Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Acts 5:7 - 5:11

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Acts 5:7 - 5:11


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

The death of Sapphira:

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

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

v. 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.

v. 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.

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

Whether the information concerning the death of her husband had been withheld from Sapphira by the command of Peter, or whether the awe of the incident they had witnessed kept the members from spreading the story, is immaterial. After an interval of about three hours, Sapphira, who may have become concerned over the long absence of Ananias, came to the meeting-place of the congregation. She was fully prepared to keep her agreement with her husband relative to the money, not knowing that his fate had been sealed hours before. When Peter, therefore, put the question to her whether for just that sum which was still lying there they had sold their property, she unhesitatingly replied: Yes, for just so much. Peter's question had been a last appeal to her conscience, a last admonition to tell the truth and give all glory to God. But she disregarded the admonition, persevered in her sin, and seconded the base lie of her husband. It was a willful persistence in sin, in hypocrisy. Note the dramatic intensity of the narrative. Peter now, in the name of God, as a prophet of the Lord, pronounced the judgment upon her. For what reason, to what end, did you agree to tempt the Spirit of God, to see whether it would be possible to deceive Him as well as His Church? The feet of those that carried out thy husband are at the door, and will carry thee out. And no sooner had Peter uttered the Lord's judgment than Sapphira fell down, just as her husband had before her, and also breathed her last. And the young men coming in, found her dead, and buried her beside her husband, to be joined with him in death as she had been in life. That was a terrible, but just judgment which the Lord here executed in the midst of the first congregation. By this act God declared to the Church of all times that the hypocrites are an abomination in His sight. It is but seldom in our days that the Lord makes known His avenging power in the same manner as here, but His hand is not shortened even today when His honor is at stake. Note: There is a repetition of the sin of Ananias and Sapphira in modern church-life, also in connection with the Lord's treasury, namely, when members of congregations make exaggerated statements of the amounts they are giving or understate their income, in order to make their contribution for the Kingdom stand out above that of others. The result of this story should rather be, as it was in those days, that a great fear comes upon the people, both upon those that are members of the Church and those that are still outside, but hear of this manifestation of God's power. The same God that sat in judgment upon Ananias and Sapphira will, in His own way and at the time appointed by Him, not fail to visit the sins upon those that follow the example of these two hypocrites.