Scripture Notes: A Covenant Curse (Acts 5)

The early Church as Luke (guided by the Holy Spirit) presents it in the Acts of the Apostles was truly a New Covenant community, very aware of its intimate relationship with God the Father through Christ in the Holy Spirit. It reaped the covenant blessings in abundance as the Apostles delved deeper and deeper into the truth, preached that truth boldly, and accented their words with signs and wonders of all kinds, from healings to exorcisms to raising people from the dead. They were filled with the Holy Spirit, Who acted in and through them, and they eagerly shared that Spirit, that Bringer of eternal life, with whoever would accept Him.

But all covenants, even the New Covenant instituted and mediated by Jesus Christ, also carry curses that kick in when people are unfaithful and disobedient to the oath they swore to God. The first Christians swore that oath at their Baptism, just like we do today, and renewed it every time they received the Holy Eucharist, just like we do today. But some almost as quickly broke their oath.

Ananias and Sapphira are a prime example. They were part of the Church, members of God’s covenant family. But something went dreadfully wrong in them. Many Christians were selling property and giving the proceeds of the sale to the Apostles to apply to the needs of the Church. This was not required. No one commanded or even requested such an act; it was completely voluntary. 

Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of their property, and they kept back some of the money from it. This was fine. They were perfectly within their right to do so. But a problem arose when Ananias handed some of the money over to the Apostles but pretended that he was donating the whole amount. He lied, and as Peter said, not just to human beings but to God. And God, of course, knew, and the Holy Spirit tipped Peter off to the deception as well. Ananias fell dead at Peter’s feet. 

A while later, Sapphira came in, not knowing what had happened. She, too, claimed that her husband had provided the Apostles with the full amount of the sale. She, too, lied. She, too, fell dead after Peter accused her and her husband of tempting the Holy Spirit, trying to pull one over on God, thinking they could get away with a lie without being punished. 

This whole thing might seem awfully harsh to us: two people dead in an instant for lying. It may even seem rather trivial. But it was not, for what Ananias and Sapphira were ultimately guilty of is breaking their covenant oath to God. God, Who is Truth, Who created us in His image and likeness, expects us to live the truth interiorly and exteriorly. He expects us to obey Him as we have promised to do. He expects us to follow His ways faithfully. And when we don’t, when we sin, we experience the consequences. That is what happened to Ananias and Sapphira.

The Scriptures do not tell the motives Ananias and Sapphira were acting upon, but we can discern them, knowing what we do about ourselves and other human beings. Perhaps they wanted to look good in front of the Church. Perhaps they wanted to seem devout and caring. Perhaps they wanted some recognition. Maybe they wanted to show what good Christians they were. But their outside did not match their inside. They tried to fool God, and it caught up with them. They broke the covenant. They turned their backs on God and the life He held out to them so generously. So they dropped dead. Their physical death was a sign of the spiritual death they had freely chosen and a warning to all of us who also live within the New Covenant, with its many, many blessings but also with its curses.