Ananias and Sapphira

Simangaliso Ndlovu translating the story for Marlene Poe

Recap: Jesus had told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem. The gospel was to be preached in Jerusalem, Judea and to the rest of the world.

The grace of God was on the believers. Amazing things were happening and they continued to meet together. They determined in their hearts that they’ll speak boldly about Jesus. They knew it was important to obey God even though the religious leaders had told them not to. As the believers met in homes, they saw they had needs and shared everything they had with one another. Some sold their homes and brought the money to the apostles.

There was a man called Ananias and his wife was Sapphira. They had land and decided to sell it too. However, they came up with a plan among themselves that they would keep some of the money. Ananias brought the “full” amount of money to Peter and Peter asked him if that was all. Ananias said “yes”. Peter was full of the Holy Spirit and knew something was wrong. We can’t get away with lying to the Holy Spirit who knows everything. Peter asked him about his lie and when Ananias heard it, he fell down and died. People who were there couldn’t believe it and it put the fear of God into their hearts. The men carried Ananias body and buried it. In the meantime, Sapphira came along and she also lied. Peter told her that the men who have buried her husband were arriving to bury her as well. She dropped down and died and her body was carried out.

Everyone who heard about it had a healthy respect for God. They learnt that you don’t lie to God. Amazing things were happening at that time. From this story we learn that we need to be honest with one another because it reveals what is in our hearts. If we’ve done something wrong, we confess it to God and to one another.

This is GREAT stuff! Next week we look at "The Apostles Persecuted" from Acts 5:12 - 42

Summarised by Molly Manhanga