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Topic: ? and sold their possessions and goods
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epouraniois
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Why did the Hebrews sell their land and their goods during the Acts? Partial excerpt from the chapel of the open book;
Jos 7:19 And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.
Jos 22:20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.
Act 5:1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
Act 5:2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Act 5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
Act 5:4 While it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
Act 5:5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.
What was the Apostles' doctrine in which the believers continued stedfastly? It could not have been that marvellous system of truth with which we associate the epistle to the Romans, written by the, as yet, unconverted Saul. Justification by faith is unrecorded in the testimony of Peter. The term, reconciliation, finds no place in the Ministry of the Circumcision. When we reflect that Peter and the other Apostles had only just received power from on high, it is foolish to imagine that there existed some great system of doctrine that could be subscribed to, as though it were ccreed. All that could be meant by the "Apostles' doctrine", or teaching, is the witness that had been given concerning the resurrection of Christ, His Lordship, His Kingship, His Coming and the need on the part of the believer to be ready.
Acts 2:41-47
A 41 a Glad reception of Word, baptism
b 3,000 souls added
B 42 c Stedfast continuance in Apostles' doctrine
d Fellowship, breaking of bread, prayers
C 43 e Fear, wonders, signs
C 44,45 e All things common
B 46 c Continuing daily in the temple
d Breaking bread from house to house
A 46,47 a Gladness, singleness, praise
b Saved ones added.
What were the immediate results of Peter's ministry on that day of Pentecost? Three thousand souls were added to the company of believers, and they that believed were together and had all things in common. Gladness and singleness of heart characterized this favoured company, who were not only pleasing to God, but in "favour with all the people".
"And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed . . . had all things common: and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need" (Acts 2:43-45).
In these few lines we have compressed that which is expanded in Acts three, four and five. In those chapters is recorded the prophetically significant mirac1e of healing, and the equally significant mirac1e of judgment that caused "great fear" to come upon all the Pentecostal Church.
There is also a fuller statement concerning the having of things in common (all were Jews) in Acts 4:32-37, which compels us to ask whether the selling of possessions and community of goods was not a real part of the meaning and purpose of Pentecost. There have been companies of believers, who, taking Pentecost as their basis, have sought consistently to follow out its practice, but the having of all things in common does not seem to have captured their minds in the same way as has the gift of tongues. Yet how can one speak of "continuing in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship", without realizing that this koinonia (fellowship ) refers to and is expressed by the having of all things in common (eichon hapanta koina)?
The resurrection of the Lord, as testified by the Apostles, was intimately associated with the restoration of the kingdom to Israel, and to the time of the restoration of all things which had been spoken by the prophets. No Jew would need to be told, that just as the feast of Pentecost with its emphasis upon the word "fifty" was a recurring, annual reminder of the day of Jubilee, so the final prophetic fulfilment of all that Pentecost stood for would be the real, great Jubilee toward which all prophecy pointed. Believing, therefore, the "Apostles' doctrine", these believers put their faith into practice.
If the Jubilee was near, all would receive their own inheritance, all forfeitures would be cancelled, all buying and selling of land and possessions would come to nought; consequently, although no one could sell or buy his inheritance, he could sell whatever else he had purchased, and use the proceeds for the common good, while awaiting the Lord from heaven. The case of Barnabas is specially mentioned. He was a Levite, and "having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the Apostles' feet" (Acts 4:37). In Jeremiah 32:6-14 we have the case of Jeremiah (who, like Barnabas, was of the priestly tribe). He bought land to demonstrate his faith in the Lord's promised restoration (Jer.32:15), and Barnabas sold land to demonstrate the same conviction.
The law that governed the sale of land is found in Leviticus twenty-five. The voluntary act of Barnabas in selling his acquired land and placing the proceeds at the Apostles' feet is in direct contrast with the action of Ananias. He, too, sold a possession; he, too, laid the proceeds at the Apostles' feet, but with the difference that he kept back part of the price, while pretending that he had given all. The Apostle makes it quite c1ear that there was no compulsion about the selling of the land when he says, "while it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power?" Ananias sinned in that he lied to the Holy Spirit. The sin of Ananias was the sin of Achan. The reader will find that the very words used of Achan in Joshua 7: 1 are used of Ananias. The LXX reads enosphisanto apo tou anathematos, "appropriated for themselves a part of that which was devoted". Acts 5:2,3, twice applies this particular expression to Ananias and Sapphira: kai enosphisato apo tes times", "and kept back part of the price".
Act 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
The anti-type of the three thousand:
Jos 7:1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.
Jos 7:4 So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.
Ai or Aija or Aiath or Hai = “heap of ruins”
the 2nd city taken on the invasion of Canaan
Mat 23:2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat
Zec 14:21 ...and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.
The interested reader is urged to weigh over the arguments contained in the artic1e on "Achan, the troubler of Israel" The Berean Expositor, Vol. XXVI, pp. 37-41, which show that the word, "accursed thing", should be understood as "a devoted thing", i.e. devoted to the Lord. Peter and the Apostles stood somewhat in the same position as did Joshua, and wielded the same awful discipline.
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