You Shall Not Covet Series

Today I want to talk to you about a problem both the rich and the poor have – the problem of coveting.

Remember we have divided the Ten Commandments into two categories: The first four are commandments directly related to God Himself –

You Shall No Other gods Before Me…

You Shall Not Make Any Carved Image…

You Shall Not Take the Name of the Lord You God in Vain…

You Shall Remember the Sabbath and Keep it Holy

And the second group is the last six:

Honor Your Mother and Father

You Shall Not Murder

You Shall Not Commit Adultery

You Shall Not Steal

You Shall Not Lie

And today’s focus is, You Shall Not Covet.

You can think of these two sections as the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. Tablet One has the four commandments pertaining to God Himself. And Tablet Two has the six commandments pertaining to people.

Today’s Scripture

“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 20:16).

“And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's” (Deuteronomy 5:21).

Coveting doesn’t get a lot of publicity. Does your moral vocabulary include the word covet? In the process of raising our children, do parents use this word? When I mentioned this word to my oldest son in the car this week, he asked what is coveting. Unless you are studying and memorizing the Ten Commandments, you’re unlikely to think of the concept. You may not have heard of coveting but you have heard of some of its first cousins:

…Envy…

…Jealousy…

…Greed…

…Lust.

To covet is to crave, to yearn for something that belongs to another. It’s not simply wanting something we don’t have; it’s wanting something that someone else has. The Puritan Thomas Watson defined it as “an insatiable desire of getting the world.” And while the word “covet” is relatively unknown, the attitude is deadly.

Jesus said: “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).

Today I want you to see three things when it comes to coveting…

1. Not All Coveting is Bad;

2. It’s the Virus Within;

3. Covet Christ

1. Not All Coveting is Bad

“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 20:16).

“And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's” (Deuteronomy 5:21).

The Tenth Commandment could also be translated: “You shall not set your desire on your neighbor's house; you shall not set your desire on 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 20:16).

You can hear that I have substituted the word “desire” where the word “covet” is in your Bibles. There is no difference in the Hebrew word for desire and the word for covet. To covet is to desire. Again, coveting is not what we do but it is what we desire to do.

Coveting is about our dreams. Yet, God has created us with healthy desires. He doesn’t outlaw all of our coveting. He doesn’t eliminate all of our desires. The commandment is not just “do not covet” or “do not desire.” Unlike Buddhism, the Bible does not tell us to renounce all desire for people and things. Unlike the Mennonites, Christianity does not teach us to reject the conveniences of our day. Instead, Christianity calls for a cautious approach to stuff. Instead, the Bible asks us to limit our desires.

Our desires are limited by this command in two directions:

1. It’s against the sort of coveting that desires what is already in the possession of someone else;

2. It’s against the kind of desires that overflow their boundaries and lead you away from God rather than closer to Him.

If your desires for things or people lead you away from God rather than closer to Him, your desires are sin. It is concentrating on what we do not own rather than being thankful for what God has given us. Again, many desires are healthy and commendable. There are many things in Scripture the Bible commends us to covet. If you have a desire to be a godly leader in a church, then is godly and good ambition (1 Timothy 3:1).