The story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 is as infamous as it is troubling. A couple in the early church sold property, planned to keep back some of the proceeds, and as a result of their lying hypocrisy to Peter (presumably telling the church that their donation was the full amount), they are suddenly put to death without any chance to repent (Acts. 5:1-11). Why the sudden judgment? Why such serious consequences? Why no chance for repentance? Why was the penalty for this sin so sudden, severe, and out of step with the grace of the new covenant?
In order to get a better understanding of what is going on we first need to situate this story in its larger biblical and canonical context. There are several echoes of and allusions to earlier biblical stories that help us realize that this type of judgment is not as abnormal as it may seem at first glance. When this story is seen as part of God’s unfolding plan of redemption, connected with the rest of Scripture as part of one unified story, we can make more sense of why things happened the way they did.
Echoes of Scripture in Acts 5
Patrick Schreiner’s outstanding commentary on Acts does an excellent job of highlighting the various ways the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 connects to the rest of Scripture. First, the verb in Acts 5:2 for Ananias “keeping back” some of the proceeds from the sale of their property (nosphizō) is the same verb used in the Greek OT of Joshua 7:1, when Achan “took some of the devoted things” that belonged to the Lord after the walls of Jericho came down. Thus, Ananias and Sapphira are a new Achan, who broke faith with the Lord and died immediately after seeing his mighty deeds at the hands of the apostles.
The seriousness of this sin is also seen by noting the “constellation of features that tie this episode to the fall account in Genesis 3: (1) the destruction of peace and harmony; (2) the temptation of Satan; (3) the error attributed to a couple; (4) the lie to God; and (5) the expulsion at the end of the narrative. This is the original sin of the church.”1Patrick Schreiner, Acts, ed. E. Ray Clendenen and Brandon D. Smith, Christian Standard Commentary (Holman Reference, 2021), 197. Just as Adam and Eve fell under God’s curse of death and were expelled from his holy presence in the garden, so now Ananias and Sapphira fell under God’s judgment and were expelled from his holy presence which had taken up residence in the church.
Furthermore, the fact that Peter says this couple “agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord” (Acts 5:9) connects this story to all the instances of Israel “putting God to the test” in their wilderness wanderings (Ex. 17:2; Num. 14:22; Deut. 6:16). Ananias and Sapphira died like many of the Israelites did in the wilderness for constantly putting God to the test, despite the signs and wonders he performed in their midst. After reading through the OT, and seeing the seriousness with which God treats sin, we should not be too surprised that the holy and unchanging God would remain faithful to his character.
Strange Fire in God’s New Temple
There are also echoes of Scripture in Acts 5 that lead us to understand the sin of this first-century couple “as not merely an arbitrary infraction but as an improper temple offering.”2Schreiner, Acts, 191. This is the most biblically satisfying answer for why the Lord put them to death immediately. The sudden nature of the judgment on Ananias and Sapphira for their offering echoes the sudden judgment on Aaron’s sons, Nabab and Abihu, for their offering of “unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them” (Lev. 10:1-3).
After Ananias fell down and breathed his last, Luke tells us, “The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him” (Acts. 5:6). What seems like a strange and unnecessary detail is an intentional connection to how Nadab and Abihu were carried outside the camp after they died. Schreiner notes, “In Israel the bodies of priests who profaned the temple were removed (Lev 10:4–5). His body has no inheritance in their land or temple, so he is buried outside.”3Schreiner, Acts, 195.
Part of the mystery of the gospel in the unfolding drama of redemption is that the church had become the new temple of God. With the Spirit being poured out at Pentecost, God’s tabernacling presence was now in and among his people (cf. 1 Cor. 3:16-17). Thus, Ananias and Sapphira were not committing some private sin but were, in a sense, offering strange fire before the Lord in his new temple, the church. Their sin of offering “strange fire” and their subsequent deaths would have served to confirm this new eschatological reality (Heb. 2:4).
Unique Times, Unique Measures.
When we consider all of the Old Testament echoes and allusions found in the story of Ananias and Sapphire, and when we situate Acts 5 in its canonical context, a pattern begins to emerge. These seemingly disparate stories are each connected in that they feature the manifest power and presence of God. Adam and Eve walked with God and heard his voice. Achan had just witnessed the walls of Jericho become a heap of rubble. The people of Israel had seen God’s power and glory fill the tabernacle right before their very eyes. The people in the wilderness saw God’s power on display each day in the pillar of cloud and fire and the miraculous mana and water from the rock. Nadab and Abihu had seen the thunder, smoke, and fire surrounding Mt. Sinai. Likewise, Ananias and Sapphira had either witnessed or heard about what just happened at Pentecost, and they certainly saw the signs and wonders being accomplished by the Apostles (Acts 2:43; 4:33). When God’s wonder-working power and awesome presence were on display in such unique, glaringly visible, unquestionable, and inescapable ways, it seems as though the consequences were more sudden and severe. In other words, a heightened display of God’s glory meant and heightened consequences for not responding accordingly to such heightened privilege.
Now, all of this does not meant that God does not or will not ever judge sin like this again. Just because our day and age is not characterized by signs and wonders like the first century does not mean God takes sin any less lightly, or that we get some sort of pass. God still takes the holiness of his temple-church seriously (cf. 1 Cor. 11:29-32; Heb. 12:28-29; 1 Pet. 4:17). The early church father, Chrysostom, gave this warning:
How many, since Ananias and Sapphira, have dared the same with them? How is it then, say you, that they have not met with the same fate? Not because it was allowed in them, but because they are reserved for a greater punishment. For those who often sin and are not punished, have greater reason to fear and dread than if they were punished. For the vengeance is increased for them by their present impunity and the long-suffering of God. Then let us not look to this, that we are not punished; but let us consider whether we have not sinned: if sinning we are not punished, we have the more reason to tremble.4John Chrysostom, “Homilies of St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, on the Acts of the Apostles,” in Saint Chrysostom: Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistle to the Romans, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. J. Walker et al., vol. 11, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1889), 79.
The story of Ananias and Sapphira is infamous, and the apparent lack of any chance for this couple to repent before being struck dead can be deeply troubling. However, considering the literal, historical, and biblical (canonical) context of this story, and situating it within the unfolding drama of redemption can answers some of the questions that are raised.
