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Wanting the land for a vegetable garden, the king offered to give Naboth an even better vineyard in exchange. If that wasn’t good, he’d pay him what it was worth. It all sounded good, except that Naboth wasn’t selling. Coveting is triggered in numerous ways, as depicted in the Bible. When Achan saw the spoils of silver and gold from Israel’s victory over Jericho, he coveted them. Spotting from his rooftop the very beautiful but very married Bathsheba bathing next door, David coveted her. When Simon the sorcerer saw the Spirit filled work of Peter and John in Samaria, he coveted it. Coveting generates a variety of emotions and actions as well. Achan got greedy (a flawed condition we’ll address in more detail in a later chapter) and took silver and gold and hid it in his tent. David was aroused and arranged to lay with Bathsheba. Add to adultery murder, when David arranged for the death of Bathsheba’s husband Uriah on the battlefield. Simon the magician, “In the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity” (Acts 8:23), offered money to be able to do what the apostles were doing. In the case of Ahab, who certainly wasn’t accustomed to being told no, he headed home and went to bed, sulking and refusing to eat. Enter Jezebel, who was even more evil than the king, who said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! I’ll get you the vineyard” (1 Kings 21:7). So Jezebel concocted a plan that took this crime to a new low. Writing on behalf of the king, she arranged for a day of fasting among the people. She went a step further by seating Naboth next to two scoundrels, who falsely accused Naboth of cursing both God and king. As a result of the false charges, Naboth was taken outside the city and stoned to death. As I proclaim from the pulpit from time to time, “Sin will take you farther than you ever intended to go, keep you there longer than you ever intended to stay, and cost you more than you

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