Ten Words: Commandment 10

Well, we’ve made it! This is the last command in the ten commandments. I’m not sure we would ever get here…but, like the children of Israel, we persisted and have arrived at the land of thou shalt not covet! Let’s go ahead and pray, then we go ahead and dive right in. Normal y I would do a quick recap of the commandments up front, but I will save that for the end.

PRAY!!!!

Exodus 20:17

“Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Old Testament View.

This commandment breaks the cycle of the more succinctly defined commands of murder, adultery, stealing and even lying. For some reason, God expounded on the final command. The Old Testament view of covetousness centered around not desiring what your neighbor had. Also, and I’ll just throw this out there, because it was a factor back then. The original commandment is written as a matter of importance and hierarchy. First and foremost was the man’s land, then his wife, then the servant, then the animals. Interestingly though, we see this command (like all of the others) repeated in the book of Deut.

Deuteronomy 5:21

“Do not covet your neighbor’s wife or desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

By the time Deut. was written, women were now considered as more important than land. In fact, as Scripture progress, all of the way up and through the New Testament, the contribution of women to society grew. To the point where, during the time of the Judges, there was a female judge. Then, as we enter the new testament, Paul is arguing for mutual submission and uses women in leadership roles in the Church. If we look at the arc of scripture, there is no doubt that women cease being property and become an important part of the church.

Back to the idea of covetousness, this is the only command, out of the 6 that deal with how we interact with others that deals with a persons heart, rather than a specific action like murder, or lying, or adultery. Now, the truth is, every command is really about the heart…Jesus makes that clear, as does certain portions of O.T., but on their face…or how they are written, the other commands are about a specific act, while coveting is about what is in our heart....what we are thinking and what we are feeling.

Here is how one of the Oldest translations put the commandment…it is called the Geneva Bible.

Exodus 20:17 (Geneva Bible Translation)

Thou majest not so muche as wishe his hinderance in anie thing.

Thank God for better translations…also, the Geneva translation was written before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which contained much earlier versions of just about every book of the Bible.

New Testament View

In the New Testament, the idea of coveting grows. Today, we can look at the 10th Commandment as something that regulates desire. In and of itself, desire is not bad. The notion of desire is what drives us almost every minute of every day. We desire to provide for our families, so we work. We desire to be more godly, so we do the things that propel us toward that desire. However,desire can quickly turn into sin. It started with the first humans. Eve desired something other than what God had given her. Satan came along and lied to her....she then began to covet the lie that she believed. You see, we covet when what we have does not satisfy and we are willing too get that thing by almost any means. Coveting is what leads to adultery and lying and stealing and even murder. This is why, in the N.T., the sin of covetousness is linked with many other sins. No longer is it just about desiring what your neighbor has, rather, it is having an unhealthy desire period.

Hebrews 13:5

“Keep your life free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.”

So, right away here we see the idea of coveting linked with money and greed…or, I should say, the love of money. In general, there are 2 traps that we can fall into, both of them leading to covetousness:

I DESERVE “IT.”

Think about how many times per day you either hear or see some sort of advertisement. It’s the new shoes, the new car, the new house, the new hair brush, the new phone…the “its” are endless. However, there is one constant in most advertisements…and it’s been going on for a long time. You see, that new it isn’t something you just want or something you even need…no, no, it is something you deserve. You deserve that new gadget, whatever that “it” is, you deserve it.

This type of advertising began with the tobacco companies...”after a long day of providing for you family, you deserve to come home to enjoyable lucky strikes.” The tobacco companies had hired a young man, fresh out of college who was a psychology major. They put him in charge of the advertising department and told him to make advertisements that would increase sales. After much studying and research, he came up with the notion that if you tell someone they deserve something long enough, they will begin to believe it. Sales boomed, then the alcohol industry started employing the same tactic…then everyone started doing it....even Mc. Donalds…what is and was there main line in ads…you deserve a break today. Even a bottled water brand (Crystal springs) has a slogan that says: “You know how hard you work, Crystal Springs, the water you deserve.” There have been in depth studies done on the effectiveness of ads that tell consumers that they deserve something vs a product simply being “good” or “amazing” or even “you know you want it.” Even Loriel’s slogan was, “You’re worth it.” which is simply another way to say you deserve it. Brooks Brother’s, which is a very expensive men’s clothing brand says: You deserve to look your best.” It goes on and on.

A couple of years ago I had to take a class (to fulfil an elective course)…my advisor signed me up for Advertisement and Marketing. The professor was this lady who worked as the VP of Marketing and Advertisement for Pepsi and NAPA Auto Parts....both of these companies known for their advertising. When she retired she decided to go into teaching and since she is a Christian, Evangel scooped her up. She is a great lady who knows a ton about this field, but she did not show enough concern (in my opinion) for the manipulation that occurs in marketing and advertisement. In her mind, we just need to turn that into a force for good, but I say to get rid of it period. This type of marketing has created 2 or 3 generations that now truly believe that they deserve just about everything. Worse yet, politicians have decided to follow the world of advertising....where their entire campaign is all about how you deserve this, you deserve that. You deserve to make bad decisions and not face consequences or to take out school loans, but you deserve to have those paid by the government…if fact, you deserve the government to provide everything you may want or deserve…unfortunately, people fall for that in mass.

1 Corinthians 15:10

“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”

Scripture teaches the exact opposite message to that of our society. If anyone in scripture would have deserved some credit for their accomplishments, it would have been Paul. Yet Paul says that he, himself deserves nothing and that it is only the grace of God in which he will boast. The truth is, we all deserve the same thing…but the grace of Christ rescues us from what we truly deserve…thanks be to God.

The fact is though, this type of lie finds its origin, not in human marketing and advertising, but at the very beginning of time, in the garden of Eden. Like most of the 10 Commandments, the first instance of coveting is a direct result of humanity believing the lie of the enemy.

Genesis 3:1–6 (CSB)

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

In this interaction between Eve and Satan, we see the very foundation of the covetousness mindset. It says the devil comes in and says: listen Eve, God is simply trying to keep you away from your potential. God knows that if you eat it, your eyes will be open and you will become like Him. Even then believed the lie and began to covet the fruit. I will tell you what coveting will do to us: Eve had access to the entire garden…she could eat and enjoy everything else. However, when we begin to covet, our minds begin to become focused solely on the item that we do not have. Instead of being able to enjoy what God has provided, we become fixated on the thing, the “it” that is currently beyond our reach. It was not until Eve accepted the lie of Satan that she began coveting the one thing God told her to stay away from. Because of the lie, she came to believe that without eating the fruit from that one tree, she would be missing out. Furthermore, God was the one who was causing her to miss out on something she deserved…because God did not want her and Adam to be like Him.

Fast forward thousands of years to the end of Jesus’s earthly ministry and we will see this same twisted mindset…except this time, it is turned against the savior of all mankind.

Matthew 26:63–66

“But Jesus kept silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” “You have said it,” Jesus told him. “But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? See, now you’ve heard the blasphemy. What is your decision?” They answered, “He deserves death!””

During the entirety of Jesus’s earthly ministry, He did nothing except help the people and speak out against the abuses of the religious authority. Yet, the people claimed that Jesus was deserving of death. In what was the one time in all of history where a person did not deserve death, Satan made sure that the people believed the lie that Jesus did deserve death.

2. “IT” WILL MAKE ME HAPPY.

Not only can we believe the lie that we deserve “it,” but we also fall into a second illusion, and therefore begin to covet. This is the age-old fallacy of thinking that happiness comes from the outside in, rather than the inside out.

Things on the outside are all of the “its” that we think will make us happy: clothes, cars, money, relationships, etc.

Things on the inside: our relationship with the Lord

Eve thought that “it” would result in being wise and becoming more like God…in other words, “it” would make her happy.

We too have areas in our life where a normal desire has turned into coveting; where we can either adopt a entitled mentality ( like I deserve “It”) or find ourselves coveting something we perceive is better than what we have. Either way, we covet things because we think that item will bring some level of satisfaction or happiness. This is a big problem for pastors. The guy down the road has the bigger church, more people, more money, etc…it is easy to covet those things. If I only had his congregation, if I only had that churches money…I could really achieve something. We see someone who seems to have more resources than we do, so we think…if I only had their money, life would be good. The truth is, sometimes God wants us to be faithful with little, before we are given more. In other instances, we are simply called to be content with little. The problem is that everyone thinks that God’s plan for them is to have “more,” when in fact, and we may not realize this until we get to heaven, but perhaps if we had “more” it would ruin us. It should go without saying that the people with “more” are no more content than a person with little. I’ll also add this little aside…sometimes we have little because of our own poor decisions and lack of proper resource management, but that is a different sermon for a different day.

Continuing on through the N.T. view of coveting, I mentioned earlier that the N.T. really expands the idea of the 10th Command, like it does with all of the commands. For example:

Colossians 3:1–5 (CSB)

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Therefore, put to death what belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry.

There are many places in the New Testament where coveting is linked closely with greed and idolatry. Remember, idolatry is simply anything that we value above our relationship with the Lord. When we find our desires growing to a point where we are harboring ill will towards someone or are willing to do something dishonest in order to obtain what we want, that is idolatry. Why does the New Testament link coveting and greed? Let’s take a look at the actual definition of both

Greed: a limitless desire for more (e.g., food, money, books) even if you already have some of it, without particular regard to where it comes from.

Covetousness:s a specific desire for what someone else has that you don't, because they have it and you don't.

The reason that the N.T. links them is because the very nature of greed is wanting more of something you already have. I’ll explain what I mean. Take a person who is starving to death. That person needs food and doesn’t have any…we do not call that person greedy for wanting food. Take however a person with a cabinet full of food, but they want a specific type of bread and is willing to steal it…that is greedy. They already have food, but what they have isn’t good enough. A couple of weeks ago I shared the story of when I told a kid that I had 5 pairs of Air Jordan shoes. I told him that because I was coveting his shoes....even though I had a perfectly fine pair of shoes on my feet…I needed 5 pairs of Jordan's…that is greed.

Another example is if a person does not own a car, but they would like one so they can get around and go to work without walking. Nothing wrong with that…we would not call that person wanting a car greedy. Now, perhaps they begin to desire 1 specific car and will not accept any other vehicle, even though one is offered to him. We would consider that greed, as that person began to covet something.

This type of greedy covetousness becomes very clear when trying to help someone who seemingly needs help. I come across this often when helping out homeless people. They will ask for food, but it has to be a certain brand or a certain type of food. Instead of being content with what is being provided, they become greedy and covet the one thing they don’t have. It’s not my intent to pick on homeless people, my point is that greed and covetousness exists within poor and rich people…and the Bible makes it clear: that type of mentality is wrong.

Ephesians 5:1–5 (CSB)

Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you, as is proper for saints. Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks. For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Not only does the N.T. link covetousness and greed, but it also links it to sexual sins. We also read this in our previous verse in Col. Again, these days we often to not associate coveting with sexual sin. However, just like greed, sexual sin is born out of desiring what we do not have…what God has not already provided for us, within the confines of marriage or our mandate to be sexually pure outside of marriage.

The commandment: do not covet is one of the most wide ranging commandment…as far as things we must watch out for in our hearts, attitudes and actions. The bottom line is that we must be content with what the Lord has provided for us, even though we may deem it insufficient. In fact, I would argue that when we covet, we are saying to the Lord that His provision is good good enough for us, so we must seek out other things to satisfy us. My challenge for all of us this week is to find one area where we struggle with unhealthy desire. Where greed and coveting has replaced our natural God given desire.

Let’s Pray!