Ananias and Sapphira
Money in hand, they lied about the sale amount retaining some funds. They could have promised any or none of the sale amount. The problem? They made a promise to the true God. And reneged. They denied God the opportunity of granting them the blessing of provision for their faithfulness. Recall that is the sin that Moses committed. He took from the true God His means of granting a blessing. The true God had means of rewarding that couple for their gift. That couple became an object of horror.
There is a second issue at stake with this couple. In Israel anyone could lease the use of their real estate for years until the Jubilee. On Jubilee years everyone was restored to their possessions. There was a cap on the amount of money that could be earned on the lease. This was set at two percent per year. Ananias and Sapphira evidently were able to get more for their lease than the two percent. How is this known? They were not supposed to be taking more than the set amount for a lease/sale and the apostles knew the value. Price on real estate in Israel was fixed with perfect information for all. There was no reason someone would get more for lands. Ananias and Sapphira capitalized on value the lessor perceived from what the neighbours were doing.
Does this sound like CC&R's. It should. Because of the hard work of the neighbours these two made out like capital gains robbers. They gave the church the total lease money God allowed, but then they pocketed the above market value that was what their neighbours had worked their asses off for, too. God is not a fan of sitting on your ass to earn money. If you earned 150k on your home after sitting on it for a few years then total revenue in excess of total cost, profit, belongs as much to your neighbours as you. Getting taxed 50% on capital gains in God's eyes is more than fair.
Remember that military base that closed? It had hundreds of units of housing. What happened to that neighbourhood? Does it look like low income housing? Why? Did investors jump in and erect portfolios then abandon the neighbourhood? Walk or drive past that old base housing. Is it a horror? That is what happens when people are detached from the value of labour. When people forget how to sweat to achieve their goals they sit and masturbate rather than pursue even the work for an orgasm. Shame on you! All of you!
Caring for your home is a basic requirement. Israel enjoyed gains because everyone benefited from work. There were gleanings for the poor, remember Ruth? If you occupied My lands, you worked as if you owned them regardless of who was on the title. Did the spigot break? Then replace it. Putting channel-locks on the valve is acceptable to water the livestock until you can get to the hardware store. The spigot is replaced between buying beans and paying for cable -- streaming.
Work people, it is soul food. I may have let Moses take poetic license with letting y'all think all I did was exhale to get man to breathe but right now you are living on the last generations that can stand because of the programming, years of it, that Adam received from Me. That breath of life required My creating thousands of organisms to teach Adam. I do not create from scratch, now. But planets are waiting, and I have kings coming. I work with what there is.
Damn you masturbators! Laziness is perversion! And never have I ever given away knowledge. Wisdom is worked for. If you are stupid enough to think an idol-pot-smoking lizard egg is credited with originating, "Wisdom is better than silver or gold" you are not worth the gold in your mouth. Nor worth the T-shirt "Bob Marley" is printed on. (mac says, "God is pissed at y'all.")
People I give blessings to those that realize when more than themselves are at credit for what is accomplished. My classroom is full of object lessons. mac can tell you. Why not learn for yourself? Because lying about how much you earn has a death sentence.