Why God Hates Covetousness
why God hates covetousness - Eurostile
Numbers 11:4-35
Niles Grace Brethren Church
10/12/08
1. Awash in covetousness
1a. Materialism and covetousness are Siamese twins
We covet and sacrifice too much to get it
We discover that it only makes us covet more
We are never satisfied
Ecclesiastes 5:10 {NKJV} {10} - He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity.
Isaiah 5:8 {NKJV} {8} - Woe to those who join house to house; They add field to field, Till there is no place Where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land!
2a. Covetousness brings many heartaches with it
1b. Consider the high cost of covetousness for Israel
Numbers 14:27-29 {NKJV} {27} - “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. {28} - Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: {29} - The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above.
2b. Covetousness exacts a high price today
1 Timothy 6:10 {NKJV} {10} - For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
1c. Some have strayed from the faith in their greediness
Go to church Sunday or try to take care of business
Isn’t God big enough to make up those extra hours
Some sacrifice Biblical principles
Some have sacrificed their integrity
Some have dragged God and Christianity through the mud
All for a few bucks or that new contract or promotion
2c. Some have pierces themselves through with many sorrows
They weren’t there for their family
Once they got that big promotion they would get back to the family
But when they arrived, they discovered they had lost their family
3a. The deceptiveness of covetousness
Don’t need to tell man drowning in ocean that he has a water problem
But it is difficult to tell covetousness person he has problem with materialism
Covetousness makes us feel dry and thirsty inside
2. What is covetousness?
1a. A four part definition of covetousness
1b. Covetousness is wanting wrong things
Wanting your neighbor’s wife
Wanting power without a reason
Wanting control
Wanting wealth
Wanting glory and praise from others
2b. Covetousness is wanting right things for wrong reasons
There are many things we can do well to want or desire
But we can want them for the wrong reason
Wanting the office of elder is a good thing
But you have to want it for the right reason
1 Timothy 3:1 {NKJV} {1} - This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.
3b. Covetousness is wanting right things at the wrong time
The intimacy of the marriage relationship is a God-given desire
But seeking it before marriage is sin
Right desire – wrong time
4b. Covetousness is wanting right things in the wrong amount
Desiring peach cobbler is a good want
But I run into trouble with this --- wrong amount --- part of the principle
Money is not a wrong thing
It is a necessary part of life
But watch again what Paul writes to Timothy
1 Timothy 6:10 {NKJV} {10} - For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
The problem is that we do not know when to stop
When I want more money than I need that is covetousness
We may think that more money will make me happy
But we soon learn the tragic truth
2a. Summarize – what is covetousness?
Covetousness is wanting wrong things
Covetousness is wanting right things for wrong reasons
Covetousness is wanting right things at the wrong time
Covetousness is wanting right things in wrong amounts.
2. The three act play
1a. Act 1: Yielding to covetousness and why God hates it
1b. Covetousness becomes sin when we yield to it
Numbers 11:4 {NKJV} {4} - Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat?
1c. The mixed multitude
Mixed multitude = rabble
Israelite people who intermarried with the Egyptians
Worshippers of Jehovah married to worshippers of false gods
Bible condemns inter-faith marriages
Solomon’s marriages to inter-faith women brought him down
We are not to be unequally yoked
2 Corinthians 6:14 {NKJV} {14} - Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
2c. They yielded to intense cravings
They started looking for happiness in something else
They were no longer satisfied with what they had
Looking for something that will make me happier than I am right now
Sometimes I go to the refrigerator like that
I am not really hungry
But I am not really satisfied either
I’m sort of looking for something to grab my attention
Hey, there’s that piece of leftover pizza
Yeah, now I’m hungry for pizza
3c. When does a covetousness thought become a sin?
It is almost impossible not to desire things
So when does that covetous thought become a sin?
Covetousness becomes active sin when we yield to it
4c. The struggle between the two natures
2 Corinthians 5:17 {NKJV} {17} - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Romans 7:23-24 {NKJV} {23} - But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. {24} - O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
Romans 8:5 {NKJV} {5} - For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
Picture of man with angel and demon on shoulders is not that far off
We have sin nature and Christ nature at war with each other
Winner is one we say “Sic-em” to
Yielding to covetousness is what God hates
2b. When we dwell on desire, yielding is only a matter of time
Numbers 11:4-5 {NKJV} {4} - Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? {5} - We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;
When we focus on the thing we are wanting we are living dangerously
Covetousness inflates the pleasure
You make it more attractive and accessible than it really is
You rationalize things to get what you want
Covetousness inflates the desire and ignores the danger
Hebrew slaves probably didn’t eat melons
Watermelons and muskmelons were popular in Egypt at the time
But they were for the wealthy – not slaves
Watch the principle work itself out with the Israelites
Numbers 11:6 {NKJV} {6} - but now our whole being is dried up (our appetite is gone); there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”
God what you have provided is unacceptable
But was the manna really that bad in taste or nutrition?
God reveals that the giving of manna was really a test
Exodus 16:4 {NKJV} {4} - Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.
Would the people be thankful for God’s provision?
Would Israel covet something more, better, or different?
God was inspecting their attitudes
Gap between what God provided and what they wanted was huge
They were actually crying in their tents about it
The anger of the Lord was kindled against them
Numbers 11:10 {NKJV} {10} - Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased.
3b. At the root of covetousness is a rejection of God’s sufficiency
God has promised to meet all our needs
Philippians 4:19 {NKJV} {19} - And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Will we be satisfied with what God has provided for us?
Or will we conclude God is holding back on us?
Wanting more than that is a slap in the face of God
God, its not enough
You are not taking care of all my needs
It is not that I don’t want God
I want God and --- much better health
I want God and --- a nicer home or car
I want God and --- that promotion at work
2a. Act 2: A gift from God you don’t want
Numbers 11:18-20 {NKJV} {18} - Then you shall say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. {19} - You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, {20} - but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?” ’ ”
1b. God does not like our --- hissy-fits
God, you aren’t giving me what I think I want
I’m going to sit right down and throw a temper tantrum
God, I’m going to make you wish you had given me my way
Be careful when God asks if you REALLY DO want your way
Israelites insisted they were tired of manna
They wanted MEAT to eat
God said that was OK with him
He would give them meat until it came out of their nose
God sent quail for them to eat
Not just one day, but for 30 solid days
Possibly until the quail were piled 3 feet deep
Even the slowest gatherer gathered about 66 bushels
No deep freezers then
2b. The reason God hates our coveting
Nothing is essential but God
Things were never designed to take God’s place
I covet something and make it essential
I beg God to give me this thing that I covet
I’m asking God to replace himself with some thing
God, I consider that thing more important than you are
Any wonder God gets peeved?
3b. In time we may come to hate what we had to have
Numbers 11:18-20 {NKJV} {18} - … you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? … Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. {19} - You shall eat, … for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you…
Covetousness is such a cruel thing
It promises prosperity, happiness and fulfillment
But it only gives us emptiness and leanness of soul
Psalm 106:14-15 {NKJV} {14} - But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tested God in the desert. {15} - And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul.
People covet that big house – sacrifice family to get it
Man covets promotion – sacrifices principles to get it
Young woman wants love – sacrifices morality to get it
We discover that we don’t really want what we thought we wanted
3a. Act 3: The consequences of covetousness
Numbers 11:31-33 {NKJV} {31} - Now a wind went out from the Lord, and it brought quail from the sea and left them fluttering near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the ground. {32} - And the people stayed up all that day, all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ten homers); and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. {33} - But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was aroused against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague.
1b. The Israelites got what they asked for
They wanted meat to eat
God sent them all the meat they could handle
Quail came in from the sea
Not sure if flying 3 foot off the ground
Or maybe piled up to a depth of 3 feet
He who gathered the least gathered 60 bushel
People stayed up for 36 hours straight gathering the quail
Now what are you going to do with 60 bushel of quail – no deep freezer
They had quail every meal for a solid month
Numbers 11:19-20 {NKJV} {19} - You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, {20} - but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, …
2b. Covetousness destroys the capacity to discern sufficiency
You can no longer discern when enough is enough
A person may want to be wealthy – but when do they say they have enough?
Person always has to have latest, fastest computer – until faster one comes
Enough is never enough
Numbers 11:34 {NKJV} {34} - So he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving.
3b. Covetousness will lead you into a spiritual wilderness
1c. Consider a hypothetical situation
My son is needing news shoes and a coat
I have told him I would get it for him
Instead he goes to teacher at school for shoes and coat
Do you see the hurt I would feel as he rejects my provision?
2c. God desires us to seek our sufficiency in Him
Philippians 4:19 {NKJV} {19} - And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Israel was not satisfied with the manna God provided
They insisted on something beyond what God had provided
They paid dearly for their rejection of Him
Are you coveting over and above God’s provision?
There is a desolate spiritual wilderness awaiting you
You and I can trust God for our sufficiency
# 341, “I know who holds tomorrow