Acts 5:1-11
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
5 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife
Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 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.
3 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? 4 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.”
5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized
all who heard what had happened. 6 Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his
body, and carried him out and buried him.
7 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.”
9 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.”
10 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. 11 Great fear seized the whole church and all
who heard about these events.
As I read this scripture today, I
read it in a different light. I had to
think of the passages that so many people use to argue that a wife must submit
to her husband. In this case the wife
submitted to her husband and she ended up dead.
The passage reads that she had full knowledge that he was keeping some
money back. It does not say that she was
in agreement, that she was the one that suggested it but only that she was in
full knowledge of it. When questioned regarding
the intent of this move, Ananias was not given a chance to respond rather he
fell down and died. When Sapphira was
given the chance to respond she lied. If
wives are to totally submit to their husbands then I would say Sapphira did as
she should have done. Her husband surely
told her not to tell anyone how much they really got for the land and she did
as he asked of her.
Possibly this couple decided this
scheme together. Possibly they both
agreed that they should keep a portion of the money back for themselves. Possibly they agreed to lie about this matter
and in this case it would seem only right for each to be struck dead for lying
to the Holy Spirit. But where is the
Grace of God in all of this? Is this a
lie that is the unpardonable sin? What
sin did they actually commit? Have we
not all held back a little money for ourselves from time to time? Not always given as much as we probably
should have because we felt we needed a little extra? Maybe it was because we wanted to buy a few
more Christmas gifts or go on a luxurious vacation so we decided to not give
quite as much as we should have? In this
case, it was not that they did not give it all but they made it appear that
they had given all of the money.
Annanias announced that they had given the full amount but yet they had
not. According to this scripture it was not because they told the Apostles that
they had given all it was because they had lied to the Holy Spirit. We all know that the Holy Spirit cannot be
lied to. How is it that anyone thinks
that the Holy Spirit could be lied to?
There are people in this world who claim to know Christ. They claim to have given their entire life to
Him. They say they have laid down their
lives for Him just as Ananias laid down the money at the apostles’ feet. Yet these people keep back a portion of their
lives for themselves. I have to ask
myself and you need to ask yourself, “Is there a portion of my life that I am
keeping for myself or have a fully given it to the Lord?” We can pretend to be Holy and some people may
believe us but the Holy Spirit cannot be lied to. Peter was given a revelation from the Holy Spirit
that this was not given the full amount, I don’t think he just heard a rumor
about this, the Lord gave him full knowledge of what had been done.
Now Sapphira, was she acting as a
submissive wife and doing what her husband had advised her? If this is true why was she struck down
too? If they worked as a couple at this,
why was she not with him when he brought the money to the Apostles? To me this passage tells me that the One and
only One that we need to be submissive to is the Lord. Yes, we need to love one another and submit
to one another as it says in Ephesians 5:21, “ Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5:21&version=NIV1984)
However,
when decisions in
the household go against what the Lord would require, we need to stand up for
the ways of the Lord. Our faith needs to
hold true to Him in all circumstances.
We need to live lives with each other that bring out the glory of the
Lord not hide His radiance in selfish ambitions and deceitfulness.
As you seek Him may you seek His ways
above any earthly ways, may you follow Him and not man.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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