Well
we’ve finally made our way to the 10th and final commandment. We’ve spent every Sunday this year looking at
the Ten Commandments that God gave to Israel there at Mount Sinai. After next Sunday, we will have spent a total
of 12 weeks looking at God’s Law and the condition of Israel both before and
after receiving it. We’ve talked about
commandments that deal specifically with God and some that deal more with our
earthly relationships. We’ve seen
commandments that are pretty straight forward and some that are more
confusing. However, there has typically
been within each of the previous nine commandments an external action that is
commanded of us. There has been some
type of outward behavior that should come about as a result of our keeping of
the Law. Well, in that regard, the final
commandment is a little bit different than the previous nine. The tenth commandment is almost entirely an
inward commandment. We could say that it
is a commandment of the heart. The tenth
commandment says, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your
neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his
donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” This
is the commandment against coveting. You
see, coveting is not an external action.
We’ve never witnessed someone covet something. Sure we’ve heard sayings like “he’s green
with envy” or “you can see the jealously in her eyes”, but these are just
phrases. None of us have actually seen
coveting and jealously like we can observe theft or murder. So, if somehow we were to get this far in our
look at the commandments without thinking that God is concerned just as much
with our emotions and our inward keeping of the Law (which I hope isn’t the
case), then we’ve finally come to a place where that truth is inescapable. God’s commanding us to not covet isn’t a
command that has to do with our outward actions, but with our thoughts and our hearts
as well.
I
want to take just a moment before dealing with the application of this
commandment and point out some observations from the wording of this
commandment that might help us to better hone in on the scope of this
commandment. First, notice the
repetition of the directive “You shall not covet.” It’s there twice. None of the other commandments have this
specific repeating of the directive within them. This is unique to only the tenth
commandment. Remember, when something is
repeated in Scripture, it means that we are to listen very closely and that
what is being said is of the utmost importance.
So, obviously it’s very important that we understand that we are not to
covet according to God’s Law. Also, if
we add up the things that are mentioned specifically here for us not to covet
(house, wife, male and female servants, ox, donkey, or anything that belongs to
our neighbor), we would find seven things.
Well, seven is the number of completion in the Hebrew culture. In essence, this list says to us that not
just these things mentioned are we not to covet, but we are not to covet anything
else that is our neighbors. You see, we
are to refrain from coveting entirely. There
is not one thing that it is acceptable to covet. Why?
Well, much like a few weeks ago in our look at stealing, coveting shows
a denial of God’s providence. Following
that line of thought, a denial of God’s providence is a denial of God’s
fulfilling every promise that He makes in His Word. So it’s no wonder why God takes the issue of
coveting so seriously.
Now
I feel like I have to say something before I go any further into what is
referred to here by the word covet. As
all of you know, I have kids in my house.
Amy and I want nothing more than to raise them up to be good, Christian
adults. We want them to make good
choices; not to please us, but because it is the right thing to do. We want others to know that we have taught
them to be polite and respectful, not so that they praise our parenting, but so
that they know that our children were raised properly. We want our future son and daughters in law
to be thankful for the job that we did raising them. As such, we are constantly teaching them
right from wrong, how to be polite, and how they are to act properly (a
challenge that sometimes seems like Amy and I are fighting a losing
battle). One of the never-ending struggles
on this front is fighting the two dreaded words “I want.” Whether it’s the walk through Target where
Ashby proceeds to tell us that she wants every toy we pass, or when Thomas lets us know he’s thirsty simply by
telling us “I want some juice”, we fight the “I want”. Well, this “I want” isn’t coveting. Coveting is not simply wanting
something. There’s nothing wrong with
having wants and desires in this world.
Our wanting for things can be a good thing and a driving force in our
lives. I want to see God’s kingdom
grown. I want to see every church, every
Bible study, and every mission organization full and bursting at the
seams. I want the best for my family and
friends. There’s nothing inherently
wrong with wanting things.
Where
“I want” turns into coveting is when it becomes a matter of consummation; it
becomes idolatry. Paul, in Colossians
3:5, says, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil
desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” There it is, covetousness is equal to
idolatry. You see, when we want
something, we work hard in order to achieve it, that’s the American dream. As a matter of fact, Cadillac has just
release a new ad campaign built upon that very premise. If you haven’t seen it, I’ll give you the
premise as concise as I can. It
basically states that as Americans, we work harder than most other countries
(or at least work more hours) in order to afford the finer things in life, like
a new Cadillac. Work ethic questions
aside, their ad is based upon the fact that in order for us to get the things
we want, we have to work for them.
Wanting these things and working for them is not covetous by
nature. However, it’s when our wanting
of these things becomes what is most important to us that we slip into the
realm of covetousness and idolatry. When
we neglect our families because we’re putting in more time at the office to get
stuff (which many times we tell ourselves that we’re neglecting them for their
benefit), when we shun our friends because they aren’t of a status that will
elevate us to where we really want to be in the social pecking order, when we
neglect our faith because that’s time that could be spent chasing the almighty
dollar, that’s when the coveting starts to come in. That’s when “I want” turns into coveting and
idolatry.
Have
you ever found yourself looking at someone else’s life and thinking, “Man, if I
could just have that then I would be set.
They sure are lucky.” Well, they
might be lucky, but there’s a pretty good chance that you’re lucky too. There’s a good chance that you’re blessed so
far beyond what you see. I know that
I’ve made statements like that in my life before when seeing the success and
condition of someone else’s life, and I’m willing to bet that you have
too. I also know that I have been told
by dear friends just how lucky I am when it comes to the ways in which God has
blessed me. The sad fact is that so
often it takes someone pointing out my luck and my blessings before I even
realize just how numerous they are. I
thank God for friends, family, and colleagues in ministry who constantly remind
me that my outlook ought to be one of thanks for what I have than jealously
over the things that I want and don’t have.
You
see, this sin (perhaps more than any of the other commandments) isn’t a matter
of “if” you violate the commandment, but “when, how often, and in what ways” we
violate it. The questions then become,
what can we do about it and what ought we do about it? Well, the answers, much like every other week
(and I hope that by now you’re getting the point if you haven’t already) is to thank
God. We need to thank Him that despite
our falling so miserably short of the standard that He has set for us, that the
blood of Christ fills that gap. The
blood of the slain Lamb fills the vast canyon that exists between where we are
and where we ought to be. Our salvation
isn’t based on our keeping of the Law, but on the One who has fulfilled it on
our behalf. Secondly, we must pray that
the Holy Spirit will work in our hearts and help us to overcome the feelings of
covetousness and jealously that so commonly plague us. It’s only when we have the power of God
working through us that we can ever hope to have a chance to overcome the
effects of sin and the havoc that it wreaks on our souls. Pray for a sense of contentment. Pray for an appreciation of the blessings
that you have already been given. Pray
for and strive to keep God as your number one priority. Keep God as the center of your life that all
things revolve around. For as long as
God is kept at the center of who we are, then our wanting of all lesser things
will never become what drives us. Let us
be driven by our love for God and our desire to see His kingdom spread and His
gospel proclaimed across this earth. Glory
be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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