The Why Behind the Lie
Acts 5 (with verses from Luke, Psalms, Hebrews, and Exodus)
Have you heard the story of Ananias and Sapphira?
I’d be surprised if you hadn’t, but just in case, here are the basics.
They’re a husband and wife who sell some land.
They bring some of the money from the sale to the Apostles but keep some back.
Each is separately remonstrated for lying to God because they presented the money as if it was all the money and not part.
Each at separate times falls dead and is buried.
Often, the key point that is highlighted in this story is either holding back something from God or lying to God or both. And those are fine points to make.
Do you feel the but coming here? Haha. If you do, you’ve been reading these Morning Thoughts for a while and have me somewhat figured out. :) So here it is…
But that’s not what struck me as I was reading this familiar story. Here’s the verse that jumped out at me.
And it reminded me of this verse:
Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Luke 4:12 NIV)
Do you remember when I wrote about the temptation of Jesus in a previous journal entry? Part of that entry (which you can find here) talked about how a footnote in that verse (Luke 4:12) led me to this Old Testament verse and the story of the Israelites demanding water from Moses.
And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7 NIV)
Well, as I was studying Acts 5, a sermon I listened to led me to a couple more scripture passages that I can link to this idea of testing the Lord and the story of the Israelites in the wilderness.
Here’s the first passage:
So, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness,where your ancestors tested and tried me,
though for forty years they saw what I did.That is why I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.’So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”(Hebrews 3:7-11 NIV)
And that Hebrews passage references this passage from Psalms:
Today, if only you would hear his voice,
“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
(Psalm 95:7-11 NIV)
So what does all this have to do with the story of Ananias and Sapphira? Why did Peter ask Sapphira why they had conspired to test the Lord? Why do I think that the point of the story is deeper than the normal key takeaways: Don’t lie to God, or Don’t hold back from God?
Firstly, holding back part of the sales price doesn’t seem to be the true issue. Read verse 4. It seems to say that they could have kept part or all of the money without ending up dead.
Ah, ha! Someone might say. That means the issue was the lying about how much they were giving. That’s the important point. That’s it. That’s all there is to it.
But don’t be too quick to leave this passage satisfied with that answer. When we lie, we do it for a reason. We have a why behind the lie. So, what was Ananias and Sapphira’s why?
That’s what Peter is asking in verse 9. In fact, I think that’s what he is also asking in verse 3.
How could you… How is it that…
He’s asking how, but I’m hearing why – what is your reason? What faulty beliefs or thoughts prompted these two to pretend to give all the money while holding some back?
Were they just putting on a show so that they could be looked up to like Barnabus and the others from Acts 4:32-37? Were they giving for their own glory? For people to laud their goodness rather than God’s goodness?
Were they worried that if they gave all the money that they wouldn’t have enough to live on if things got bad for them and, therefore, like the Israelites in the wilderness, they did not know God’s ways? They did not trust His goodness?
Maybe it was some combination of all of the above.
Whatever their line of reasoning, we know that it was not right. Satan had filled their hearts (v. 3), and we know he’s the father of lies, which means that whatever they were thinking was not correct. Their motivation was wrong.
In the Through the Word episode for this chapter, Peyton Jones said, “They lacked the right fear of the Lord.”
If you’ll remember, I wrote an impromptu journal entry one morning after my shower about how fearing the Lord is putting Him in His rightful place in our lives. And I think that comes into play here in this story.
If their motivation was seeking their own glory instead of God’s, then, they were attempting to lift themselves out of their place and into God’s place. That’s what the devil has been attempting to get humans to do from the beginning. Indeed, trying to make himself greater than God was his sin that got him kicked out of heaven.
If their motivation was fear of not having enough, then they weren’t really allowing God to be in His proper place as their provider and Good Father. I think that’s where the Israelites got it wrong in the wilderness. Though they had seen the hand of God destroy their enemies and rescue them from slavery, they still did not know His ways. And that know is not just a head knowledge sort of knowing. It is an intimate, heartfelt knowing of who God is.
So where does this leave me and you? What should we take away from this story?
I think it’s what is becoming a familiar refrain for me this year: We must cultivate a proper understanding of who God is. We need to know Him intimately. And we must know and fill our places.
Thankfully, He hasn’t left us without a way to know Him or understand what our place is. We have the Bible to guide us, but beyond that and I would say more important than that, we have the Holy Spirit.
David says in Psalm 119:105 (NIV), “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” But a lamp is no good to anyone without a flame. Is it any wonder that the Holy Spirit appeared on Pentecost as a tongue of fire? I don’t think so.
Don’t be like Ananias and Sapphira. Cultivate an intimate knowledge of who God is. Remember that His goodness is His glory. (See Exodus 33:18-20) And let the Holy Spirit and the Word of God illuminate your heart and guide you in filling the place God has given you to fill.