When we looked at Luke 22 and John 13, we saw that Luke 22 indicated that Satan had a direct interest in the lives of believers.  We see further evidence of this in Acts 5, when two brethren were led by Satan to attempt to deceive others as to their generosity and gain a reputation of being like Barnabas when they lacked the integrity of Barnabas, which had fatal consequences for both of them.  This is one of the more interesting stories of the Bible, because it demonstrates the way that believers have often faced the same kind of pressures to desire a better reputation than we deserve and to be upset that someone else gets a great deal of credit for some aspect of their service or character and long for the same credit ourselves even where this credit does not properly belong to us and we are too concerned with ourselves and our own interests to realize it.  Let us learn from this sort of example and not suffer the same fate ourselves.

On the face of it, Acts 5:1-11 is a rather shocking tale in the suddenness of God’s judgment:  “But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession.  And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.  But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?  While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”  Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things.  And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him. Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.  And Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?”  She said, “Yes, for so much.”  Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”  Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband.  So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.”

There are a lot of elements to this particular passage, but it is our intent to focus our attention on the role of Satan in this particular effort to test God by encouraging the greed and ambition of a husband and wife, Ananias and Sapphira, who ended up paying a fatal price for their desire to have the reputation of generous and righteous Barnabas without having done as he did.  In case one is not aware, Barnabas’ generosity is described just before this story in Acts 4:32-37:  “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.  And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.  Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.  And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus,  having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.“

Indeed, it is this generosity by Barnabas and by many other brethren that forms the context for the action of Ananias and Sapphira.  While Barnabas and others were selling their possessions and distributing the proceeds through the apostles to cover the needs of the poor brethren of Judea and Galilee, not everyone had the same sort of generous and self-sacrificial spirit.  This ought not to be a surprise to us in our own cynical times where a great many people wish to be thought of as generous when they are in fact not generous.  But in the face of the generosity of so many brethren (like Barnabas), Ananias and Sapphira were tempted by Satan to pretend to have donated all of their money from selling a given piece of property when they held a certain amount back to provide for themselves.  As Peter said to Sapphira, it was no sin for them to have done so, so long as they had been open and honest about doing so.  To be sure, they would not have gained the reputation of being as generous as Barnabas and others, but they would not have been lying to the Holy Spirit either.  They would have been treated with the respect, limited though it would be, that they deserved.  But that was not enough for them.  They wanted more, and so they tried to deceive and snow Peter and their brethren into believing that they were more generous than they in fact were.

What role did Satan have in this?  It is not hard to imagine the thought process that led Ananias and Sapphira to sin.  Perhaps they reasoned among themselves that Barnabas was not in fact as generous as he had appeared to be, and that they had just as much right to be respected and honored as he was.  Whatever the precise argument that was used in their minds, the two of them agreed to test Peter and the church and were founding wanting, the husband dying first and then the wife being tested by Peter and dying afterwards.  It is not hard to understand why the church was so dramatically struck by this.  It is not hard to imagine the brethren recognizing their own foibles and weaknesses and pondering within themselves that they could sin themselves with the hope that they would not be put to death by God in such a dramatic judgment.  But the lesson was learned that God would not tolerate those who feigned generosity in order to gain a good reputation while lacking it, a lesson we would do well to remember ourselves.  Satan has always been vengeful and bitter about what he thinks he deserves, but we would do well not to listen to such blandishments for bitterness and deception.