The Tenth Commandment

 

Exodus 20:17

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

YHWH has given us all a list of commandments to follow. These commands may sometimes seem arbitrary, or even useless. This is usually the case when they conflict with something that we want to do. Basically, these rules go against our natural desires of the flesh. This makes sense considering we must give up the “lust of the flesh” in order to live in accordance with YHWH. Think about it this way, if everyone simply went about their lives, doing whatever they wanted to do, even if it meant hurting one another, we would be living in utter chaos. As believers in Christ, we should be different from the rest of the world and live a life with the desire to please YHWH and not just ourselves. Here are a few Bible verses that go along with that idea.

Ephesians 2:1-3

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

1 John 2:15-16

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.

2 Corinthians 6:17-18

Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.”

We must now define what coveting actually means in order to really try to understand why we should not be covetous. Covetousness is defined as a strong desire for what belongs to another, and it can lead to other sins. It can also be described as an insatiable desire for worldly gain, and a lack of contentment with one's own situation. That being said, there are definitely some serious implications here. If a man desires something so much that he must have it at any cost, what might he do to get it? Would a man steal to get it? Would he hurt someone? Would he go as far as to kill for it? I believe the Bible tells us overwhelmingly yes.

The Tenth Commandment requires men to remove any desire in one’s heart aimed at a neighbor’s things. Here are a few examples of covetousness found in the Bible.

Genesis 4:2-8

…Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?  If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Cain desired what Able had. He wanted it so much to the point of being envious of his brother. This led him to commit another sin, murder. I cannot say I understand the desire to kill your own brother, but I can say I understand the desire to what a close relationship with YHWH. However, Cain had options. YHWH told him, if he did what was right, it would have been accepted. The offering Cain SHOULD have made was giving the first fruits, and not the fruit from the ground. Instead of changing his own relationship with YHWH, he chose to take away his brothers relationship with YHWH. YHWH tells us He is to be like a husband to us. Meaning, He will provide and protect us. In return He tells us how we are to show our love for Him. If we do those things, it makes the relationship stronger. If we do not, it makes the relationship weak. Here is how YHWH wanted the fruit offering form Cain.

Leviticus 23:10

“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.

Next we have the example of Ahab being covetous of Naboth’s vineyard, and Jezebel acting on Ahab’s behalf. This resulted in two other sins being committed, giving false evidence against your neighbor as well as murder.

1 Kings 21: 1-16

Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.”

But Naboth replied, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors.”

So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my ancestors.” He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat.

His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?”

He answered her, “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’”

Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city with him. In those letters she wrote:

“Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them bring charges that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.”

So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them. They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.”

As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead.”  When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard.

Again we see covetousness resulting in murder. Don’t take this the wrong way, I do not believe that every instance of someone coveting what their neighbor has will result in murder, but I do believe that it could. This is considering that idea that to covet means to do anything to obtain that thing which is desired. That being said, look at how Ahab reacted to not getting what he desired. He was extremely upset, he would not eat and was acting out of character for a king.

The last example I will give is King David and his covetousness for Bathsheba. This caused other sins as well, including adultery, and murder.

2 Samuel 11: 2-5, 14-15

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”

Once we see each of these instances of covetousness and how they result in burying oneself in even more sin, it seems to me the reason we should not covet is not that this particular sin, desiring someone else’s possession is harmful to our neighbor outright, but it is harmful to our own self and in order to self-correct we will result to harming our neighbor through some other sin.

YHWH does not want us to feel as if we don’t have everything we need. We must be content with the things we have. This does not mean we can’t want things, but that desire cannot become so strong that it takes over our entire thoughts. I would even go out on a limb here and say if the desire for a possession is so strong that it would drive someone to hurt another person or even to murder, that object, whatever it may be, could very well be considered an idol. Which is another sin.  

Philippians 4: 11-12

Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.