The Ten Commandments (9 And 10) Series

Let's look at the 9th and 10th commandments as most Protestants count them.

Lying

Exodus 20:16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

False witness is not just verbal, but also the example we set as Christians. If we go to Church faithfully, but are known as swindlers in business, or filthy mouthed neighbors, or sleazes who undress women with our eyes, or opinionated bullies, or habitual liars, then we are bearing false witness to the faith we represent by not living it as we should.

Yet, we live in a world of lies. Science is a mixture of fact and the myth of naturalism, which denies even the obvious evidence all around for a God. Politics has become so untrustworthy that longtime faithful members of political parties are becoming independents. Advertising is assumed to be lies, because even if the truth is told, only advantages are told and disadvantages are not. History is continually being revised as the atrocities buried by past generations come to light.

None of us can possibly know all knowledge about everything, so it is quite logical that we will inevitably believe some lies, and when we tell those untruths to others, we are bearing false witness, even if unintentionally. Even the most careful among us cannot help but believe and pass on some lies. It’s the nature of being finite. Perhaps that’s why the songwriter was inspired to compose in Psalm 116:11 that, “all men are liars.”

Thank God for His mercy.

Covetousness

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.

To covet means simply to desire or take pleasure in, and the context means something that is not ours. At the feast of tabernacles people were encouraged to eat “whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth…” (Deuteronomy 14:26 KJV). God wants us to take pleasure in things that we rightfully own or can buy, when we have gotten those things without swindling our neighbor, or stolen. When we have earned something through honest work, ethical pricing, equitable trading, paying fair wages to our employees, and have worked diligently for our employers, then we can rightly enjoy whatever our soul lusts for.

However, if our neighbor owns things through dishonest means or swindling, because of an unjust last will and testament, or some other form of greed or injustice, then those of us who are deprived or been swindled still have a command not to covet. Covetousness causes nations to go to war and steal land or encroach on another’s fishing rights. Covetousness causes people to engage in dishonest forms of capitalism, and causes the business environment to be a dog-eat-dog, distasteful place to be. Covetousness causes murder, adultery, and theft. This tenth command, as most Protestants count it, is an introduction to the spirit of the law.

How many of us want something that someone else owns? Yet doesn’t the Shepherd’s Psalm 23 encourage us, “I shall not want?” Is it really saying that, “I shall not have any need to covet what is not mine?”

But, we are all tempted by covetousness. If a fancy car drives by on the road, or we see a beautiful house, or something alluring is advertised, or a member of the opposite sex walks by wearing clothing that advertises the human body, do we have a difficult time not lusting? Can we learn to be satisfied? Paul did. He said, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.” (Philippians 4:11 NASB) Thank God for His mercy.