⁷Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for such and such a price?” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.” ⁹Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test?”

The parallel between this passage and the story of Achan in Joshua 7 is not difficult to see. While Luke makes no specific reference to it, the similarities are striking. When the Israelites were embarking on their entry into the Promised Land after four hundred years in captivity in Egypt and forty years wandering in the Sinai desert, a new era was beginning. The nation was being established in the land given to Abraham many hundreds of years earlier. Their first task upon entering the land was to defeat the people of Jericho. They were not to take any of the war spoils for themselves but were to devote it all to the Lord. Achan selfishly, deceptively and disobediently kept some of it for himself. The result was defeat for Israel in their next battle and the death of Achan and his family (who colluded with him).

The details of Ananias and Sapphira’s sin, of course, differ from that of Achan, but the threat to the church was very real. The word translated “keep back” (Acts 5:3) means “to put aside for oneself, keep back, or engagement in a type of skimming operation” (BDAG). This was used in reference to Roman soldiers who would be tempted in a military conquest to take booty for themselves without equitable distribution. Ananias and Sapphira were keeping back some of what they wanted others to think they had dedicated to the Lord for the benefit of other people. In other words, they were passing themselves off as more generous than they really were. This was deception, plain and simple. And God would not tolerate that at the foundation stage of this new beginning.

The sin was not that they gave less than what was expected of them as landowners who were most likely wealthy. True, they may have desired to be honored, as was customary in the Roman world for works of benevolence. Underneath it all, though, Satan was attempting a foothold in the fledgling Christian community through their spiritual façade.

We see a background in the teaching of Jesus against the Pharisees’ manipulations, particularly their use of “corban,” the practice of dedicating one’s resources to God to avoid supporting one’s elderly parents, while still being allowed to use the funds for oneself (Mark 7:8–11). God would have none of this in the foundational stages of the church!

Lord, search my heart and see if there is any deceptive way in me.