Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. (Acts 5:9)
The offense was particularly heinous because it involved premeditated deception.
Tempt the Spirit.
That is, to “try,” or to “test,” whether the Holy Spirit was really a discerner of the secrets of men’s hearts. The expression “Spirit of the Lord” is probably used in its OT sense, as the Spirit of Jehovah (cf. 2 Kings 2:16; Isa. 61:1; etc.). The combination is rare in the NT, occurring only here and in 2 Cor. 3:17.
Shall carry thee out.
Peter is speaking not as a judge but as a prophet. The Holy Spirit had already condemned them. In this instance the coming judgment is foretold, and the announcement barely preceded its execution. To Peter his gift of discernment showed that the young men whose footsteps he heard returning from the burial of Ananias would very soon have another task of like nature.