10th Commandment - Exodus 20:17
10th Commandment – You shall not covet
This last, 10th commandment is about the old fashioned sin of coveting! See the Collins Dictionary definition: “To wish, crave or long for something, especially other people’s property.”
Ex 20:17 "You shall not covet your neighbour's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour."
Coveting is dangerous. It destroys the soul. The apostle Paul was aware that although he clearly felt he had kept the other commandments, he tells us in Romans 7 that he knew he had failed on this one.
Rom 7:7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet. 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. 9Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
It was the only commandment which is exclusively a matter of the heart and hidden from others – and known only to God. Paul the self-righteous Pharisee knew how to handle the others externally and put on a good show and be proud of his achievements – but there could be no righteous show of not coveting.
As I said – coveting kills. We dress it up in all sorts of terminology – ambition, goals, aspirations. In fact I think health and wealth theology which dominates our New Zealand Christian TV programming seems to encourage covetousness. “Follow Jesus and you will get all these goodies you have have been coveting all these years.”
In David’s case – being absolute monarch in Israel, he coveted someone else’s wife and took her and then had to kill her rightful husband to cover up his wickedness. Others of us are not absolute and cannot take what we want – we are restrained by Christian piety, by the law and peer pressure. But covetousness can still rumbles away in our hearts known only to God and doing immense spiritual damage – no-one will ever know. As no-one preaches on the 10 commandments any more – so last century and uncool – many New Zealand Christians do not even know there is such a thing as covetousness.
But do you know that the fall in the Garden of Eden was caused by covetousness? Not some classical gross sin – but covetousness. Adam and Eve wanted something that was not rightfully theirs – they wanted something that was God’s alone – hence God’s commentary afterwards – “they will become like one of us.” The free will to make their own moral decisions independently of God. They wanted the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
At each stage in the spiritual development of God’s people covetousness played a negative part. Achan saw some fine cloth and gold in Jericho; David crashed; Ananaias and Sapphira coveted back the money they had pledged to God; Simon the Sorcerer coveted the spiritual gifts of Peter and John. It is still a problem today. Whenever I hear the cry of: “That’s not fair!” Bingo! Someone wanting something that they are not getting.
It was a huge problem in the Early Church – such that James has to teach: 4:2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.
How do we deal with this sin? Well we have an answer in James 4 here.
But being the Reformed man that I am, I know that a Christianized psychological pep talk will not do. How to grit your teeth and say, “No!”, to that strange desire for my neighbour’s donkey. No – my message this morning has to be Christ-centred.
Wonderfully, as always, we have the answer and example of the Lord Jesus Christ. He succeeded where his great ancestor David failed. Phil 2:
Phil 2:5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus did not reach and grasp what was even rightfully his – Why? Because if he did – the plan of salvation would have been wrecked. If Jesus had grabbed all his divine power at Calvary – there would have been no death on the cross and no salvation from sin and death for you and me. What does Paul tell us to do with this great statement of who and what Christ is? … He tells us to:
v12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
I try to take on board Paul’s challenge: “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” Jeremiah’s exhortation to Barack his secretary Jer 45 – “Do not seek great things for yourself.” This is not cool motivational preaching – but it is biblical.
If you have a desire for things that other people have. If you feel that you have been put at the back of the queue for the good things in life: honour, wealth, prestige, beauty. Do not resent it. Many of these things bring a terrible accountability. If someone seems to be very gifted – do not envy them – God will call them to account one day as to how they used those gifts. If you envy those of us who have children and you do not – I am accountable before God for their upbringing. If you envy someone their money – God will hold them accountable too.
Do not covet, God works all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. What better way to be called according to God’s purpose than being a missionary. My friends, do not covet!