The Tenth Commandment (Exod. 20:17)

This sermon was preached on 17/2/2011

There are several examples of the sin of coveting and its consequences in the Bible. One of them is Achan and his sin is described in the seventh chapter of the Book of Joshua. He coveted some items in Jericho as the Israelite army conquered the city and kept them for himself. The problem was that God had already stated that everything in Jericho was to be devoted to him or destroyed. Perhaps Achan did not think God’s requirements included small items. The outcome was disastrous for the Israelites as a whole (God did not help them in their next battle and they were defeated) and for Achan’s family (they shared his punishment – one may question why they were included, but all we need to note is that none of them seem to have objected to hiding the forbidden goods beneath their tent). In that example, the sin of covetousness brought great trouble.

Another example is David who broke this commandment when he coveted Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. The outcome for David was further sin and painful experiences. He engaged initially in the sins of deceit and murder, and followed them with assertions of self-righteousness when Nathan the prophet told him the story about the poor man’s lamb. Then he had the painful experience of losing the child that Bathsheba bore, although that intense pain was comforted by the prospect of seeing his child in heaven.

Then there is Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, who coveted some of Naaman’s gold (2 Kings 5:15-27). Elisha had freely given God’s blessing to Naaman when he was cured of his leprosy. Gehazi could not understand such kindness, and therefore wangled some things from Naaman. Although he was nominally the servant of Elisha, Gehazi’s real master was greed. And when the opportunity arises, we will always reveal our true master. Sadly, the outcome for Gehazi was that he received, as divine punishment, Naaman’s disease and not Naaman’s wealth.

The apostle Paul relates in Romans 7:7 that a crucial experience in his self-understanding occurred when he realised that he had broken the tenth commandment (‘For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet”’). While Paul was guilty of breaking each of the commandments in an inward sense, it is interesting that the one which he mentions specifically is the tenth. Paul was an intensely religious man, zealous for all things connected to the religion of Israel, and willing to expend whatever was required in its defence. Yet the Lord, through an inner application of the law to Paul’s heart, revealed to him that all his thoughts and behaviour were expressions of the sin of covetousness. Whatever he did was done to attain something for himself.

I suppose that the first sin committed by a human was based on covetousness. Eve was tempted by the devil to eat the forbidden fruit. He appealed to her capacity of desire and strengthened his temptation by highlighting the possibility that she would gain something by eating it. I suppose we have in that early temptation the core features of covetousness – we desire something that we do not have.

The term ‘covet’ in itself is a neutral word meaning to want or to desire. Paul uses it in a positive way when he tells the church in Corinth to covet the best spiritual gifts. As we know, there are different strengths to desire, and not all desire is covetous. An individual may see a person who has been well-educated and may desire then also to become well-educated. That expression of desire comes out of admiration or out of understanding that a good education will help him in life. In contrast, there are evil expressions of desire and such coveting always has aspects of selfishness accompanying it.

Five features of covetousness

There are certain features of covetousness which can notice briefly. First, it is an invisible sin. Jack and Jill went to visit their neighbour’s house. Both of them saw a valuable painting on the wall. Jack said to himself, ‘I am really pleased that they have that lovely painting.’ Jill said to herself, ‘I wish that painting was on my wall.’ No-one else can know why an individual wants something and he or she can easily hide their intentions (except they cannot hide them from God).

Second, covetousness is insincere – other sins may not have this aspect (if I am late for an appointment, I am not expressing insincerity when I break the speed limit to get there as soon as possible). But covetousness always wishes ill to someone else. Going back to Jack and Jill, both of them are smiling as they look at the painting, but Jill is insincere.

Third, covetousness is always intentional (some other sins we can commit by accident on occasion). But covetousness is deliberate. We choose to engage the thoughts in our minds and we choose to make any actions connected with it. When Achan saw the forbidden items, he could have said to himself, ‘They belong to God, not me.’ When David saw Bathsheba, he could have said to himself, ‘She belongs to another man, not me.’ Instead both Achan and David voluntarily chose to think about what they should do with the forbidden objects of desire.

Fourth, covetousness is inbred, and we can take this word in its two meanings of inherited and ingrained. We inherit the sin because of our relationship with Adam – because he sinned we inherit a sinful nature in which are the seeds of every sin. But inherited sin is not something we can get rid off in the way an individual may refuse the effects of an inheritance handed down to him. Our inherited sin is part of us, and it is embedded in us. The essence of sin is self-centredness rather than God-centredness.

Fifth, covetousness is invitational in the sense that it invites or initiates other sins (or, as Thomas Watson calls it, a mother sin). Covetousness can cause one to steal, can cause some to kill, can cause others to lie, can cause immorality, can cause children to dishonour their parents, can cause Sabbath breaking (need the money from working to get what we want), is an expression of idolatry (a person often gives the highest place in his life to what he covets). With regard to that last detail, Paul expressly equates covetousness and idolatry in Colossians 5:5.

These five features of invisibly, insincerity, intentionality, inbredness, and invitation to other sins show how dangerous this sin is, and they reveal to us why Paul could say that an individual who is marked by covetousness cannot be a Christian (Eph. 5:5). And it has other opportunities in the materialistic society in which we live. Advertisements can appeal to our inbuilt covetousness; keeping up with the Joneses which involves purchasing what are called status goods is often an expression of covetousness; climbing the career ladder can be an expression of covetousness. These aspects may not be expressions of it, but they can be.

Think of the consequences of covetousness today. Many broken homes are there because someone coveted another person’s spouse. Much of the debt that people are in has been caused by covetousness. A great deal of crime is connected to covetousness as criminals attempt to obtain what they are lacking. It seems that almost every negative area of life can be connected to covetousness.

What covetousness says about a person

The obvious feature of a covetous person is lack of contentment. Paul assures us that ‘godliness with contentment is great gain’ (1 Tim. 6:6) and says that ‘if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content’ (1 Tim. 6:8). The writer to the Hebrews states: ‘Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”’ (Heb. 13:5). A discontented person does not live in the realisation of the presence of God.

It is also the case that a covetous person is marked by a lack of care for others. Obviously, if a person is focussed on his own concerns, then he will not have time for showing care for others. If my aim in life is to get as much as I can, then I will not see the needs of others, never mind doing anything about it.

A third detail that covetous highlights is a lack of confidence in God. One reason that many pursue after things is to provide security for themselves. When that becomes the total focus of their lives, then they clearly show that their confidence is not in God.

The fourth detail that covetous often reveals is a lack of communion with God. What is communion with God and how can we tell if we are engaged in it? One answer is to see what we are thinking about. If my mind is focussed completely on acquiring earthly things, then it cannot be thinking about God at the same time.

There is also a fifth detail – covetousness highlights a lack of Christlikeness. Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:6-8 that Jesus did not cling on to what he had when he entered the world. Nor did he accumulate anything while travelling through it. He modelled for us a lifestyle marked by devotion to God and not by aspirations of obtaining what was not essential for a holy life.

How to get rid of covetousness

In addition to repentance, there are some practices or thoughts that will help us fight covetousness. One aspect of an overall strategy for dealing with covetousness is to live in light of the judgement seat of Christ. Regular reminders of that awesome reality will help inappropriate ambitions and accumulating of things. We are to test them by what we will think of them on that day.

Thinking of the future in another way will also help us in our fight against covetousness. Christians are joint heirs with Jesus of the Father’s inheritance and we should think about the marvellous destiny that he has for his people. Our real position and our lasting possessions are not in this world. Therefore we should focus on the world to come. The psalmist Asaph had a problem with God’s dealings with him and envied the apparent prosperity of the wicked (Ps. 73). But then he went into the presence of God, and having done so he soon realised that he had been a fool. Instead of envying the wicked, he realised the grace of God that had blessed him with mercy and the prospect of glory.

Realising that God will always give to us what we need at any particular moment is an effective way of dealing with covetousness. We need to say to ourselves, ‘What is happening to me at this moment?’ Then having assessed it, we can say to ourselves, ‘God has promised to meet my spiritual needs at this time.’ Any other reaction is a statement of unbelief, a comment that we have found God to be unfaithful.

Moses can be our model. Very quickly he went from being crown prince of Egypt to being the husband of a shepherdess. Was he disappointed or resentful? No. As the author of Exodus, he tells us that ‘Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zippo rah’ (Exod. 2:21). That was God’s provision and place for Moses at that time. Later on, in his time, God exalted Moses.