◄  Previous

Acts Chapter 5

Next  ►

¹ But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,

² And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

³ But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?

⁴ Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

⁵ And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

⁶ And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.

⁷ And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in.

⁸ And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.

⁹ Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.

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.

¹¹ And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

¹² And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch.

¹³ And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them.

¹⁴ And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)

¹⁵ Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.

¹⁶ There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.

¹⁷ Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation,

¹⁸ And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.

¹⁹ But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,

²⁰ Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.

²¹ And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

²² But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned, and told,

²³ Saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within.

²⁴ Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow.

²⁵ Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people.

²⁶ Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.

²⁷ And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,

²⁸ Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.

²⁹ Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

³⁰ The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

³¹ Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

³² And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

³³ When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.

³⁴ Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space;

³⁵ And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.

³⁶ For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.

³⁷ After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.

³⁸ And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:

³⁹ But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.

⁴⁰ And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

⁴¹ And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

⁴² And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

◄  Previous

Next  ►

View All Acts Chapter 5 Comments...

BJGibson's Acts Chapter 5 comment about verse 33 on 5/30/2024, 9:12am...

Would like to add that the actions of the two in this scripture was about being deceptive by conspiring. Conspiring is when people secretly make joint plans to do something different than what is expected. In this case they conspired against the Holy Spirit which is in the church. I can only wonder the various things that could have motivated or prompted them to conspire, plot and scheme against "the Lord and His anointed." This is a good example of what a believer shouldn't do, however if a believer by chance discovers that they are in error, then God is available to forgive only for the asking or grant mercy according to His will.

BJGibson's Acts Chapter 5 comment about verse 33 on 5/20/2024, 3:38pm...

"And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet." Acts 5:2 KJV

A believer should not allow anyone even their own spouse to cause them to miss out or sin against God, as the scripture reads further both received the same judgment, although they conspired together, the husband was judged then the wife was asked whether their dealings with the Apostles were true and being judged separately received the same judgment as her husband. Each one had an opportunity to be honest and they valued their relationship above their love for God. The same God who created them both and allowed them to have a spousal relationship in the first place (not that only God provided for them to have the field in their possession). They put their trust in their relationship, by obeying each other and not obeying God. A believer should God obey first in all things, whether married or unmarried and this scripture is an example of that and how careful a believer has to be in their human interactions with others. Not just husband and wife, which is the highest human form of a human relationship, all human relationships, whether Mother/Father, Siblings, neighbors, employers, friends, family relations, any human relationship that a believer has, God should always be honored and obeyed first. A believer shouldn't choose a path or make a decision that is contrary to God's way.

If only they had the courage to say they did not want to participate or only wanted to contribute a certain amount. I see a lot in the bible about the human condition of failure to communicate. In this case, failure to communicate perhaps could have been based on pride ("the pride of life'). Perhaps, they sincerely wanted to give, however, both seemingly wanted to control the situation by privately agreeing to do something separately from what was agreed upon. We also notice in the scripture that nothing is private, God knows all things.

Add your comment

∧ Top

◄  Previous

Next  ►

Viewing Mobile Version.
Switch to desktop version.