Acts 5:10
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. 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.
About three hours after her husband fell dead, Sapphira came in not knowing what had happened, falsely affirmed the land was sold for so much, was charged with agreeing to tempt the Spirit of the Lord, then fell down straightway at Peter's feet and yielded up the ghost, and the young men carried her forth and buried her by her husband, and great fear came upon all who heard. With her husband she had agreed to pretend to give all the proceeds while secretly keeping back part, desiring a reputation for liberality and full surrender, and in so doing lied not to men but to God and to the Holy Ghost. Her sudden death at his feet was God's own direct punishment and retributive justice, proving that hidden motives cannot be concealed, that God detects the sin of the heart, cannot be deceived, and will not be mocked. The signal manifestation of wrath was a needed check that Infinite Wisdom knew the rapidly increasing young church required, forever ridding it of a corrupting influence and becoming a terror to hypocrites so that reverential awe and thorough self-examination came upon all converts. Her fate stands as a marked example and perpetual danger-signal to Christians of every age against covetousness, hypocrisy, fraud, deception, and withholding from God what is pledged to Him, which though not now met with the same visible stroke is no less heinous and will be answered for in the judgment.
Story and Circumstances
About three hours after Ananias fell dead, Sapphira came in not knowing what had happened. When asked whether the land was sold for so much, she answered falsely, Yea, for so much. Peter charged that she had agreed with her husband to tempt the Spirit of the Lord. He declared that the feet of those who had buried her husband were at the door and would carry her out.
She then fell down straightway at his feet and yielded up the ghost. The young men came in, found her dead, and carrying her forth buried her by her husband. Great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard.
The priests and rulers later turned the deaths into a false charge of murder against the apostles. They made it part of a charge of insurrection and conspiracy to take away priestly authority and put the priests to death. They hoped to stir the mob to treat the apostles as Jesus had been treated. Their aim was to stop the people from accepting Jesus as Messiah and from turning against the priests for the murder of Christ.
Sin and Deception Exposed
With her husband she had sold a possession and agreed to pretend to give all the proceeds to supply the poor and advance the cause while secretly keeping back a large share. The plan was to misrepresent the sale price, keeping back part while presenting part as the whole, claiming the land had been sold for the amount given to God. In this they joined in deceitfully claiming full consecration of the value of their property while withholding part of it, and the fraud and hypocrisy of withholding part of the money while pretending to give all that had been promised brought judgment.
They were not compelled or required to give their possessions, and God would have accepted a portion honestly given. Under deep conviction and the direct influence of the Spirit of God they pledged certain lands to the Lord, but when that influence lifted they questioned the pledge, thought they had been too hasty, and drew back. Neither had been compelled to give, yet they conspired to pretend they had given all the proceeds while keeping part.
Covetousness was the root and first-cherished sin, the desire to keep part of what was promised to the Lord leading to fraud and hypocrisy. Selfishness warped the character and love of money led to dissembling, coveting, stealing, and keeping back part of what was professed to be given to God. When covetousness was cherished a door was opened by which Satan entered and gained control, and those not wholly consecrated to God can be led by Satan to lie to the Holy Spirit while believing they serve Christ. It was the same order of sin as Achan taking the accursed thing, whose hidden sin God searched out, and as Judas stealing from the Lord's treasury, reasoning that labor was not sufficiently appreciated and that it was right to pay oneself.
Ashamed to have brethren know their selfish souls grudged what was solemnly dedicated to God, they talked together and deliberately decided to withhold part and practice deception. They sold their possessions and laid part of the price at the apostles' feet while keeping back part, giving the impression they had sold for a certain sum when in reality they received more, selfishly keeping back part of the price for themselves. They did this in order to gain high esteem among believers and draw support from the common stock, desiring commendation for good deeds and wanting to be thought liberal and self-denying yet unwilling to give all to God. Their deception was an attempt to gain a reputation for liberality, self-denial, self-sacrifice, full surrender and devotion, sacrificing truth to win favor, and using falsehood to gain favor or a reputation for devotion.
In pretending to give all while withholding part of the price they lied not to men but to God and to the Holy Ghost, and agreed to tempt the Spirit of the Lord. In pretending to give all she lied to the Holy Spirit, bore false witness not to man but to the great God, who reads the heart and knows the exact truth in every case, God who knows the heart and the exact truth being also witness. Her lie was carried from man to God, her false witness was to God, and God visited her with judgment for the false oath, even while the oath was on her lips the destroying angel cut her down. Sharing in the deliberate deception about the money pledged to God, affirming the lie about the sale price after being charged with agreeing to tempt the Spirit, she was convicted of falsehood.
The act was robbing God, withholding a portion of what God claimed in the tithing system while thinking the brethren would never know it, and withholding part of what they had represented as given to God. It was breaking her vow to God by keeping back what was pledged to His sacred work, the sin being lying and sacrilege in appropriating to personal use what was once pledged to God. A pledge made to God is a serious moral obligation, making a contract with God and not with man that is as binding as any legal bond, and guilt rests on each person in proportion to the offense. God did not accept their offering, for an offering meant to deceive God while secretly withholding what was promised, a small offering given while withholding what is due and spending freely on self-gratification, is an attempt to rob God and is rejected.
Judgment by God
Sapphira fell dead straightway at Peter's feet, and the young men came in and found her dead and carried her forth and buried her by her husband, and this sudden immediate death was God's direct punishment and retributive justice for hypocrisy, falsehood and deceit. God Himself slew her together with Ananias because they lied to the Holy Spirit, and the Lord directed Peter to bring death upon her as judgment on the first departure from truthful dealing in the church. The severity was to prevent untold evil from workers who think they are not paid enough and appropriate money or goods to supply a fancied deficiency, reasoning as Ananias and Judas did in stealing from the Lord's treasury that labor was not sufficiently appreciated and that it was right to pay oneself according to one's own ideas, a principle that perverts the conscience when acted upon. Her fate proves the Lord will just as surely punish deceptive, crooked and oppressive dealings in His cause now, including unjust practices, using lawyers to take advantage of circumstances, exacting exorbitant prices, conniving at fraud, hindering the triumph of truth, and diverting His means into a wrong channel.
The Lord who was defrauded searched her out, and the Spirit of truth revealed the real character of the dissemblers to the apostles, and the destroying angel cut her down. Human motives and purposes cannot be hidden from Him, for God searches the heart and sees motives and purposes people cannot hide. He detects the hidden sin of the heart, men cannot deceive Him, and He will not be mocked. The wrath of God fell in sudden death upon one who professed godliness while secretly cherishing iniquity and covetously withholding a portion for self while pretending to make an entire sacrifice. The marked judgment forever rid the church of this foul blot upon its purity, and this signal evidence of the discerning Spirit of Christ was a terror to hypocrites and evil-doers.
In pretending to give all while withholding part of the price she lied to the Holy Spirit, and as a result she lost this life and the life to come. This shows how deep is God's hatred and contempt for hypocrisy, fraud, covetousness and deception. Lying lips are an abomination to Him.
The same God who struck her down still condemns all falsehood, and though such offenses about gifts and offerings do not now receive the same visible punishment, they are no less heinous in His sight. The same fraud repeated in later church history and in the present time is not met with a visible manifestation of displeasure, yet withholding part of what was pledged remains a grave offense that will be answered for in the judgment. Concealing covetousness and pretending to give while withholding from God is lying to God, and even when judgment is not immediately visible the eventual punishment is no lighter. Although no visible death now follows those who repeat this sin of lying and sacrilege in appropriating to personal use what was once pledged to God, many will feel His curse even in this life, and it will as surely be visited upon the transgressor in the day of Judgment, where vows and actions are weighed in the balance of justice in the heavenly courts.
Impact on Early Church
The sudden death was a marked, signal display of wrath that Infinite Wisdom saw the rapidly growing young church required as a check, lest it become demoralized and disgraced by taking in professed servants of God who in heart worshiped Mammon. It guarded the integrity of the new movement by checking hypocrisy and greed at the outset. The hidden love of money that led to dissembling and withholding means entrusted for advancing the cause was laid bare by the Spirit to the apostles.
That judgment forever rid the church of this foul blot upon its purity and removed a corrupting influence from its midst. This signal evidence of the discerning Spirit of Christ in the church was a terror to hypocrites and evildoers, so that they could not long remain in connection with those who in habit and disposition constantly represented Christ. Great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard when she fell straightway at his feet and yielded up the ghost and the young men came in and found her dead and carried her forth and buried her by her husband. The same stroke filled all new converts with reverential awe and drove them to greater caution and thorough self-examination that tested the motives of actions.
As trials and persecution came, only those willing to forsake all for truth's sake desired to become disciples, and this kept the church comparatively pure. That Ananias and Sapphira had joined themselves to the disciples proves unworthy members and false brethren were present even in the early church. False brethren will be found in the church till the close of time, and their presence gives no right to doubt the truth of Christianity and should not dishearten Christians, but must be borne with as Christ bears, as His patience with Judas teaches. The same sin lives on in those who by plans and excuses withhold from the treasury of God, and if the same punishment were visited now there would be many dead bodies in churches requiring burial.
Warning for Later Generations
Sapphira's sudden falling dead at Peter's feet stands as a danger-signal, a marked example and a perpetual warning not only to the early church but to all future generations and to Christians of every age. It warns against fraud, hypocrisy, covetousness, deception, withholding from God, and hidden unlawful gain, showing God's hatred and contempt for such sins and that lying lips are an abomination to Him. Covetousness was the root and first-cherished sin, leading to fraud and hypocrisy in pretending to give all the price while withholding part, and the Lord who was defrauded searched her out, proving God detects hidden sin, cannot be deceived, and will not be mocked. In pretending to give all she lied not to men but to God and to the Holy Ghost, and as a result she lost this life and the life to come. The same God who struck her down still condemns all falsehood, and though the same fraud repeated in later history and in the present time is not met with the same visible manifestation of displeasure, it is no less heinous in His sight.
The judgment requires faithfulness in the performance of vows and in gifts and offerings, and should lead all to fear and tremble to repeat selfishness and fraud in withholding from God what He claims and robbing Him. Under deep conviction and the direct influence of the Spirit she with her husband had pledged certain lands to the Lord, then when that influence lifted questioned the pledge as too hasty and deliberately decided to withhold part and practice deception, appropriating to personal use what was once pledged to His sacred work. A pledge made to God is a contract with God and not with man, as binding as any legal bond and a serious moral obligation, with guilt resting on each person in proportion to the offense. Although no visible death now follows those who repeat this sin, it will be answered for in the judgment, where vows and actions are weighed in the balance of justice in the heavenly courts, many will feel His curse even in this life, and it will as surely be visited upon the transgressor in the day of Judgment with sure visitation.
Her punishment warns against bringing God a stinted, unwilling offering while spending lavishly on self and self-gratification, for God no more accepts such an offering than He accepted hers. A small offering given while withholding what is due and spending freely on self is an attempt to rob God and to deceive Him, and God rejects offerings given while a person secretly withholds what was promised. Her fate proves the Lord will just as surely punish deceptive, crooked and oppressive dealings in His cause now, bringing His judgment upon the wrongdoers. This includes unjust practices, using lawyers to take advantage of circumstances, exacting exorbitant prices, conniving at fraud, hindering the triumph of truth, diverting His means into a wrong channel, appropriating money or goods to supply a fancied deficiency in pay, misrepresenting Christ through dishonest dealings, and giving customers the impression that profits aid benevolent enterprises while using them for personal interests, which will surely meet with the same fate in the day of final reckoning. The severity toward the first departure from truthful dealing was to prevent untold evil from workers who think they are not paid enough and reason it is right to pay themselves according to their own ideas, a principle of covetousness the same as that of Judas stealing from the treasury, which perverts the conscience when acted upon, and God will not tolerate deception or the sacrifice of truth to gain favor.
The history is a lesson on the responsibility resting on those who stand in high positions of trust not to pass over known sin or let it drift along, because sin is exceedingly offensive to God and hidden deception and moral corruption among those who claim to be children of God forfeits His favor unless the evil is separated from the camp. The sudden death proves prevarication and lying are not slight evils but an enormous sin that God abhors, and calls Christian fathers to treat a child's lying with gravity, to pray with the child, to reprove falsehood plainly, and to impress the mind with how hateful lying is to God. No one can defraud God and prosper, because all are His property, and God requires sin to be forsaken and turned from, because the influence of one unrepentant sinner is defiling and corrupts many others. The same Spirit today condemns all underhand dealing and selfish dishonesty, so all selfish meanness is to be put away from the character, and all who follow the same course of deception destroy their own souls.