Lesson 7: The Testing of God’s People (Acts 5.1-16; 6.1-7)

God had ransomed a people before. Israel had been brought out of Egyptian bondage by the mighty acts of God. Jehovah led them through the Red Sea, destroying their enemies in the process. He provided for their every need, supplying water where there was none and causing manna to appear every morning. And when hostile forces attacked, the Lord was on Israel’s side (see Exodus 17.8ff). Israel was a redeemed and blessed people, yet as the apostle Paul wrote, “with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness” (1Corinthians 10.5). Paul went on to relate why Israel was overthrown: they sinned by violating the Lord’s commands and they grumbled against the Lord and His chosen servant, Moses.

In our last lesson we noted how the apostles maintained their faith in the Lord even when confronted with persecution. But what would happen to the Lord’s people, the Kingdom of God’s Son, when faced with the same trials which waylaid Israel?

Notes From The Text

5.1-10, The Sins of Ananias & Sapphira

• I find this note interesting regarding the inclusion of this episode in the history of God’s people: “It is surely an evidence of Bible inspiration that the following narrative should have been included into Luke’s glowing record of the growth, courage, unity, and generosity of the early church. A strictly human author, guided solely by biased, human impulses, might well have chosen to omit this unsavory episode.” (Wayne Jackson)
• Vs. 1, Ananias: a common name. Means “Jehovah has been gracious.”
• Vs. 2, The sin of Ananias and Sapphira was not that they withheld a portion of what they sold, cf. vs. 4, but that they gave only part, while claiming that was the whole portion of what they had received. Perhaps they were hoping to receive the same praise as Barnabas (Acts 4.36-37).
• Vs. 3
  • Remember that Peter had been filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2.1-4). The ability to “discern between spirits” was a gift of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12.10).
  • “Satan has filled your heart”: Note that later Peter said “why is it that you have contrived the deed in your heart” (vs. 4). So, we see that Satan had planted the idea, or placed the temptation, but it was their choice to give in.
  • “lie to the Holy Spirit” the apostles were filled with the Spirit (Acts 2.1-4) and acted in the name of Jesus (Acts 3.6). Just as persecuting the church is the same as persecuting Christ (see Acts 9.4), so lying to the apostles was to lie to the Spirit that empowered them.
• Vs. 5, why such a harsh punishment? Many reasons might be given, but it would seem that the infancy of the church played a prominent role in the meeting out of swift justice. God’s people, like Israel before them, needed to be impressed early on that the consequences of sin are severe (see Lev. 10.1-3). This was accomplished as we read “great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things” (vs. 11).

5.11-16, Continued Growth

• Vs. 12 “many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles.” Remember that these signs were meant to establish the apostles as witnesses to Jesus’ life, death and resurrection (see Acts 1.8). It is also significant that up to this point only the apostles possessed miraculous abilities.
• Vs. 13, The phrase “none of the rest dared join them” is difficult. It cannot mean that no one else joined the church, for the next verse states otherwise. The phrase likely means that no-one of Ananias’ character joined himself to the people of God.
• Vs. 16, up to this point the apostles had only born witness in Jerusalem. However, news of the gospel and of the power of the Spirit had spread. This is a precursor to the spread of the gospel foretold by Jesus in Acts 1.8.

6.1-6, Threat of Division

• Vs. 1
  • “complaint” is also translated as “grumbling” in Philippians 2.14; 1Peter 4.9. It’s always a problem when those who’ve been delivered by God find reason for grumbling and complaining, see Exodus 16.7-9; Numbers 11.1).
  • “Hellenists… widows” the Hellenists refers to the Jews who grew up and lived outside of Palestine. These may have only spoken Greek and not Aramaic. They likely would have developed tastes different from their “Hebrew” kinsmen, but it is doubtful that there was any difference in devotion to God. Significantly, many Jews thought it virtuous to be buried in the land of Israel and would move there in their latter years. This left behind a large number of Hellenist widows.
  • “neglected” while we would hope that this was a mere oversight, the term used here implies intention. One well regarded lexicon suggests this reading of the text: “because when help was being given out each day, their widows got nothing.” (Louw-Nida). The unity of God’s people was threatened (see Acts 4.32)!
  • “daily distribution” there is evidence that Jewish leaders in Jerusalem had begun a daily and weekly distribution of food to needy Jews. It would seem that the early Christians had continued this practice for their needy members.
• Vs. 2, Moses had also delegated important work to others so he could focus on teaching the people and interceding for them (see Exodus 18.19-21).
• Vs. 3, note that the qualities are similar to those of the men selected by Moses (Exodus 18.21). “Full of the Spirit” would not seem to indicate that these men possessed miraculous abilities. We see no evidence that anyone other than the apostles performed miracles and signs until after the apostles laid their hands on the 7 who were chosen (vs. 6,8; see Acts 8.18). It would seem that this is a statement of character, i.e. men who are truly spiritual and bearing the fruit of the Spirit.
• Vs. 4, taking care of these physical needs was important and vital to the unity of the early church. Yet, even then the apostles understood that it wasn’t what was most important.
• Vs. 5, each man listed had a Greek name, indicated they were selected from the ranks of the Hellenists. One was even noted as a proselyte, thus a Gentile by birth.
• Vs. 6, Moses had also laid his hands on Joshua, imparting to him “the spirit of wisdom” (see Numbers 27.18,23; Deuteronomy 34.9).

6.7, Continued Growth

• “a great many of the priests because obedient to the faith”. It is estimated that at least 18,000 ordinary priests (who served in 24 rotations) served in the Jerusalem temple. It is unlikely that any of the chief priests responded to the gospel, given their earlier opposition to the apostles (Acts 4; 5.17ff).

The Kingdom Succeeds Where Israel Failed

Israel failed in the wilderness; they continued to sin and constantly grumbled. So, why did Christ’s Kingdom succeed where Israel failed? First, remember God’s promise that the citizens of the Kingdom would receive a new heart and spirit (Ezekiel 36.25-27; Jeremiah 31.31-34; Acts 2.38). However, there’s more to it. We’ve previously noted how the early church was devoted the teachings of the apostles (Acts 2.42; cf. Acts 2.46; 4.33; 6.2,4). Their teaching would have included the Lord’s admonitions regarding holiness, contentment and love for each other. God’s blessings result from spiritual people following spiritual teachings. That is what the apostle Paul meant when he said, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5.25). That is why the Kingdom succeeds where Israel failed.