
10 Neither
murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were
destroyed of the destroyer.
11 Now all
these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written
for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
12 Wherefore
let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
Ephesians 4:30
KJV
And grieve
not The Holy Spirit Of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption.
Psalm 95:1-11
KJV
1 O come, let us sing unto The Lord: let us make a joyful noise to
The Rock Of Our Salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, and make a
joyful noise unto Him with psalms.
3 For The Lord is A Great God, and A Great King above all gods.
4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the
hills is His also.
5 The sea is His, and He made it: and His hands formed the dry land.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before The Lord
Our Maker.
7 For He is our God; and we are the people of His pasture, and the
sheep of His hand. To day if ye will hear His voice,
8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the
day of temptation in the wilderness:
9 When your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and saw My work.
10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It
is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known My
ways:
11 Unto whom I sware in My wrath that they should not enter into My
rest.
