by Rita Kimbro

Created on: August 04, 2009   Last Updated: August 07, 2009

Ananias and his wife Sapphira were struck down by God, and the event was documented in the book of Acts chapter 5. If you believe that the bible is the word of God which was inspired by the Holy Spirit and written by inspired men of God, then we must believe that this is an accurate account of what happened. All scripture is written for our instruction regarding what is pleasing to God. Therefore, we must look at the lesson this scripture is teaching us.

First of all we must look at the context of the story, the book of Acts describes the acts of the apostles and the early church. Acts chapter 4 tells us that "from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them and brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles feet. " The apostles would then take the money and distribute it to anyone as he had need. The story of another man's act of giving named Barnabas was told, he sold a field and brought the money and put it at the apostles feet, there was no mention of how much he received for the field but he placed the entire amount at the apostles feet. When Ananias sold his land, he and his wife decided to keep a portion back for themselves and only placed part of the money they received at the apostles feet.

When Peter questioned Ananias regarding his deception he made it clear that the land was his to do with as he pleased and that the proceeds were his also. Many times this scripture is used as a lesson on giving, however the true lesson is in what Peter said to Ananias regarding his deception "What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God". After hearing these words the scripture says Ananias fell dead. God took his life because he lied not because of the amount of his offering. Because God is a fair and just God his wife Sapphira was given the opportunity to tell the truth hours later and she also lied. After she lied Peter said "how could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Sapphira fell dead and was removed by the same men that had buried her husband earlier.

The question posed was: were Ananias and Sapphira struck down by God? If we as Christians believe that the bible is the word of God then we must accept the account of the deception of Ananias and Sapphira and believe that God caused them to die as a result of it. There is not suggestion that a lightning bolt struck them or anything dramatic like that but since God gives life it stands to reason he also can take it away.

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