Sapphira

Sapphira

“It’s All About the Secrets”

Scripture References: Acts 5:1-11

ABOUT HER

Read Acts 4:32-5:11

Why is this story in Scripture? 1 Corinthians 10:11-12 NKJV ”Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”

• The wife of Ananias
• Agreed together with her husband to lie
• Fell down dead after her husband
• The Bible gives us no genealogical record of Ananias and Sapphira

Read about the atmosphere of the early church (Acts 4:33-35). This was after the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost and it was an intense time in church history of the initial working of the Holy Spirit.

HER FEARLESS MISTAKE: She was afraid the wrong way

Acts 5:1-11

(v. 1) “But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira…”

Here we see them trying to mimic someone else’s spiritual action without a personal heart connection.

“The action of Barnabas to sell all was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Now two other believers are actuated by the spirit of evil to pretend a similar surrender…….They wanted to give the impression that their all was on the altar, when it was not, and thus they became guilty of sacrilege in the attempt to obtain the reputation of saintliness with the reality of sacrifice.” -Herbert Lockyer, All the Women of the Bible

It is believed that they were professed believers and that this was an act of God’s discipline in the church.

“they were struck down in sanctifying discipline, rather than in an everlasting condemnation. And that they so died that we might learn so to live as not to die.” -Alexander Whyte

Their problem: They did not fear the Lord.

It is good to have a healthy fear (reverence) of God that reminds you of your place in comparison to His holiness, righteousness and the knowledge that He is all-powerful.

When is it good to be afraid? “Not all fear is unhealthy. Some of it qualifies as reverence. Maybe the apostle Paul felt the kind we’re discussing in 2 Corinthians 11:3. ‘I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a complete and pure devotion to Christ.’ Look at is this we: We lock our doors at night to keep out intruders. Fear can be wise.” -Beth Moore, James Mercy Triumphs Judgement

The only way you can truly be a fearless woman of God is to fear the Lord!

Proverbs 29:25 NKJV “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.”

Luke 12:4-5 NKJV “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!”

In the Greek this word for fear is “phobeo”

Webster’s definition of the english word “phobia” is “an exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation”

How do you develop a healthy fear of the Lord? By regularly getting into God’s presence.

Hebrews 10:31 ESV “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

(Psalm 96:9 NKJV) “Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.”

(Psalm 114:7 NKJV) “Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob”

HER HYPOCRISY: She kept the wrong secrets

Ananias and Sapphira cared more about the appearance of spirituality then the actuality of spirituality.

“Half of the misery in the world comes from trying to look, instead of trying to be, what one is not.” -George MacDonald

Where you are, when you are, how you are is what you are! Be what you are. Don’t try to be. Just be.

“If you’re not somewhere yet in your spiritual walk, don’t pretend to be there.” -Karen Kyle

Matthew 6:1-4 ESV “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

It’s not so much about what we do as it is about how we do it.

One of the secrets of successful Christian living is the life of the secret heart.

Psalm 51:6 ESV “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.”

(Psa 19:12 NKJV) “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.”

(Psa 90:8 NKJV) “You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.”

(Psa 91:1 NKJV) “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

(Ecc 12:14 NKJV) “For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

(Dan 2:22 NKJV) “He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.”

Ask Yourself: What was it that kept them from seeing the severity of what they were doing? PRIDE

Pride will blind you.

“Pride opens the door to every other sin, for once we are more concerned with our reputation than our character, there is no end to the things we will do just to make ourselves ‘look good’ before others.” -Warren W. Wiersbe

Safeguard against deception: Get in agreement with the Lord through His Word first before being in agreement with someone else’s assessment, opinion or decision.

Read James 2:13-18

It’s one thing when one person is doing something wrong. It is another dynamic to agree together with someone to do something wrong.

SECRET: Here is a secret to NOT living as a hypocrite is to live from the heart.

Homework: Read Psalm 119 and highlight the word delight every time you see it.

HER DEATH: She died the wrong way

Bad death: Focus on the outside (appearance) will bring inner death (sin).

Good death: Focus on the inner (heart) will bring inner death (life).

Romans 8:13 NKJV “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

Live on the inside (according to the flesh) -----> DEATH

Die on the inside (by the Spirit) -----> LIVE

(Romans 6:16, 21) “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? ... What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.”

(Romans 6:23 NKJV) “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

(Romans 7:5, 13 NKJV) “For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. ... Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.”

Life Lesson

“The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart”

Discussion Questions:

1. What lie do you remember telling when you were a child? What happened?
2. Were Ananias and Sapphira required to sell the land and lay all the money at the apostles’ feet? What was their sin?
3. What do you learn about the fear of the Lord from this story? How will you apply this in your life today?

Jochebed

šMidwives and Jochebed›

Scripture References:

Exodus 1; 2:1-11; 6:20; Numbers 26:59; Hebrews 11:23-27

The Midwives:

Read Exodus 1:1-22

The midwives Shiphrah and Puah assisted the women in childbirth. They held this position most likely because they had no children or homes of their own.

Shiphrah means “prolific” or “procreate”

Puah means “child bearing” or “joy of parents”

These were Egyptian names and Jewish historian Aben Ezra says these women were “chiefs over all the midwives, who were more than 500.”

“They are called Hebrew midwives, probably not because they were themselves Hebrews (for surely Pharaoh could never expect they should be so barbarous to those of their own nation), but because they were generally made use of by the Hebrews; and, being Egyptians, he hoped to prevail with them.” –Matthew Henry

Even though they were Egyptians they appeared to embrace the Hebrew faith and “feared God.”

Exodus 1:17 NASB “But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.”

Acts 5:29 NASB “But Peter and the apostles answered and said, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’” They said this in response to the command given to them to not continue teaching in the name of Jesus.

What does it mean to “fear” God? This word is “yare” and it means “to fear, to respect, to reverence, to be afraid.” Recognize who God is! We often get commonplace and comfortable in our approach to Him.

These women feared God MORE than they feared man. Let this be our prayer!

Matthew 10:28 NKJV “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

How did God respond to Shiphrah and Puah?

1.     He protected them. Exodus 1:20 NASB “So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty.”

a.     Psalm 34:7 NKJV “The angel of the Lord encamps around all those who fear Him, and delivers them”

b.     Psalm 91:1 NASB “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”

2.     He gave them families. Exodus 1:21 NASB “And it came about because the midwives feared God, that He established households for them.”

God desires our obedience.

Jochebed’s History:

Jochebed was the mother of Aaron, Miriam and Moses.

Jochebed’s name means “glory of Jehovah” “Jehovah is her glory”

She is the first person in scripture to have her name compounded with “Jah” or “Jehovah”

She was the daughter of a Levi and her husband Amram was a man of the house of Levi which makes Moses a Levite.

Because of Joseph, 400 years before the Jewish people were a favored race but now they were afflicted.

v. 8 –a new king, who did not know Joseph, arose. How important it is to know history and learn from history! 1 Corinthians 10:11 NKJV “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”

This Pharaoh made the Israelite people slave laborers.

Exodus 1:12 NKJV “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel.”

It was in these years that Jochebed gave birth to Moses. Imagine her fear, her cry to God and her agony when he was born a baby boy.

Her Faith:

Read Exodus 2:1-11

Her actions showed who she ultimately trusted in and we can all follow her example of bravery.

What kind of faith did she have? Wise faith. She placed him in the river by the bulrushes at the rivers edge and it was around where Pharaoh’s daughter bathed every day. She had Miriam, her daughter, follow the baby…and then trusted in the Lord!

The Lord wants his children to be wise. He does not want us to have faith and yet be foolish. That is why He gave us the book of Proverbs! Many times, we are hindered in our walks with God because we have not yet acquired the wisdom He gave us.

Wisdom

Proverbs 4:7 NKJV “Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.”

Proverbs 8:11 NKJV “For wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.”

Proverbs 9:10 NKJV "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

Proverbs 11:2 NKJV “When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom.”

Proverbs 16:16 NKJV “How much better to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.”

Acts 6:3 NKJV "Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;”

Acts 6:10 NKJV “And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.”

Jochebed is listed in the hall of faith! Hebrews 11:23 “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king's command.”

The opposite of faith is FEAR. A key to having faith in the Lord is to fear the right person…God! If you fear the Lord, you won’t fear man, and if you fear man you won’t fear the Lord.

Hebrews 13:6 NKJV “So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"

1 Peter 2:17 NKJV “Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.”

1 John 4:18 NKJV “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”

A lot of times our faith is weak and our fear is strong because we do not understand the love God has for us and we need to have a deeper experience of it.

1 John 5:4 NKJV “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith.”

Her Legacy:

Jochebed had tremendous influence on her three children as they became the leaders for the people of Israel.

·       Aaron became Israel’s first high priest beginning the Aaronic priesthood.

·       Miriam was a poetess and musician who led the women in a victory song after God delivered them from Pharaoh’s army.

·       Moses led God’s people out of the land of Egypt and communicated God’s commandments.

Your assignment from God as a mother is to devote yourselves to your children. Mothering takes perseverance and hard work! There is no easy way out. Be a dedicated prayer warrior for your children every day that they may embrace the Lord and follow after Him.

Life Lesson:

Fear God not man and walk by faith! Step out and take risks.

Reflection Questions:

1.     What would people point to in your life that shows the evidence of your faith?

2.     What are things in life that you are afraid of?

3.     What challenge are you currently going through that requires faith?

The Right Kind of Fear

Proverbs 15:33 "The fear of the LORD is instruction for wisdom, and before honor comes humility."
Proverbs 16:6b "And by the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil."
Psalm 85:9 "Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land."

What does it mean to "fear the LORD"?

In the original Hebrew the word for fear is "yir'ah" -it is a word that means "moral reverance"

The word study in the back of my Bible defines it as this...
"A feminine noun meaning fear. The word usually refers to the fear of God and is viewed as a positive quality. This fear acknowledges God's good intentions (Exodus 20:20). It will motivate and delight even the Messiah (Isaiah 11:2,3). This fear is produced by God's Word (Psalm 119:38; Proverbs 2:5) and makes a person receptive to wisdom and knowledge (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10). It is even identified with wisdom (Job 28:28; Proverbs 15:33). The fear of the Lord may be lost by despair of one's own situation (Job 6:14) or envy of a sinner's (Proverbs 23:17). This fear restrains people from sin (Genesis 20:11; Exodus 20:20; Nehemiah 5:9); gives confidence (Job 4:6; Proverbs 14:26); helps rulers and causes judges to act justly (2 Samuel 23:3; 2 Chronicles 19:9; Nehemiah 5:15); results in good sleep (Proverbs 19:23); with humility, leads to riches, honour and life (Proverbs 22:4). The word also refers to the fear of briers and thorns (Isaiah 7:25); and the fear of Israel that would fall on other nations (Deuteronomy 2:25)." -taken from "The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Key Word Study Bible"


I love it! All the wonderful benefits from fearing the Lord. The Holy Spirit has been pressing this on my heart the last few days. God has shown me specific areas where I am not fearing Him. What areas of your heart are hard and in your rebellious flesh you don't care to fear God? Ask Him to show you and put a little fear in you. The truth will set you free. Let's be on a pursuit after God's own heart!