Ananias and Sapphira

Scripture Reference:
Acts 4:32 through 5:11

Suggested Emphasis:
We should be honest.

Memory Verse: “Do not lie to each other. You have left your old sinful life and the things you did before.” Colossians 3:9

Story Overview:

Because so many Jewish Christians stayed in Jerusalem after Pentecost, some Christians sold property and gave the money to the church so those in need could have enough. Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, sold some of their property and then decided to give part of the money to the church. They proceeded to lie and say that they had given it all. Peter confronted Ananias in front of the church and told him that by doing this, he had lied to God. Ananias fell dead. Unaware of what had happened to her husband, Sapphira came before the church and lied again about the money. She, too, fell down dead. The whole church was afraid.

Background Study:

Click here for an overview of the Book of Acts

The event of Ananias and Sapphira is set against the backdrop of life in the early church.  The church was on fire and growing rapidly every day. Passages such as Acts 2:44-47 and Acts 4:32-37 describe the unity of the early church and of selling their possessions and sharing with those in need.  Everything they owned was held in common in the minds and hearts of these Christians. Private ownership only existed in this early Jerusalem church for the sake of the whole church (4:32).  Also note the practice of laying down the proceeds at the apostle’s feet as a surrender of possession to be distributed (4:34).  You will see this is the practice in the story of Ananias and Sapphira.

During His ministry, Jesus had encouraged his followers not to hold to any material attachments in this world, knowing that they would one day have to leave everything behind, whether due to persecution or the pending destruction of Jerusalem or to the call of God. Jesus also taught the importance of caring for those in need through His words and example.  With these teachings in mind, it is unsurprising that the early church radically embraced these ideals in selling their property and sharing their profits.  In the future, this practice would prove necessary for the church’s survival when persecution would begin, and Christians would lose employment and income.

Understanding this backdrop is vital to understanding the gravity of the sin of Ananias and Sapphira and the harshness of their punishment.  Ananias and Sapphira were under no enforced obligation to give all of their profits to the church. Still, as all property was no longer considered private, there appeared to be an accepted agreement in the early church for complete honesty financially and morally.  So, the real sin of Ananias and Sapphira was not withholding money but the fact that they were lying to cover up the fact that they publicly said they gave all the money to the apostles while secretly keeping some of the proceeds for themselves.  Peter stresses in verse 4 that they did not lie to them “but to God.”  It was for their dishonesty that Ananias and Sapphira were punished.

It is important to understand why the punishment for Ananias and Sapphira was as harsh as it was.  As modern-day Christians, we struggle with this idea of God smiting them in an atmosphere of the New Covenant and Grace. It helps to recognise the church at this stage as being in its infancy and most certainly exposed to Satan’s attacks.  Satan will attack God’s church from both without and within.  The incident of Ananias and Sapphira was the first noted internal spiritual attack in church history.  God needed to protect the purity, integrity and witness of the church.  Should that lie have been overlooked or allowed to stand as it was, it would have allowed for further dishonesty, corruption and hypocrisy and thus could have destroyed the fledgling church.  Ananias and Sapphira were killed as an example and an act of protection.  The focus of this story is the survival of the church. Any attempt to create an application regarding God’s ability and capacity to forgive would mislead the text.

Explaining why God takes dishonesty so seriously could be useful when teaching this story with the background in mind.  Dishonesty can destroy marriages, families, churches, relationships and our witnesses.  It hurts us.  It hurts others.  It hurts God.  If we are honest, things can be improved, even when we make mistakes.

Way to Introduce the Story:

Share a personal story about when you or someone you know told a lie that led to more lies or negative consequences.  Take care to be age-appropriate.  “Children, today we are going to learn about a time when two people told a lie.”
top

The Story:

We can learn important lessons from the Bible. The book of Acts records a very serious lesson that the earliest Christians learned about telling lies.

The church in Jerusalem grew bigger and bigger every day. People heard about Jesus and then told other people. Soon, hundreds and hundreds and even thousands of people decided to follow King Jesus and were baptised.

There were many different kinds of people in the church. Some were poor, and some were rich. But everyone shared what they had so that no one would be hungry or not have a place to live. One good man named Joseph owned a field and had a good idea. He sold the field and took all the money he earned to the apostles. The apostles shared the money with those who needed it. Everyone was happy to share what they had.

Everyone, that is, except a man, Ananias, and his wife, Sapphira. They wanted people to think they were generous like Joseph, but in their hearts, they didn’t want to share as much as Joseph did. So people thought Ananias and Sapphira were sharing, but God knew what they were thinking. Ananias and Sapphira owned some property just like Joseph did. They decided to sell it and give the money to the apostles like Joseph had done. The apostles could share the money with those in need, and everyone would see how generous they were. But Ananias and Sapphira didn’t want to give ALL the money to the apostles. They wanted to keep some to themselves.

So, Ananias made a plan. They would tell everyone they were giving ALL the money to the apostles, but they would secretly keep some back for themselves. They thought they could tell this lie and no one would ever find out. So, Ananias hid some of the money and took the rest to the apostles. He told them, “My wife and I sold our property and here is all the money. You can give to people who need it.”

The apostles were wise men and figured out the lie with God’s help. The apostle named Peter said, “Ananias, you could have kept that money, and no one would have thought you were bad. But you didn’t just keep the money. You decided to lie about it in front of all these people.

But you haven’t just lied to all these people. You have lied to God. You have lied to the Holy Spirit.

Everyone was shocked to see Ananias fall and die right after Peter said this. This was very serious!

About three hours later, Sapphira came to the same place. No one had told her about Ananias, so she did not know what had happened earlier.

Peter asked Sapphira, “Your husband gave us the money from the property you both sold. He said that this is all the money. Is that the truth? Is this all the money?” Sapphira thought everyone believed the lie, so she said, “Yes, the amount Ananias said is correct. It is all the money.”

Peter said, “Sapphira, you have lied to God and to the Holy Spirit just like your husband did. It is a very serious thing to lie to God!”

And everyone was shocked again when Sapphira fell and died just like her husband did. Sapphira was taken out and buried by her husband.

The news spread to everyone. The Christians had learned an important lesson. They knew that lying was very serious to God and that they should always tell the truth.

Have you ever told a lie? It is very serious. But God tells us we can say sorry and start telling the truth. Let’s read what the Bible says:

Do not lie to each other. You have left your old sinful life and the things you did before. Colossians 3:9 (ICB)

top

Ways to Tell the Story:

This story can be told using a variety of methods.  Always remain true to the facts found in the Bible but help children connect to its meaning by using drama, visual aids, voice inflection, student interaction and/or emotion.
Click here for visual aids and story-telling methods.

Click here to download the slideshow or click here to download the pictures to print.
Each teacher is unique, so only use the illustrations that best relate to how YOU tell the story in THIS lesson. Too many illustrations can be confusing, so eliminate any that cover other stories or details you do not wish to emphasise in this lesson.
top

Review Questions:

1. Who were the husband and wife in the Book of Acts who lied about their money? Ananias and Sapphira
2. What happened to Ananias and Sapphira when they lied to the whole church? They fell dead.

Song Suggestions:

• Oh Be Careful Song
• New Testament Songs
• Refer to the Song Page on this website for more options.

Learning Activities and Crafts:

(How to choose the best learning activities for my teaching situation)

Activities:

• Help the class look up “lie” in a dictionary and a thesaurus. Write down and discuss your findings.
• Discuss situations where lying is a temptation.
• Role-play today’s story.
• Have the children draw a cartoon strip depicting the story.
• To set the scene for the story, use fake money and game pieces to “buy and sell property”.  The hotels and houses from Monopoly work well as you make the transactions talk about how Joseph sold his property and gave the money to the apostles to share with the church.  Then, act out the transaction where Ananias and Sapphira hid some of their proceeds and only gave the part to the apostles and lied about it.  Because the children turn the “property” over and count out the money, they understand the lie more clearly.
• Print bookmarks, trading cards or timelines (printable pages).
• Visit the Teaching Ideas page for additional activities and crafts.

Other Online Resources:

• Colouring page and puzzle worksheets (Calvary Curriculum)
• Craft, Application Activity:  Really good application to teach about what happens when we lie.  Uses icecream and salt. (Over the big moon)
• Questions, craft and discussion starters (Sunday school sources)
• Video: The Grim Tale of Ananias and Sapphira by Dan Stevers

top