Covetousness (8-21-12)

Exodus 20:17 - "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 belongs to your neighbor."

The word "covet" in the Hebrew means "to strongly desire or delight in." So this commandment may raise the question in our minds, why doesn't God want me to strongly desire or delight in anything? The Hebrew word for covet is a neutral word, it can be used in a negative sense and a positive sense. The negative sense of the word is used far more often in Scripture, but there are some instances of this word being used in a positive way. For instance, in Psalm 68:16 we read - "At the mountain which God has desired for His abode." and in Psalm 19:10 we read that the Word of God is - "more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold." This is that same word that is translated "covet". But more often than not this word is translated in the negative sense, and that's how it's translated here in the tenth commandment. There are seven things in this verse that the Lord says we are not to covet. I don't think any one of us is in danger of coveting our neighbors ox or his donkey, so we may tend to think that this commandment doesn't really apply to us. But the seven things we are told not to covet can be sorted into three categories. We are not to covet things, people or cultural status.
Something unique about this commandment is that you can break it without anybody even knowing it. This was the commandment that got the apostle Paul. In Philippians chapter 3 Paul talks about his credentials in Judaism and he says that according to the Law he was found "blameless." Outwardly he looked very good as far as the law was concerned. But this commandment is the one that tripped him up. He says in Romans 7:7-11 - "What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “ You shall not covet.” But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me." It's very easy to fall into this sin of covetousness. There was a Dennis the menace comic strip where Dennis was looking through a sears catalog, and he turns and says to his parents "this is full of things I never even knew I wanted." I laugh at that but I'm afraid that I act like that sometimes. We can be perfectly content and happy until we see something that we want and then our attitude changes completely. In Psalm 23 we have a wonderful picture of the Christian life, and the Psalm begins this way - "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Because the Lord is our Shepherd we don't lack anything that we need and we shouldn't set our hearts on the things He hasn't given us. To covet is to be dissatisfied with what God has given you. It doesn't really matter how much stuff we have, things will never satisfy. That's why the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21 - "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." And in verses 24-25 He says - "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" And verses 31-33 - "Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
Covetousness is a disease that will eat away at a person, but there is a cure for it, and that cure is contentment. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6:6-11 - "But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness." God is not opposed to things, and He doesn't say that money is the root of all evil. He says that the love of money (covetousness) is. Jesus warns us against covetousness in Luke chapter 12 verse 15. There we read - "Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of covetousness; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”"

There are several examples throughout the Bible of people being covetous, and in every situation the consequences were horrible. In Genesis chapter 3 the devil came to Eve in order to deceive her. Genesis 3:6 says - "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate." As a result of covetousness the whole creation fell into the curse of sin.
In Joshua 7 right after Gods mighty work of destroying the city of Jericho, God told the people that all of the treasures of Jericho were to be set aside for Him. But there was a man by the name of Achan who stole some of the spoil. And this is his own admission in verses 20 and 21 - "Truly, I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it." Achans covetousness had cultural effects. It caused the nation of Israel to lose their next battle. His sin also effected his family. Because of what he did, Achan and his entire family were stoned and all his possessions were burned with their corpses. This story is particularly sad because the very next battle in the book of Joshua was the battle of Ai, and after this battle God told the people to take the spoil of the city for themselves. If Achan had only waited he would have received far more than he took, but he wasn't content to wait upon the Lord.
In 2 Samuel 11 we're given the account of David committing adultery with Bathsheba. In verse 2 we read - "From the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance." God clearly commanded "You shall not covet... your neighbors wife." And yet David fell into this snare of covetousness and because of it he committed adultery with her, he killed her husband and the child who was conceived by her lost his life. Solomon shares this piece of advice in Proverbs 6:25 - "Do not desire her beauty in your heart, nor let her capture you with her eyelids." Covetousness is never isolated. It always goes farther and impacts more people than we could imagine. Davids covetousness affected the lives of his family and his people. Achans covetousness affected the entire nation and cost his life and the lives of his family. Eves covetousness affected the entire creation.

Hebrews 13:5 - "Make sure that your character is free from covetousness, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “ I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”"