Acts 4:32-37 NLT
32 All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. 33 The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. 34 There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them 35 and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need. 36 For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus. 37 He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles.
Joseph, nicknamed “Barnabas” (son of encouragement), is introduced at this point for several reasons. First, he was a generous giver and illustrated the very thing Dr. Luke was describing. Second, his noble act apparently filled Ananias and Sapphira with envy so that they attempted to impress the church with their giving and ended up being killed. Third, Barnabas had a most important ministry in the church and is mentioned at least twenty-five times in the Book of Acts and another five times in the epistles. In fact, it is Barnabas who encouraged Paul in his early service for the Lord (Acts 9:26-27; 11:19-30; 13:1-5), and who gave his cousin John Mark the encouragement he needed after his failure (Acts 13:13; 15:36-41; Colossians 4:10).
Levites were not permitted to own land, so it is difficult to understand how Barnabas acquired the property that he sold. Perhaps that particular law (Numbers 18:20; Deuteronomy 10:9) applied only in Palestine and the property was in Cyprus, or perhaps the corrupt religious leaders had become lax in enforcing the law. There is much we do not know about Joseph Barnabas, but this we do know – he was a Spirit – filled man who was an encouragement to the church because he gave his all to the Lord. Not every believer can be like Peter and John, but we can all be like Barnabas and have a ministry of encouragement.
The Hypocrisy of Ananias and Sapphira
Acts 5:1-11
1 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.
The name that Jesus gave to Ananias and Sapphira’s sin is “hypocrisy,” which simply means “wearing a mask, playing the actor” Hypocrisy is deliberate deception, trying to make people think we are more spiritual than we really are. Matthew 23:28, In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Hypocrisy was the sin of Ananias and Sapphira: putting on a lovely “front” in order to conceal the shabby sin in their lives, sin that cost them their lives.
No doubt some people are shocked when they read that God killed two people just because they lied about a business transaction and about their church giving. But when you consider the features connected with this sin, you have to agree that God did the right thing by judging them.
To begin with, the sin of Ananias and Sapphira was energized by Satan (Acts 5:3); and that is a serious matter. If Satan cannot defeat the church by attacks from the outside, he will get on the inside and go to work (Acts 20:28-31). He knows how to lie to the minds and hearts of church members, even genuine Christians, and get them to follow his orders. We forget that the admonition about the spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:10-18) was written to God’s people, not to unbelievers, because it is the Christians who are in danger of being used by Satan to accomplish his evil purposes.
Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, “Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle which fits them all.” Satan is a liar and a murderer (John 8:44). He lied to and through this couple, and the lie led to their deaths. When God judged Ananias and Sapphira, He was also judging Satan. He was letting everybody know that He would not tolerate deception in His church.
Their sin was motivated by pride, and pride is a sin that God especially hates and judges, Proverbs 8:13, To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.
No doubt the church was praising God for the generous offering that Barnabas had brought when Satan whispered to the couple, “You can also bask in this kind of glory! You can make others dunk that you are as spiritual as Barnabas!” Instead of resisting Satan’s approaches, they yielded to him and planned their strategy.
Jesus made it very clear that we must be careful how we give, lest the glory that belongs to God should be given to us (Matthew 6:1-4,19-34). The Pharisees were adept at calling attention to their gifts, and they received the praises of men – but that’s all they received! Whatever we possess, God has given to us; we are stewards, not owners. We must use what He gives us for His glory alone. Proverbs 3:9, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops…”
Pride opens the door to every other sin, for once we are more concerned with our reputation than our character, there is no end to the things we will do just to make ourselves “look good” before others.
A third feature of their sin was especially wicked: their sin was directed against Gods church. We have reason to believe that Ananias and Sapphira were believers. The spiritual level of the church at that time was so high that it is doubtful that a mere “professor” could have gotten into the fellowship without being detected. The fact that they were able to lie to the Spirit (Acts 5:3) and tempt the Spirit (Acts 5:9) would indicate that they had the Spirit of God living within.
God loves His church and is jealous over it for the church was purchased by the blood of God’s Son (Acts 20:28; Ephesians 5:25) and has been put on earth to glorify Him and do His work. Satan wants to destroy the church, and the easiest way to do it is to use those who are within the fellowship. Had Peter not been discerning, Ananias and Sapphira would have become influential people in the church! Satan would have been working through them to accomplish his purposes!
It is easy for us to condemn Ananias and Sapphira for their dishonesty, but we need to examine our own lives to see if our profession is backed up by our practice. Do we really mean everything we pray about in public? Do we sing the hymns and Gospel songs sincerely or routinely? “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me” (Matthew 15:8, NIV). If God killed “religious deceivers” today, how many church members would be left?
What is described in this chapter is not a case of church discipline. Rather it is an example of God’s personal judgment. “The Lord shall judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:30-31). Had Ananias and Sapphira judged their own sin, God would not have judged them (1 Corinthians 11:31), but they agreed to hypocrisy, and God had to deal with them.
Ananias was dead and buried, and Sapphira did not even know it! Peter accused her of tempting God’s Spirit, that is, deliberately disobeying God and seeing how far God would go (Exodus 17:2; Deuteronomy 6:16). They were actually defying God and daring Him to act – and He acted, with swiftness and finality “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Matthew 4:7).
We must keep in mind that their sin was not in robbing God of money but in lying to Him and robbing Him of glory. They were not required to sell the property, and, having sold it, they were not required to give any of the money to the church (Acts 5:4). Their lust for recognition conceived sin in their hearts (Acts 5:4,9), and that sin eventually produced death (James 1:15).
The result was a wave of godly fear that swept over the church and over all those who heard the story (Acts 5:11). We have moved from “great power” and “great grace” (Acts 4:33) to “great fear,” and all of these ought to be present in the church. “Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28-29).
– Warren Wiersbe
(from The Bible Exposition Commentary. Copyright © 1989 by Chariot Victor Publishing, and imprint of Cook Communication Ministries. All rights reserved. Used by permission.)
