Acts 5:5, commentary and pictures

Ananias with his wife sold a possession and kept back part of the price while bringing a part as if it were the whole, seeking to appear fully self-denying and to gain esteem, and when Peter by the Spirit exposed the fraud he fell down dead at once and great fear came on all who heard. His offering was wholly voluntary, for the property and its proceeds were in his own power with no compulsion to give all or anything. His sin was lying not to men but to the Holy Ghost and to God, hypocrisy under profession of consecration, covetousness and love of money, and unfaithfulness to a vow by robbing God of what was pledged to His work. The sudden death was God's retributive justice against fraud, hypocrisy and lying, necessary to guard the rapidly growing young church from corruption and to strike reverential awe and self-examination into all hearers. The account stands as a perpetual danger-signal to all who profess Christ, for repeating pretense, covetousness and robbing God is just as heinous now and will as surely be visited in judgment, even though no immediate visible stroke follows.

The Deed and Death

Ananias with Sapphira his wife sold a possession and kept back part of the price while bringing a part as if it were the whole. They pretended to give all in order to appear generous, liberal and self-denying and to gain esteem, praise and support, wanting praise for generosity while secretly keeping part and planning to gain high esteem and a living from the common stock. They had promised and pledged part of their property for Christ's work, yet claimed to consecrate the proceeds while concealing that it had sold for much more than was reported, answering the question about the sale price with an understatement of the value received. That false answer was a lie in God's sight, dissembling to Him under profession of consecration and a free-will offering, illustrating the course of those who want brethren to think they made a full surrender.

The offering was wholly voluntary, with no compulsion to give all or anything. The property and its proceeds after sale were his own and in his own power, and he had freely chosen what to do with it, whether to give or to keep. He falsely presented a partial gift as the whole amount, pretending to give under the influence of the Holy Spirit while concealing greed.

Peter exposed the fraud by divine impression, the Spirit of truth revealing the real character and hidden sin, for the apostles knew the true state of the case by divine impression. He declared that Satan had filled his heart to lie to the Holy Ghost by keeping back the price, which is lying not to men but to God. Hearing those words exposing his lie, Ananias fell down dead at once, and great fear came on all them that heard these things. The sudden death was instant divine punishment and retribution for deceit, fraud, hypocrisy and falsehood conceived in the heart, and the punishment lingered not but came without delay.

The apostles' discernment in detecting hidden sin increased the brethren's confidence in them and in their message of a crucified and risen Saviour. It made the believers more reverent and cautious, producing greater caution in new converts and hearers. It did not hinder their work of mercy in healing the afflicted and preaching with great power. Numbers were continually added to the church by baptism, yet none dared to join who were not united heart and mind with the believers in Christ.

The Jewish priests and rulers in council later falsely charged the apostles with murdering Ananias and Sapphira. They made it part of a charge of insurrection and of conspiring to deprive the priests of authority and put them to death. They hoped to excite the mob to deal with the apostles as it had dealt with Jesus, to seize and kill the disciples as it had killed Jesus and turn the people against them. They did so because many who did not accept Christ were weary of arbitrary Jewish rule and wanted decided change, and they feared that if the dissatisfied people accepted Jesus as Messiah the anger of the whole people would turn against them and they would answer for the murder of Christ. The swift and terrible divine judgment was a manifestation that increased their fear and hatred as the apostles continued proclaiming the gospel.

Nature of the Sin

The lie was not to men but to the Holy Ghost and to God, for in falsely answering about the sale price Ananias tempted the Spirit of the Lord while God who knows the exact truth in every case searched out the fraud. To present a partial gift as the whole amount was to lie to God, though the property had been freely his own to keep or give. The sin was hypocrisy, pretense and dissembling under profession of consecration and godliness, pretending to be wrought upon by the Holy Ghost and to make an entire sacrifice while secretly cherishing iniquity. In attempting to deceive the disciples he tried to deceive One who detects hidden sin of the heart and will not be mocked.

Satan filled his heart and led him, for after pledging certain lands and means under the direct influence of the Spirit he lost that impression, questioned the pledge as too hasty, opened the door to Satan, and deliberately agreed with his wife to withhold part while pretending to give all. His example shows that those not wholly consecrated to God can do Satan's work while believing they serve Christ. The sin was selfishness, covetousness and love of money first cherished, which warped the character until he desired commendation as liberal and self-denying yet was unwilling to give all, covetously withholding a portion for self while claiming to fulfill God's requirements. He wanted praise for generosity and high esteem with a living from the common stock, professing to serve God while worshipping mammon.

The sin was unfaithfulness to a vow, for having promised and pledged property for Christ's work and to advance the sacred cause, taking back for personal use what was pledged and withholding part while claiming to meet God's requirements was sacrilege, fraud and robbery of God. A gift presented under false pretenses is not acceptable to God, even when the offering itself was wholly voluntary. The deception was meant to gain a reputation for self-sacrifice, devotion, generosity and high esteem, sacrificing truth to gain favor, and it illustrates understating the value received and the course of those who want brethren to think they made a full surrender. An institution established by God's people must not earn a reputation for such deceit.

Purpose of Swift Judgment

The sudden fall and death was retributive justice, a signal manifestation of wrath against fraud, hypocrisy, covetousness and lying, which infinite wisdom knew was needed as a check at a time of rapid increase of professed Christians. The stern stroke was necessary to guard the rapidly growing young church from becoming demoralized, disgraced and corrupted by those professing to serve God while worshiping mammon, and it forever rid the church of this foul blot upon its purity. The judgment removed a corrupting influence that could not safely be harbored, lest the church be dishonored by selfish motives cloaked under profession.

The death excited reverential awe and great fear in new converts and all hearers, producing greater caution and more thorough self-examination and testing of motives of actions. It was signal evidence of the discerning Spirit of Christ in the church, a terror to hypocrites and evildoers who could not long remain in connection with those who in habit and disposition were constant representatives of Christ. As trials and persecution came, only those willing to forsake all for truth's sake desired to become disciples, so as long as persecution continued the church remained comparatively pure.

The severity was directed at the very first departure from truthful dealing because doors of temptation would open before those bringing means to sustain the cause, and those not under control of the Spirit would be tempted to appropriate money or goods to supply a fancied deficiency in pay. A severe warning had to be given at the very first instance of dishonesty to prevent untold evil, showing that all unjust, selfish actions are known and will be searched out, however secret. The presence of Ananias and Sapphira shows that unworthy members and false brethren were found among the disciples even at the beginning of the church, and in any great religious movement there is always a class carried away by the current of feeling who soon reveal selfishness and vainglory and can never be an honor to the cause they advocate.

What Judgment Reveals About God

Ananias died because he claimed to consecrate to God the whole proceeds of his land while concealing that it had sold for much more than he reported, and his false answer about the price was counted as a lie in God's sight. His instant death was retribution for that deceit, showing how deep is God's hatred, abhorrence and contempt for all deception, prevarication, falsehood and lying lips. Lying is not a slight evil but an enormous sin and an abomination to Him, and falsehood shuts out of the holy city. Christian fathers should impress this enormity on their children, pray with them over lying, and never give the impression that falsehood is a small matter.

In attempting to deceive the disciples he lied to the Holy Spirit, lied to God, tempted the Spirit of the Lord, and tried to deceive One who detects hidden sin of the heart and will not be mocked or deceived. God searches the heart and reads purposes and motives, and no motive or purpose of man can be hidden from Him. The sin of keeping back a portion was done while thinking the brethren would never know it, but all unjust, selfish actions are known to God and will be searched out. Every hidden evil however secret will be punished, and God will be glorified in those who serve Him.

He will no more accept a stinted, unwilling offering presented under false pretenses than He accepted that offering. A gift presented while pretending to meet God's requirements, while deliberately withholding what should be offered to Him, is not acceptable to God. A small contribution is no more acceptable when it accompanies self-indulgence and robbery of God, even when the amount withheld may seem small.

That fraud against God brought loss of this life and the life to come. He had pretended to consecrate his entire possession to God while lying to the Holy Spirit, and his deception cost him both his present life and the life to come. The same sin often repeated since and committed by many now, though not attended with visible manifestation of displeasure, is no less heinous in His sight and destroys the soul. Those who give themselves to hypocrisy and covetousness destroy their own souls, for playing fast and loose with truth means shipwreck of faith.

His death proves that God has not changed but is the same God in the gospel that He was in the time of ancient Israel, dealing with deception, falsehood and hidden sin with the same seriousness. The case is recorded so the whole world may have a testimony of how God regards such dishonesty, matching His condemnation of Israel for coveting and taking the accursed things. The same Jesus who directed Joshua to search Israel's camp for the cause of defeat exposed Ananias and told Peter how to deal with him, and the sin was like Achan's. His covetousness in keeping unlawful gain stands as a warning against covetousness, which God calls idolatry, and it rests on the same principle that led Judas to steal from the Lord's treasury when workers who think they are not paid enough appropriate money or goods to supply a fancied deficiency.

God requires faithfulness in performing vows, and withholding from God what He claims is selfish fraud and robbery that hinders spreading truth. His example warns Christians against withholding part of what God claims through the tithing system, giving of what He has entrusted to them according to ability. A pledge to the cause is a vow made to God and must be sacredly kept, and to take back for personal use what was pledged to advance His sacred work or appropriate pledged means to personal use is sacrilege. Guilt rests on others in proportion to similar offenses, for Ananias and Sapphira's act was aggravated because they kept back part of the price while lying to the Holy Ghost. Moral discipline depends on every person cooperating with God in this, and repeating the sin now brings no immediate visible mark but is just as heinous, will as surely be visited in the day of judgment, and many will feel God's curse for it even in this life.

Lasting Warning and Application

The account stands as a marked example and perpetual danger-signal to all future generations who profess to follow Christ, to fear and tremble at repeating pretense, hypocrisy, covetousness and robbing God in tithes and offerings. The sudden death was retributive justice showing God's abhorrence of selfish fraud in withholding what was pledged to advance sacred work while pretending to give all, and it brought great fear that guarded the rapidly growing young church from demoralization. Repeating that sin now brings no immediate visible mark, yet it is just as heinous in His sight, destroys the soul, loses both this life and the life to come, will as surely be visited in the day of judgment, and many will feel God's curse for it even in this life. God reads purposes and motives and will not be mocked, so concealing covetousness and evading responsibility does not make punishment lighter because displeasure is not visibly shown, and a pledge to support His work is a vow whose misuse for self is sacrilege. Truth-telling must become part of the life, for lying lips are an abomination that shuts out of the holy city, a stinted unwilling offering under false pretenses is no more acceptable now than that offering was, and playing fast and loose with truth means shipwreck of faith.

There are many Ananiases in the present day whom Satan tempts through love of money to withhold by various plans and excuses from God's treasury the means entrusted for advancing His cause. If the same punishment were visited now there would be many dead bodies in churches requiring burial, for selfishness can harden the heart to withhold what is owed to God. The same danger that required Infinite Wisdom to send a check when professed Christians were rapidly increasing continues in every great religious movement, where a class carried away by feeling soon reveals selfishness and vainglory and can never be an honor to the cause. God will just as surely punish now every deceptive, unstraightforward, oppressive and unjust dealing in His work, using lawyers to take advantage, exacting exorbitant prices, conniving at fraud, hindering His cause and diverting His means into a wrong channel, because He has a work to accomplish in the earth in order that truth shall triumph.

The warning was directed at the very first departure from truthful dealing because doors of temptation would open before those bringing means to sustain His cause, and those not under His Spirit would be tempted to appropriate money or goods to supply a fancied deficiency in pay. It applies to workers who think they are not paid enough and pay themselves according to their own ideas, and to all dishonesty in handling gifts given to God's work, on the same principle that led Judas to steal from the Lord's treasury. All unjust, selfish actions are known to God, every hidden evil however secret will be searched out and punished, hidden fraud shows sin against the Holy Spirit whose consequences cost life, and God will be glorified in those who serve Him. The warning also applies to sacrificing honesty to gain favor or a reputation for generosity, self-sacrifice and devotion, for Ananias was not required to give everything but was judged for deliberate deception in pretending to give all while secretly keeping part. An institution established by God's people must not earn a reputation for such deceit.

The fate warns one who selfishly enters God's work giving customers the impression profits are used to aid benevolent enterprises while in reality they are used for personal interests, understating value received and wanting brethren to think a full surrender was made. Such a one is under God's displeasure and will surely meet the same fate in the day of final reckoning, for no one can defraud God and prosper since all are His property. The influence of one unrepentant sinner is defiling and corrupts many, schemes against God and misuse of authority offend Him, and those who do not turn to the Lord and forsake sin will die in their sins. God condemns underhand dealing, selfishness and selfish meanness and they must be removed from the character, for the same Spirit that exposed desire for commendation as liberal and self-denying while unwilling to give all still condemns it today. Prevarication and falsehood are not slight evils but enormous sins regarded with abhorrence and contempt, so Christian fathers should impress this enormity on their children, pray with them over lying, and never give the impression that falsehood is a small matter. The lesson shows the responsibility resting on those in high positions of trust not to pass by sin and transgression or let things drift along, but to guard righteousness and judgment and separate sin from the camp, for God is the same in the gospel as in ancient Israel in dealing with deception, falsehood and hidden sin.