We can probably deduce/infer that Gehazi being a servant to a Godly prophet should have known better because Gehazi is someone who is part of God's ministry. I think they had an agenda to infiltrate the church and bring harm to the believers. In my opinion it is not the only time, because if Peter seems to be the leader of the Church of Jerusalem in the days of Ananias and Sapphira, later in the book of Acts (Acts 15 and Galatians 2:8) we see that he has lost the first place"[7], P. M. Garner reads the story as subversive narrative showing Peter, complicit in the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, showing immaturity in imaging the son of God. But when some concerned Christian who might be able to help us asks how things are going at home, we quickly reply, Oh, just great, great. We may even be tempted to accuse God of overreacting with undue harshness. The major sin of Ananias and Sapphira was dishonesty, deceit, hypocrisy, pretense, presenting a false image of themselves, implying a greater spirituality than they actually possessed, letting people think more highly of them than what they knew was warranted. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. Thats why God doesnt just wipe out the whole planet even though there is so much sin and evil. The need for each partner to come out looking better than his mate causes him to mask his true inner person, and so entrenches him more firmly in his wretched hypocrisy. Ask your mate whether or not it is easy to be honest with you. This form of hypocrisy has become a way of life in the church of Jesus Christ today, and may be the reason we are not making any greater impact on our godless society. He does not seem to act that way now. I guess you could say then that people would be well within their rights to use this story to threaten believers now. This question assumes that were not given a chance to repent. Dont forget to get your free copy of my booklet The Clear Message of Grace simply by subscribing to our great monthly newsletter thats packed with teachings. It will be remembered that each was filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:31ff): Acts 4:31-32, 34, 35: And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness. "Can we infer anything about the ultimate eternal fate of Ananias and Sapphira? Whom did Ananias lie to? The bible verse James 3:1 gives support for Gehazi's disciplining: Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing Acts (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament), "On Why People do NOT Give Money to Their Church", Il est parfois criminel de confondre son glise et le Saint-Esprit, Interpretive Adventures: Subversive Readings in a Missional School, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ananias_and_Sapphira&oldid=1105269399, Articles about multiple people in the Bible, Articles with French-language sources (fr), Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 19 August 2022, at 11:55. He had to act decisively. It actually begins at the end of chapter 4 with the description of the early church in Jerusalem, a group of believers so filled with the Holy Spirit that they were of one heart and one mind. It attracted a couple named Ananias and Sapphira. Yet, Ananias and Sapphira were both responsible for their own actions, and Sapphira should have obeyed the Spirit instead of obeying her husband. We have each other, and that is all that matters, the love-struck couple boasted shortly after their wedding. Each partner is keeping score of who gives in the most, who gets the most attention, who shows the most appreciation, who has the most faults, or some other trivial area of contention. (Ephesians 6:5,6) Do not seek for any selfish gain out of your service: Put away all pretence and hypocrisy. And he tells believers to watch out for these kinds of people. Out of the foxhole and into the the line of fire. Ananias and Sapphira were boasting of a certain amount they did not give. There was no trace of fleshly pride in it whatsoever. They could not help what other people thought, could they? Since their congregation was so very large, when they all met together in the court of the Temple, they also gathered in smaller units in homes to get to know each other, to grow in their love for one another, to care about one anothers problems and minister to one anothers needs (cf. Peter gave her an opportunity to be honest. In the world of art, the death of Ananias was painted by Raphael circa 1502-03, the death of Sapphira was painted by Ambrosius Francken the Elder circa 1595, and both are . Acts 15:1-5 And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question. No. Matthew 6:1,2) Why were Ananias and Sapphira not given a second chance? It is only by God's grace that we are spared today. However they lied and said they had donated all the proceeds. Reidhead noted that God does not punish everyone who makes the same mistake as Ananias and Sapphira; nevertheless, the passage illustrates God's unambiguous attitude on this matter. She was given an opportunity to back out in Acts 5:8b, but doubled-down on the lie that they offered the full amount; which itself was not required. Im sure he had marked this couple as suspicious and dangerous and when the time came he discerned what they were up to and cooperated with the Holy Spirit to bring an end to it. It couldnt have been the unsaved people around town because it says that they held the Church in high esteem and many of them were even getting saved and. We know that someday that person will ask us how things are going and we will have to tell him honestly. Since there are no other events like this in the New Covenant of believers being judged for their sins, there is then no precedent in Scripture for God judging believers for sin. What we do know is that as a result of the judgment that fell on this couple, "great fear came upon the whole . Is it possible that Ananias and Sapphira were still saved despite the exemplary punishment they received? We also see in the book of Revelation, before Christs return and before the dead are judged, God pouring out judgement upon unbelievers (not believers) with the trumpet and bowl judgments. Why did God approve of animal-based diets if Adam and Eve were originally vegan? We do not know how they got Ananias buried without Sapphira knowing about it, but bodies had to be buried quickly in those days and maybe they could not find Sapphira at the moment. Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. The church is not composed of perfect people, but sins including pride and deceit will eventually be dealt with. And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? 3 But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things. 303ff. The Death of Sapphira, by Ambrosius Francken the Elder Ananias ( / nna.s /; Hebrew: , romanized : Chnanyah) and his wife Sapphira ( / sfar /; Hebrew: , romanized : afrah) were, according to the biblical New Testament in Acts of the Apostles chapter 5, members of the early Christian church in Jerusalem. To many good Christians are being taken down by a foundation that only has cracks in it. By pretending to give the whole amount they could appear generous without having to actually give it all away. And he tells believers to watch out for these kinds of people. Ananias and Sapphiras behaviour exposed their true heart and agenda. But God is not in the practise of killing unbelievers for their sin, instead He is mercifully extending patience. Ananias presented his donation to Peter. In Acts, Ananias and Sapphiras sinful actions were performed within the context of their relationship to the Church. There are a number of opposing views about the event that happened in Acts chapter 5 regarding Ananias and Sapphiras death. 2021 New Nature Ministries All rights reserved. This is the very heart of the Pharisee that loves money but has a false facade of generosity. When Jesus says "your sins are forgiven", how is that reconciled with the sacrificial system established in the old testament? I think they were much more sinister than that. - The people of God were experiencing victory. Who were the rest that didnt dare join the Church? Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. While the generosity of the previous passage stems from being "filled with the Holy Spirit" (4:31) where does 2:19). They didnt have to give the whole amount. 9. joining the Church. The rest of who? You have not lied to man but to God. 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. We have the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5, and the death of Herod in Acts 12 for his wickedness. resulting in their lie. Thanks for contributing an answer to Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange! However if Ananias and Sapphira were not born again, then the whole scenario changes. [1]All Scripture references are taken from NASB1995. He explained that they were under no obligation to sell their property. Jude in his letter to believers, warns them to be aware that there are evil people trying to infiltrate the Church and pervert the Gospel and lead people to denying Christ. Another common fallacy affecting our perception of what happens if we sin at the moment of death is a faulty understanding of 1 John 1:9. believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything It was certainly their privilege to continue in the Spirit. They sent Ananias and Sapphira to infiltrate the Church but when they saw what happened to them, none of the rest of them dared join the Church for fear of the same fate. Their punishments served as an example to the nascent church. Sins against the Holy Spirit are extremely grievous. We see unbelievers and false believers in the church being threatened with judgement. And why did they do so? I believe I have figured this one out, and scripture gives us a very clear answer. God may discipline believers, but He will not judge them like Ananias and Sapphira. (Also in this book, see pp. Can someone have their spirit saved but not their soul? They are evil and have a sinister agenda. Their sin was trying to deceive people and God to believing they were giving more than what they were really giving. Why they were killed for that only God knows. Heres an article I did that gives biblical evidence for this. But they got caught out. But Scripture goes on to say that they were of one soul as well, and that is something entirely different. They did not really lie to anybody, did they? But the Spirit of God can use an honest openness, on the other hand, to produce in us the life of Christ, and that means abundant life, abiding joy, and abounding blessing. Once in Christ, then again in us. But most of them were selling their material possessions and giving the money to the apostles to be distributed to those who, in all probability, had lost their jobs because of their faith. They also need to be honest with God. In any case, lying or blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is one sin that cannot be forgiven. What are some tools or methods I can purchase to trace a water leak? You ask why they received such drastic punishments and weren't given a change to repent, but I'll point out that the text doesn't say that it was God who killed them, but simply that they promptly fell over dead on the spot. Is it possible that Ananias and Sapphira were still saved despite the exemplary punishment they received? To conclude, God has a certain God-defined "threshold" for every situation involving a person's sin, and once she/he crosses that threshold then consequences of God's Anger to uphold justice will be brought forth. But the dishonesty increases our burden of guilt, and the guilt leads to further defensiveness and irritability, and the irritability produces greater dissension and discord in the home. So who then could this group of the rest be that didnt dare join? They collaborated on a plan to stash some of the money from the sale of their property in a safety deposit box for themselves and take the rest to the apostles. 12 The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. I think God recognised their strategy and brought it to an abrupt end. Evidently, Ananias and Sapphira had sold a piece of property for a certain sum and agreed between them to say they had sold it for a lesser sum while keeping the difference for their own use. Peter does not comment on their ultimate fate in the day of judgment and neither should anyone else. It is also shown on a 1590s painting by Ambrosius Francken the Elder. 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