In my last post, we learned that The Body of Believers Begin to Share Everything. In this post, we learn that not all were of one accord as Kefa Confronts Hananyah and Shappirah.
1 But there was a man named Hananyah who, with his wife Shappirah, sold some property 2 and, with his wife’s knowledge, withheld some of the proceeds for himself, although he did bring the rest to the emissaries.
The sin of Hananyah and Shappirah was not that they reserved some of the proceeds for themselves but that they tried to create the impression that they had not.
3 Then Kefa said, “Why has the Adversary so filled your heart that you lie to the Ruach HaKodesh and keep back some of the money you received for the land? 4 Before you sold it, the property was yours; and after you sold it, the money was yours to use as you pleased. So, what made you decide to do such a thing? You have lied not to human beings but to God!”
You lie to the Ruach HaKodesh…. you have lied… to God. The Ruach HaKodesh is thus identified with God. Hananyah and Shappirah assumed they were merely lying to the emissaries, but in reality, they had lied to God Himself. Kefa’s question the money was yours to use as you pleased implies that Hananyah and Shappirah would have been justified to sell the land and give only a portion to the community. Their sin lay in their deception and their desire to win praise.
In other words, Hananyah owned the land, and he hadn’t been forced to sell it. Even when he did sell it, he was not required to give the community the money. His sin was that he made a commitment to give all of the proceeds to meet the needs of others (like Bar-Nabba did) and then deceptively kept back some for himself – to the detriment of those in need.
5 On hearing these words, Hananyah fell down dead; and everyone who heard about it was terrified. 6 The young men got up, wrapped his body in a shroud, carried him out, and buried him.
In the present incident and below, we see that the Brit Hadashah is, so far as justice and judgment are concerned, the same as the Tanakh. God is One. He cannot abide with sin. Fraud is a sin, and it is punished. Sometimes the punishment for sin is delayed, but in this instance, the immediacy of the judgment showed everyone that God is real and means business. Love is not a feeling but right action, as Judaism has always taught. Children let us not love with words and talk, but with actions and in reality! (1 John 3:18)
7 Some three hours later, his wife came in, unaware of what had happened. 8 Kefa challenged her: “Tell me, is it true that you sold the land for such-and-such a price?” “Yes,” she answered, “that is what we were paid for it.” 9 But Kefa came back at her, “Then why did you people plot to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The men who buried your husband are at the door. They will carry you out too!” 10 Instantly she collapsed at his feet and died. The young men entered, found her there dead, carried her out, and buried her beside her husband.
The deception of Hananyah and Shappirah, and in particular Shappirah’s lie to Kefa, was again a test of the Spirit of the Lord. This is a powerful indication of the Ruach’s role in the community and its leadership; Kefa was a mere man, but he was God’s man to lead this fellowship of believers.
Shappirah condemned herself by following her husband into sin and telling the same lie and dropped dead, just like Hananyah.
The marriage bond ought to be the strongest of human relationships. Yet it must never trump a relationship with God. Though a husband is to love his wife sacrificially and a wife is to submit to the leadership of her husband, neither is to follow the other into sin. Our relationship with and commitment to God must always be primary.
11 As a result of this, great fear came over the whole Messianic community, and indeed over everyone who heard about it. ~ Acts 5:1-11 (CJB)
As a result of what happened to Hananyah and Shappirah, great fear came over the whole Messianic community, and indeed over everyone who heard about it. It was evident to everyone that the supernatural work of God was operating in the emissaries’ ministry; therefore, people who hadn’t been taking God seriously before were taking him seriously after that. Church discipline, in fact, is designed to encourage believers to take God seriously concerning sin.
In my next post, we will learn that the Emissaries Perform Many Signs and Wonders and Are Jailed Again.
My Heart is for Israel 