The Ninth and Tenth Commandments

Exodus 20:17 ESV

“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.”

Exodus 20:

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not scheme to get our neighbor’s inheritance or house, or get it in a way which only appears right, but help and be of service to him in keeping it.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not entice or force away our neighbor’s wife, workers, or animals or turn them against him, but urge them to stay and do their duty.

Introduction

Today we conclude our study of the Ten Commandments with the 9th and 10th commandments. Both deal with desiring something that is not ours. The Ninth deals with matters of property; the tenth deals with matters of relationships.

You’ll notice that Protestants number the commandments differently than we do. They separate “you shall not make for yourself a carved image...” from the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods”, making it their Second Commandment. In doing so that throws the numbers off from the way that the Church has historically numbered them. So our Fourth Commandment is their fifth. Lutherans number the Commandments in the same way as the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.

Of course, the Bible never assigns a number to the Commandments; we do it as a point of reference, just as the writers of the Bible never assigned “chapter and verse” numbers to their writings. That was added later to help us find things in the Scriptures rapidly.

If you want to get technical, the true First Commandment given by God in the Bible is “I am the Lord Your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

In the Protestant tradition, the Ninth and Tenth Commandments are taken as one: You shall not covet. Here is where our tradition splits them into two separate commandments, but applying the same concept to both.

Our outline today will be the word WANT: We WANT Things that are not ours; ALL Sin stems from Coveting; God gives us what we NEED, and we are called to be THANKFUL for His provision in our lives.

We WANT things that are not ours.

As we heard last week, the first lie in the Bible was Satan’s lie to Eve. But after Satan lied to her, something stirred in her heart. She desired to be like God. She wanted to be more than she was, and that desire clouded her understanding of who she was. And so she falls into temptation, sins, and Adam readily joins her because he, too, wanted something that was not his own.

A synonym for Coveting is “Jealousy” .

The Bible speaks about this a lot:

Romans 7:8 ESV

But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.

Romans 7:8

James 4:12

James 4:1–2 ESV

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.

We want something that doesn’t belong to us. Our neighbor’s house is a lot bigger and a lot nicer than our own. Our relative makes three times what we make at work and have no money problems at all. The new car in the driveway next door is the one we’ve always wanted. The new woman at work is so beautiful that she distracts us like Bathsheba distracted David. The man next door is fit, trim, and actually listens unlike our husband. Sometimes innocent thoughts, but following through with them can develop into full blown sin. James charts out the progression for us:

Colossians 3:5 ESV

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

We want something that doesn’t belong to us. Our neighbor’s house is a lot bigger and a lot nicer than our own. Our relative makes three times what we make at work and have no money problems at all. The new car in the driveway next door is the one we’ve always wanted. The new woman at work is so beautiful that she distracts us like Bathsheba distracted David. The man next door is fit, trim, and actually listens unlike our husband. Sometimes innocent thoughts, but following through with them can develop into full blown sin. James charts out the progression for us:

Coveting is when we want something that doesn’t belong to us. Our neighbor’s house is a lot bigger and a lot nicer than our own. Our relative makes three times what we make at work and have no money problems at all. The new car in the driveway next door is the one we’ve always wanted. The new woman at work is so beautiful that she distracts us like Bathsheba distracted David. The man next door is fit, trim, and actually listens unlike our husband. Sometimes innocent thoughts, but following through with them can develop into full blown sin. James charts out the progression for us:

James 1:13–15 ESV

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

James 1

The bottom line is this: when we want something that is not ours it can lead to sin, which can lead to death.

All Sin Stems from Coveting

Coveting is a sin of the heart that leads to all other sins.

Isn’t it amazing that these two commandments are almost never cited? The other ones in the Second Table of the Law are easy to spot at times: Disobedience, hurting or harming our neighbor, abandoning the sanctity of marriage, taking something not belonging to us, gossiping and lying. But coveting has no outward action of its own. It is always a sin of the heart. When acted upon, another commandment is broken. And, of course, when one commandment is broken they all are broken.

Isn’t it amazing that

Strange, then, that we hardly every speak about Coveting.

And yet, we all struggle with this perhaps more than with any other commandment. Wanting something not our own causes us ultimately to take it, whether it be our neighbor’s property, income, house, possessions, marriage, or maybe even life. We are a jealous people.

In the close of the commandments, God says,

Exodus 20:5–6 ESV

You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Exodus 20

Here is the deal:

God is the only one who can be jealous without sin. Our jealousy leads to death. His jealousy leads to life. His is not a sinful jealousy but a righteous desire for our faithfulness.

First, God is jealous of other gods. For there are truly no other gods. Yet we chase after them. Remember, anything that is more important to us than God is a god to us, and God the Lord is jealous of that because nothing or no one else can save us but Him.

Second, and closely related to this is that God is jealous for our love. We are His. He made us. His Son redeemed us, saving us from our sins by His death on the Cross. He covets our love. The Church is Jesus’ Bride. He doesn’t want us sharing that love with those who try to take His place.

When we have another god, when our love is misplaced elsewhere, His warning stands: [He visits] the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me… God hates sin. God hates death. God punishes sin. You are not your own. You are His. He is jealous about you because of His love for you.

But hear again what the blessing is for those who are faithful: [He shows] steadfast love (mercy) to those who love Him and keep His commandments.

God is so jealous of your love, that He went to all extremes to empower you to love Him as your First Love. He was so jealous of you and your salvation that He gave up His only Son for you and for your salvation. If you want to see the righteous jealousy of God in action look at the Cross. Because there He took away all of the sin of unfaithfulness, all of the coveting of your heart, and all of the commandments you broke because of your jealousy so that you could be restored to Him and love Him alone.

Repent of your coveting and put your trust in God.

God Gives us what we NEED

Each one of us is a creation of God, each made different from each other. There is such beauty in thinking that throughout all time, since the beginning of man, there has never been a person exactly like you, nor will there ever be a person exactly like you, ever. And God gifts each of us differently. And all of the gifts given to us by God are to be developed and then offered back to Him in a magnificent way.

Along with this is the promise that God will give us everything that we need in our lives. And people have different needs.

In one of my organ lessons in college, I had a great discussion with my now sainted professor, Dr. Richard Heschke. I had several friends who were awesome organists, you know the kind that can play Bach on two manuals and the pedals and carry on a conversation with you? One of these guys is a famous organist right now, with a management company and he gives world-wide recitals. Another is a tenured organ professor at Concordia, Seward Nebraska. Still another has been interviewed multiple times in prestigious music periodicals. I could see this in them even back in the 1970s. While I was a music major, primarily in the area of composition, I wasn’t much of an accomplished organist. I had to work hard at just being able to play a single church service. One day I was feeling a bit down about it. He sensed it. He asked me what was wrong. I told him, “Dr. Heschke, I just wish I could play better, like Dave, or Joe, or Kevin.” He stopped me, dead in my tracks. “Stop it! The Lord has given you some wonderful gifts, John. You’re going to the seminary next year. I never received a call from God to go into the ministry, and neither has Dave, or Joe, or Kevin. He’s given you what you need when it comes to being an organist. You’ll see, one day, even though you may never give a recital, or be renowned as an organist, you’ll be able to use your musical skills in a congregation one day, and then you’ll know what I’m talking about. Until then, get back to practicing.” Prophetic words.

I learned a lesson about the Lord that day, and I will never forget it. Because Dr. Heschke was right. None of us is like anyone else. The gifts God gives us are wonderful, and unique.

The same holds true with the gifts of house and property and home and family. We are not all meant to be rich, or have the biggest things, or to have families that may or may not be there for us. But God knows our stations in life and He takes care of us. Remember Jesus’ words?

Matthew 6:26–34 ESV

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. There is the promise.

God calls us to be Thankful for what we have

The anti-coveting cure is simple: Be thankful for what you have. Be thankful for your salvation, for that’s really the only thing that matters in life. Be thankful for your life. Be thankful for your family. Be thankful for your house, your income, the way that you live. The secret to coveting is learning to be content with all things:

Philippians 4:12–13 ESV

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

You shall not covet.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us Pray: Heavenly Father, You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living creature. Cause us to fear and love You above all things that our hearts would not covet that which You have given to our neighbors, but trusting in Your provision of daily bread learn contentment with Your provisions, rejecting every evil scheme or enticement which would secure for ourselves that which You have given to others. Enable us to serve our neighbors by helping them keep and guard all that You have given to them, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

The end result, however,