~ A place to find answers to gnawing spiritual questions ~
Question: Would you say that Ananias and Sapphira was deceived by the devil through temptation? I realize Satan's plan is to destroy God's people. This is what I see in this passage of scriptures. Please send back your input.Answer: Concerning your question of 'were Ananias and Sapphira tempted by Satan...' here is my response.
You are correct in that it has always been and always will be, Satan's desire to destroy anything that glorifies God. It all started in the Garden of Eden with the fall of man through the deceitfulness of the tempter, and is still going on in the day that we live, thousands of years later. Countless upon countless lives have chosen their destiny through yielding to the tactics of Satan's strategy, not realizing the eternal consequences that were at stake.
You find the account of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5. Prior to this chapter in the last few verses of chapter 4 we see that many were moved to sell what they had and give to the work of God. Nowhere will you find that there was a set amount that they had to give. These people had been blessed by God and in return they were giving back to Him from their hearts. Barnabas was a perfect example portrayed here, in that he gave all that he had. He didn't do it for self glory or for others to think more highly of him. He gave out of gratitude and love for God.
We find that this couple had sold some of their land and could have given whatever they chose to the Lord. They began to lose focus on what really mattered here, and they took matters into their own hands thinking that they could 'pull the wool over ' the eyes of the apostles. But Peter, being full of the Holy Ghost, confronted them with the situation; and the couple, both on their own, lied about the profit they had received from their land. And you know the rest of the story that they weren't given another chance.
Satan had been unsuccessful in his attempts to bury the message of the gospel through the resurrection of Christ by attacking the church without; so he attacked within. The church had grown by leaps and bounds after the outpouring of Pentecost (Holy Ghost) in Chapter 2. Not only were believers being filled with the Spirit, but new converts were being added to the church daily. Do you think that this set very well with the arch enemy? He had to devise a plan to thwart the work of God, so what better place to start than within the body of believers. He is most content when he sees Christians sinning. The church cannot be effective in the capacity that God has for them when sin is in the midst. The sin here was hypocrisy. They pretended they had greater devotedness to Christ than what they actually had, and for this they were judged. "Nothing will sap the power of a church's testimony more quickly than pews filled with sinning Christians. There is no substitute for personal purity but it costs to attain it." —Ryrie
God preserved the purity of the testimony of the gospel by purging out the weak members of the church (1 Peter 4:17). "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God."
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