Ananias And Sapphira Are Evil. Satan himself is their advisor. But why?

After today we'll be leaving Acts 5:1-11 to get back to our reason for being here in the first place. (Maybe. With this pastor you never know.) The reason we are solving Ananias and Sapphira is so we can see why God had the man gathering wood on the Sabbath killed in Numbers 15. In this church we take rabbit trails to be a good thing. We recognize that he’s just building his case, but calling it a rabbit trail helps keep him on track.

So on to the lecture. Basically you have two ways to think on this topic. Either God is evil, or He's protecting salvation by pronouncing correct judgement on those who plot to destroy the resurrection and subsequent great grace.

But we start with Numbers 15:32-36. “Why?” you ask? Well, it's crucial to have the correct interpretation of Scripture, and here we find out about the desire people have to call God evil. If God is not evil, then how is it good that Ananias and Sapphira (and the man gathering wood) are struck down? God protects His plan of salvation. From a human standpoint God seems to be responding with urgency in these two cases. He's taking out people who are a threat to protect those being threatened.

In the case of the man gathering wood on the Sabbath, those being threatened would believe Satan’s lie. Salvation is the great Sabbath rest. But ask, “rest from what?” When you have the right question the answer becomes obvious. Sin.

Okay, I've said enough. Obviously there's much more to this lecture. This pastor understands that it's important for us to know, the Bible is not simple.

Thanks for listening. You can write or call this pastor with questions and encouragement.