In Ezek. 7:13 we have an interesting expression, and there are various translations of the last clause:
neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life (KJV)
no one by his iniquity shall invigorate his life (Fairbairn)
every man living in his iniquity shall gather no strength (Speakers Commentary)
because of their sins, not one of them will preserve his life (NIV)
nor will any of them maintain his life by his iniquity (NASV)
In the immediate context it talks about inescapable coming judgement upon the land of Israel (7:1,2) – the land speculator and the property magnate will have no cause for rejoicing because they will be taken from the land (12,13).
Despite the textual difficulties, we can make application, because of Heb. 9:27 (judgement to come)
1. Wicked men sometimes attempt to strengthen themselves in their iniquity: For example:
a. the dishonest banker who hides his dishonesty by manipulating the accounts.
b. the gambler who tries to hide his losses by embezzling
c. note the skulduggery of Gehazi (2 Kings 5:20-27)
d. a man losing his position seeks to retain it by foul means: eg. politicians manipulating the polls etc. (Saul tries to kill David his successor, and later consults a witch in a vain attempt to hang on to life and throne.)
2. These efforts to strengthen themselves in their iniquity must end in failure (Eccles. 8:8).
Men try to strengthen themselves in iniquity by falsehood, but falsehood is opposed to the reality of things, and by its very nature cannot give lasting strength or security to anyone. The false foundation of the sand of life rather than the rock of truth cannot support anything built upon it eternally. Carlyle said, No lie you can speak or act, but it will come, after longer or shorter circulation, like a bill drawn on nature’s reality, and be presented then for payment, with the answer – no effects (0r as we would put it – insufficient funds). No lie can live forever and all lies have the sentence of death written against them in Heaven’s Chancellery itself; and slowly or fast, advance incessantly toward their hour. Prov. 12:19 says The lip of truth shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Prov. 19:5,9 declares He that speaks lies shall perish.
Some senior school boys were late for an exam because, they said, their car had a flat tyre. The teacher said they could sit for a short exam at four corners of the room, and they were given a piece of paper with only one question – “Which tyre?”. Be sure your sin will find you out (Num. 32:23), and that’s a blessing. It provides a powerful incentive to repent – to stop kidding ourselves. God has provided some powerful examples for us to consider – cf. The flood, the Jews in the wilderness (1 Cor. 10:1-12; Jude 5; Sodom and Gemorrah (Jude 7). There is an oft-repeated statement that God is going to have to do a lot of apologising to Sodom and Gemorrah if He lets San Francisco off scott-free for its homosexuality. Not necessarily! Will God ever have to apologise? Obviously not. Do miracles work? Yes, miracles would have worked in Sodom (Matt.11:23). So does God have to do miracles all the time and should He apologise for not doing miracles in Sodom? What about the people who could have been healed at places like Nazareth (Luke 4:24-27; Matt. 13:58). Miracles don’t always work and are not needed: remember the repentance of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba (she will expose so many excuses). God doesn’t have to keep doing miracles for us to understand such truths and principles. Some judgements of God are remedial, not to the person punished, but to others who hear of these things (Acts 5:5,11).
Acts 5:1-11 is the record of the first instance of problems in the church. Just as Satan entered the Garden of Eden, so Satan entered the early church. It may well be that the apostles thought that this was something the new enterprise of the church would be severely hurt by, but such was not the case. With truth and God on its side, that early congregation continued to progress. We ought not to be overly concerned about setbacks. Peter was given the power to read Ananias’ heart even as Elisha read Gehazi’s. He called it a lie to the Holy Spirit: Peter wasn’t claiming to be the Holy Spirit when he asked, Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? (v.3). He does make it plain that the behaviour of man is a reflection of the influence of Satan and God. This was not a supernatural temptation, just the old pride of life. No man lies to man without having first lied to God, and the truth within himself. Ananias fell down dead but Sapphira didn’t know. They had hatched a plan and he went off to the apostles with the gift. It’s important to know that this wasn’t communism – it was free-will giving. The problem was not that they didn’t give all the proceeds of the sale of the land, but rather the problem was that they lied by suggesting they were giving all they had made from the sale of the land.
We need to pay attention to the constructions that may be put upon our actions. Why practice such deceit? They coveted the high esteem and praise which virtue draws to itself. The man who claimed to have killed Saul was in the same boat (2 Sam. 1:1-16). It shows that very serious sin may be connected with an act which is outwardly virtuous and godly. Ananias and Sapphira knew what they were doing but probably thought the good would outweigh the bad in the act – after all, people would be helped by their gift – that their charity would more than compensate for their deception. It would be a “win/win situation” where benevolence would be done and they would reap some esteem. It could be said that gratuitous sin, that is, sin committed under no pressure of necessity, is the worst. (cf. Prov. 6:30). It means a person in such a state will sin without temptation and will need a temptation to do right.
Ananias has been gone longer than expected, so, perhaps, Sapphira comes looking for him at the last place she knew to look for him. It seems the apostles didn’t send anyone to inform her of the death of her husband. She is given opportunity to tell the truth but she doesn’t. To lie then is added conspiracy. She dies. An example of conjugal unity if you like:- one in the Jewish religion; one in their conversion to Christ; one in their hypocrisy; one in their terrible death; one in their common grave; and one in their undying record of their guilt in the Book that has been read by people from every nation under heaven to this day. (Ananias and Sapphira join the ranks of others like Ahab and Jezebel) Their very first meeting together after their conspiracy was in the Hadean world. What did they say? Did their eyes meet?
Be sure your sins will find you out. Hopefully our sins will find us out before we die, not after. What is the attraction of a lie? Usually it promises a way out, an escape, a better result than the telling of truth, a rescuing from embarrassment and a saving of face. Remember Joseph’s brothers and the lie about the torn coat of many colours. Twenty years after they were still troubled by guilt. Children lie to avoid punishment, to protect their self-image and because they think the risk is worth it.
I remember reading a psychiatrist who opined that we all lie and we can’t help it. He meant, “social and white lies”, the lubricant of “polite society”. We don’t have to lie at all! If we don’t have a good time at a party, don’t say to your host “Had a great time!” Say, “I appreciate you thought to invite me”. If they then say, “Did you have a good time?”, you can say, “Not as good as I had hoped, but that is compensated by your thoughtfulness to invite”. Similarly, when one bakes a pie, you can say “Thanks for the pie”, even if you almost choked on it. I was reminded of this when I visited a young woman over a letter she had written. I didn’t think much of some things she had written but I complimented a nervous stammering young woman on the fact she had taken the trouble and time to write a letter, sign her name, and give her address. I said that was praiseworthy and I meant it. We got off on the right foot and we talked about some of the offensive things she had written.
God told us not to lie. Everything He commands is for good reason. Lying hurts the one lied to – may be seriously misled and a real tragedy may result. Lying hurts the one lied about – seriously injure someone’s reputation, breaking friendships etc. Lying hurts the liar. It is habit forming with the tendency to cover one lie with another. Confusion is produced. Liars are apt to be confused, restless and nervous whereas truthful people are likely to be calm, relaxed and poised. As it is said, “you have to have a good memory to be a liar”. Lying creates suspicion and defensiveness – “If I lie then others will lie to me”.