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The Tenth Commandment – Do Not Covet
Do Not Covet is not a simple law to follow for several reasons. First, we have to clearly define what we mean by coveting. All of us want things. Is that coveting? Is it wrong to want a home to live in or transportation to get to work? Is that coveting? Often, people are not taught the difference.
Second, in order to define coveting, we need to overcome some ideas the world has promoted. As we grow up, parents and others seem to point out things we might want. We are told things like, look at that great car, or don’t you want a house like the Jones ’ home.
Coveting
By definition, coveting is intensely wanting something that belongs to someone else. It is more than simply wanting something. To covet is to have a selfish desire for another person’s belongings, whatever they might be.
So, let’s look at the commandment, and then three Bible examples of coveting and the end results.
The Commandment
The Tenth Commandment is a little longer. God wants us to understand that we are not to covet anything, so He defines several things that people normally covet.
Exodus 20:17 NKJV “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
God has made it clear that to covet anything is sin, and we should keep ourselves from it.
We might ask, why is coveting so bad?
I have selected three examples of coveting that show how it affects lives and causes men to sin. Achan, David, and Satan are good examples of the cost of allowing ourselves to covet.
Achan’s sin.
God had just given the Israelites a great victory. He gave them very clear instructions about how they would handle the spoils of war; they were not to touch them. Yet, as you find in Joshua 7, Achan saw something and coveted it. Then he took those things God had forbidden and hid them away under the floor of his tent.
The results of his sin led the children of Israel to be defeated when they attacked a much smaller city – God had withheld his support because of Achan’s sin.
Coveting led to the sin of disobeying God.
His coveting cost the lives of many Israelites, and afterward, the lives of Achan and his family.
Then there is David’s sin.
2 Samuel 11 tells the story of David. God had made him a great King. He had access to anything he wanted and lived in a palace. He was very rich and could purchase anything he needed, but instead, he let himself covet something that belonged to someone else.
As he stood in his palace, he was able to look down on the roof of one of his officers’ houses, and he saw Bathsheba. As the custom was, she was bathing on the roof. David looked upon her and coveted her.
Uriah, her husband, was away fighting in David’s army. So David sent for her and committed adultery with her. She became pregnant, and David tried to cover his guilt. When his schemes failed, he planned Uriah’s death to hide their guilt.
His sin of coveting caused him to commit adultery and then the murder of Uriah.
David’s coveting another man’s wife caused him to sin. He misused his God-given power for evil instead of good and took the life of a faithful follower.
Coveting led to multiple sins in David’s life.
Satan is another example of coveting.
Satan was created by God and given great beauty and power to serve God’s divine purpose. However, pride caused him to covet what belonged to God.
Listen to what the Scripture tells us about Satan or Lucifer. In Isaiah 14:12-14 NKJV, we are told a little about him and his sin.
12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation.
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
This is perhaps the greatest example of coveting, and yet how often does man covet things that are impossible to obtain? Satan has brought to earth this sin of wanting what is not yours. Coveting is a trap for all of us, and we must avoid it.
Revelations 12:9 NKJV gives us a little more information about what coveting cost Satan. It says, “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
Hopefully, we can learn from these three examples.
Many would say that we are not under the Old Testament Law. We must remember God does not change. Coveting is still a sin. God gave us these commandments so we could avoid the damage done by coveting.
Remember what Paul says about the Law in Romans 7:7 NKJV? 7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”
God gave us the Commandments to help us avoid the consequences of sin. If we live by them, our lives will be better, and we will be able to help others.
The sin of coveting changes our focus.
Jesus warns us in Luke 12:15 NKJV, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
What Jesus says is contrary to what the world says. Our society focuses on getting things and then better things. We are bombarded with conversation and advertising that point to newer and better things. If it doesn’t focus on more things, it pushes us toward a better, higher-paying job so we can buy more stuff.
It would be good if we would listen to Paul’s warning in 1 Timothy 6:10 NKJV. He says, 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Many have preached that “money is the root of all kinds of evil.” This is one of Satan’s lies used to confuse the truth.
Scripture says, “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” Loving money is one of the causes of coveting. A person wants what belongs to someone else.
Be content with what you have.
Our society seems to always want more, even if it belongs to someone else. When we covet, it opens the door to sin. Paul says in Hebrews 13:5 NKJV 5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Jesus has promised to be with us in all situations. He does not promise that we will not have hard times. In this generation, we have seen many Christians killed for their faith in Jesus. Christians are being persecuted all over the world, and sadly, it is even starting in the United States.
Jesus promises he will not forsake or leave us.
We are told in Scripture to rejoice in all circumstances. Many Christians forget that with Jesus, we can have JOY in whatever state we find ourselves. As Christians, we face a world of evil that wants to destroy us, but we can rejoice even in that.
Jesus says this about the Commandments.
He tells us that if we obey these two commandments, we will be obeying all the others. Jesus gave the following answer when asked what the greatest commandment was. In Matthew 22:37-40 NKJV 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
I hope that you will learn all the Ten Commandments, but if you can’t, remember at least these two. Jesus says that if you obey just these two you will have obeyed all the law and the Prophets.
Will you take the time to do this much?
This is the conclusion of the Law.
We have looked at all of the Ten Commandments. Each one has shown us clearly what God expects of us.
The Tenth teaches us not to covet.
The Scriptures give us many examples of the sins resulting from coveting what belongs to someone else.
A pure heart does not covet and is content with what God has given.
Remember, Jesus tells us that we can obey all the Law by keeping these two.
Click the following links to continue your study of all the Commandments, The First Commandment – No Other God!, The Second Commandment – No Idols, The Third Commandment -The Lord’s Name, The Fourth Commandment – The Sabbath, The Fifth Commandment – Honor Father and Mother, The Sixth Commandment – Do Not Murder, The Seventh Commandment – Do not commit adultery, The Eighth Commandment – Stealing, The Ninth Commandment – False Testimony, and The Tenth Commandment – Do Not Covet