‘But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, and kept back part of the price, his wife also being associated with him in it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet.'
If we find this narrative a little offputting we must first recognise the grossness of the sin involved. This was no act of enthusiasm which simply turned out to be half-hearted (we are most of us guilty of that). This was from the beginning a planned, thought through, thoroughly discussed, deliberate act of deceit. They are depicted as scheming, conniving, barefaced and hardened liars. And they were doing it to God.
The scheme was that they would dedicate their land to God, sell it and then pretend that they were giving all the proceeds. They would make a great show of their sacrifice and dedication, (contrast the widow in Mark 12:41 --44), but they would in fact hold back a good proportion for themselves. They would seek to deceive both God and His disciples who were working together in advancing the Kingly Rule of God, in order that they might gain approbation and appreciation without cost, and this in an atmosphere where signs and wonders were happening all the time, and at a time when God was manifesting Himself in visible signs, and at a time when the church was open, honest and outgoing and were constantly ‘walking in the light' with God. It represented a cynicism and hardness of heart that it would be difficult to surpass.
We should note where their eyes were fixed. Not on reward in heaven, nor on pleasing God. If they thought about it at all they must have known that God would know the truth about their act and would not be pleased, and that what they did would therefore contribute to neither. Rather their eyes and all their thoughts were on this life. They wanted the praise of men on earth, the ‘pride of life'. They wanted recognition and honour, and they did not mind what they did to get it. They did not care if in the end it destroyed the church. They just wanted recognition for themselves for a dedication that was not genuine. Many a man's ministry has been destroyed by such a desire for recognition and praise.
Theirs was not an instantaneous sin. We see again Eve going to Adam with the fruit and discussing the advisability of eating it. They too had discussed the matter. Was their aim to worm their way into the new ‘society' in order somehow to gain positions of leadership for their own gain? Or was it simply in order to be idolised? Or was it because they were jealous of Barnabas? We will never know. But both were guilty of treating God as though He was but a false idol with no discernment of eye, who would not know what they were doing. They were out to make God look a fool. And they were out to rob God.
Let us at this point briefly consider what they were doing. They were hitting at the very root of the church and of all that the church was. The church was of one heart and one soul, while they were pretending to be but were not. This might thus easily have begun to eat into the whole fabric of unity. Pretence cannot be kept up for long. Their attitude would soon feed through to others. The church were holding all things in common, but these two believed in keeping something aside for themselves, while pretending otherwise. The church was open and honest. These two were secretive and dishonest. Their attitude might soon have destroyed that happy condition of openness and generosity that abounded among God's people. The church was looking to God as being there with them and acting among them. These two were treating God as though He was afar off and did not know what they were doing. The church was fully dedicating itself to God. These two had actually dedicated their property to God, but were therefore holding back what belonged to God. What they were doing was insidiously dangerous and might easily have brought the great revival to a shuddering halt. It was the situation in mind in Deuteronomy 29:18-20 even though the idolatry here was of a more insidious kind.
So having sold the land and received the money Ananias secreted a part of it away and then brought the remainder and lay it at the Apostles' feet, waiting for the praise, and the adulation, and the approbation and the honour which he knew he would receive, especially because he had given all. His wife did not even come with him. She was prepared to wait for her share of the credit. Perhaps she was even a little ashamed. But she was equally culpable. Both had closed their hearts to God. The next step would then have been to receive leading places in the fellowship as those who had made a special sacrifice and in whom confidence could be placed, and their work of destruction would have begun. They would lead astray those who trusted them. When Achan retained for himself what had been dedicated to God he brought disaster on Israel (Joshua 7). These two were about to bring disaster on the church and to bring the whole revival to a halt.