Offended At The Judgment of God

“And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them.” (Ac 5:13 AV)

This statement comes on the heels of the death of Ananias and Sapphira.  The Apostles continued to perform miracles and wonders at the temple, but those intimidated by the judgment of God wanted nothing to do with the grace of God.  Who these people are is a matter of conjecture.  Some believe them to be the impudent lost.  Other, believers who were offended at the death of these two people.  Regardless of who they are, the motive for disassociation is still the same.  God held two people accountable for hypocrisy.  They lied about the gift they gave to the church.  They wanted to be seen as more dedicated and sacrificial than they were.  Peter made the point that they were not required to give any of the profit off their land.  While the money was in their hand, they were free to do with it what they wished.  They have a portion and then claimed it to be to full price.  There was no need to do this.  They would have been thought generous and appreciated either way.  Their sole purpose was to be perceived to be something they were not.  Those who saw the swift and dramatic judgment on hypocrisy wanted nothing to do with the LORD.  This is an error to the highest degree.  God will not withhold judgment because we are intimidated.  This is exactly what those who rebel against God during the tribulation will think. They want nothing to do with God and think they can escape God’s judgment.  This is simply not true.

My father was a disciplinarian.  He handled things quickly and swiftly.  Sometimes, from our perspective, my father’s anger and action were too severe.  There were several times when we were in the wrong place and wrong time.  We would witness our father punish a sibling and because we didn’t understand the depth of the issue at hand, we would resent my father for the severity of his judgment.  Sometimes, it was greater than was needed.  He was human.  Most of the time, it appeared too severe, but it was spot on.  In our immaturity, we began to estrange ourselves from our father because we were offended for our sibling’s sake.  Trying to come up with one example is difficult since I have ten siblings and this was the rule more than the exception.  Whether it was a spanking, a grounding, or a tongue lashing, if we witnessed our sibling enduring dad’s judgment, we were offended for their sakes more than not.  That is, until we matured and came to the conclusion that misbehavior deserves judgment.  When we come to the conclusion that when we disobey our dad, there should be consequences, we are more apt to accept his judgment of our siblings.  It reminds me of a scene in A Christmas Story where Ralph is getting his mouth washed out with soap and his mother calls the mother of his friend would be blamed for teaching Ralphie bad words.  The narrator, who was the adult voice of Ralphie said, “Slug (his friend’s nickname) was getting his.”  Rather than be offended his best friend was getting a spanking, he accepted it as part of life.

It is hard to see God work with others whom we love so much.  We don’t like to see it when others get corrected.  We shouldn’t, anyway.  God has the right to do as He pleases.  God’s holiness cannot be compromised.   The LORD chastened two people who made benevolence, charity, and unity a mockery.  They misrepresented the gift of God.  They lied to the Holy Spirit and the church.  This they did in the infancy of the church.  When others saw it, they marveled at the judgment of God, and rather than submit to Him, they wanted nothing to do with Him.  They made a moral judgment on God that God was unfair.  When they wanted nothing to do with the Apostles, they were stating that God is mean, unloving, and unworthy of their submission.  In short, by avoiding the grace of God, they believed themselves to be superior to the God who they witnessed ending the lives of two liars.  They could not stomach what they perceived to be the faults of God.  God has none.  They simply lacked the humility and maturity to accept that God is God and His way goes.  They refused to grow up.  They became the judge of God rather than the other way around.  We deserve hell.  We owe God a debt we cannot pay.  In love, Jesus suffered and died for us.  Anything short of hell is the pure grace of God.