One Year Bible Tuesday, June 8th Solomon Carries Out David's Last Wishes! Why Did Ananias and Sapphira Die After Lying to the Apostles?
David’s Final Instructions to Solomon
Before David dies, he gives his son Solomon his last wishes. First, he reaffrims the covenant God made with him. God had promised him there would never fail to be a descendant of his on the throne. David tells Solomon to "prove himself a man". Perhaps he sensed some weakness in his son Solomon.
Then he calls on Solomon to deliver justice to his commander Joab. David and Joab seemed to have a love/hate relationship. In many ways Joab was very loyal and crucial to David's success. Yet, there was another side of Joab which was cunning and deceptive. Joab killed Absalom against David's command and also killed Abner and Amassa. Solomon would exact the justice that David never carried out. On the flipside David commanded Solomon to treat Barzallai well, and have him eat at the king's table, which was a huge privilege. Shimei was another adversary of David's who cursed him. David had not exacted revenge on Shimei because he made an oath to him, but now that he was dying, David expected Solomon to bring him to justice as well.
David ruled in Hebron and Jerusalem for a total of 40 years. He is far and away the greatest king Israel will ever have. Most importantly David relied on the Lord and was a man after God's own heart. He made many mistakes though too, not the least of which was his adultery with Bathsheba, and the killing of her husband Uriah. But God kept his promises to David, and he honored David with a long life.
“He was a shepherd, a soldier, an outlaw, a king, a fugitive, a sinner, a saint, a poet… His experiences were the writing of God on his life, making him into a man after God’s own heart.” (Redpath)
Solomon Establishes His Rule
Adonijah, who had tried to steal the kingdom from Solomon, comes to Bathsheba, his mom with a unique request. He wants to marry Abishag. Most likely she was a concubine of David his father. Given Adonijah's nature there seems something shady about this request. But Bathsheba agrees to ask her son about it.
Solomon's response reveals that Adonijah's intentions were not good, especially when he says, “You might as well ask me to give him the kingdom!" 1:22
It seems obvious that Adonijah wants to inherit some greater part of the kingdom through this marriage. Solomon has had enough and this move spelled the end for Adonijah. He has Adonijah executed that day. He refers to the covenant God made with him regarding the royal dynasty, which gives further credence to the notion that Adonijah was again scheming for the throne.
When Joab saw what happened to Adonijah, he ran to the sacred tent and held on to the horns thinking this would save his skin. But in this case the altar did not prevent Joab from the consequences of his sin.
“He did not know where to fly except he fled to the horns of an altar, which he had very seldom approached before. As far as we can judge, he had shown little respect to religion during his lifetime. He was a rough man of war, and cared little enough about God, or the tabernacle, or the priests, or the altar; but when he was in danger, he fled to that which he had avoided, and sought to make a refuge of that which he had neglected.” (Spurgeon)
After Shimei was executed for his sin, the reign of Solomon was firmly established. He had carried out the commands his father had given him.
This initial demonstration of justice was important for Solomon to perform. “He seems to think that, while such bad men remained unpunished the nation could not prosper; that it was an act of justice which God required him to perform, in order to the establishment and perpetuity of his throne” (Clarke).
Ananias and Sapphira
This story is one of the more challenging stories in the New Testament. It seems more likely to find itself in the Old Testament rather than the New Testament. The bottom line is Ananias and Sapphira purported, like others in the community, to have sold their property and laid it at the apostle's feet. Seems good so far. But they had lied to the leaders and kept some of the proceeds for themselves. The judgment was very severe.
After Peter confronted Ananias, he dropped to the floor and died. Wow! That was quick. When Sapphira came in, Peter asked her if they had given the full proceeds to the community after the sale of their property. When she lied and said yes, she too dropped to the floor and died. It's not a shocker that the response to this was that the fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard it.
Admittedly this is a very challenging story. Where is the grace? Granted they lied but instant death seems like a tall price to pay. So how might we interpret this difficult story?
A couple of things:
1. In both cases it was not the apostles or anyone in the church that caused the death. It was the judgment of God for lying to the Holy Spirit.
2. In another case in the bible it says the only sin that cannot be forgiven is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 12:24 and Mark 3:30
3. This was a very hard lesson for the early church and obviously Ananias and Sapphira. It does not mean they did not go to heaven, as one could safely assume that being part of the Christian community they were believers, though only God knows a person's heart.
4. This was an example to the new Christian community that lying to a person was one thing, but lying to God and especially deceiving the community with another one.
"What Ananias did also must be seen in the context of its time. This was a critical juncture for the early church and such impurity, sin, scandal and satanic infiltration could have corrupted the entire church at its root. “The Church has never been harmed or hindered by opposition from without; it has been perpetually harmed and hindered by perils from within.” (Morgan)
5. Finally, I think we need to remember God is a holy God. Though we are saved by grace and need it every day of our lives, we need to be careful not to take advantage of it. I believe this is a challenge for many Christians today including myself.
As much as anything, the lesson of Ananias and Sapphira is that we presume greatly on God when we assume that there is always time to repent, time to get right with God, time to get honest with Him. Any such time given by God is an undeserved gift that He owes no one; we should never assume it will always be there.
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