Hey all! I pray that all is well and all will be well in your lives.
Today we’ll conclude the ten commandments: the last one of the second set says:
(10) — “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.” (NIV)
This commandment is very very deep.
When I first started studying this commandment, I thought it stood on its own and was separate from the other two sets. However, while studying, The Spirit revealed to me that this commandment was given to both deal with our relationship towards one another, as well as to protect us from ourselves.
My original thought was that the act of coveting by itself does not harm other people, but was gateway to the corruption of one’s soul. Ex: you can stay awake all night thinking about and wanting my car, but I’ll have a good night sleep and still be driving it. Now, if you covet long enough, you’ll eventually break the other commandments and much more. In that sense, the commandment does protect others. My issue was being too focused on the individual to individual. Stepping beyond that is where the commandment goes deep.
To better understand this commandment, cross-reference it with The Parable of the Rich Fool that Jesus gave:
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”
15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest.
17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.
19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” — Luke 12:13-21 (NIV)
The focus here is on verse 15, the KJV uses “covetousness” instead of “all kinds of greed”.
And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. — Luke 12:15(KJV)
To covet is no longer a verb we commonly use in the English language. Its definition is: “To feel strong or immoderate desire for that which is another’s”.
The original Greek text of Luke uses “pleonexias”, which we also use in English: pleonexia. Its definition is: “Excessive or insatiable greed, avarice, covetousness, the desire to have more, a greedy desire for certain goods”
Looking at the encounter, why did Jesus use these words?
An inheritance is something you generally get without “working” for and they generally favor the first born, so it’s pretty clear the man asking was the younger brother who was upset about the situation.
First, the 15’th verse does not give the older brother a pass! The law was set; Jesus was trying to protect the younger brother from going down a path of corruption. If the older brother by law decided not to divide the inheritance, would the younger turn to hate and resentment? If so, their family, fellowship and love would have been lost over a few earthly items. This is where the tenth commandment aims to protect us from ourselves. Also, while we’re talking about the tenth commandment, do not overlook the message of this parable! Parents should spend more time leaving their children moral and spiritual inheritances rather than worldly ones.
Now going deeper into this, both this commandment and Jesus’ reply aim to protect society as a whole.
There is a fine line between coveting and inspiring. Be happy, that is appreciative, for what you have, and be inspired to get more. That is, there is nothing wrong with looking at another person’s house and being inspired by it, but that’s where it should end. Do not look at your neighbor’s house to “keep up with the Joneses”, or have more than the Joneses. This is where pleonexia, defined above, comes in and society as a whole suffers. This form of covetousness is the root that fuels inequality, hoarding, and apathy in society. It is why we have a country with billionaires, while others with a full-time jobs sleep in their cars, and yet others even worse off.
Jesus addressed both brothers in the 15th verse “he said to them”. Jesus was trying to protect the elder brother from a different path of corruption, and one which also affected others. Again, both brothers were addressed in this verse and parable. It is important that you see this! The same for the tenth commandment, it’s there to protect both ourselves and society from greed.
This wraps up the ten commandments. I really hope you enjoyed, learn and/or saw them in a new light. I pray that their messages will be things in your heart and not something forced on you.
May God bless and keep all who read this.
May God bless and keep all brothers and sisters, new and old, in the faith in his name.
With his love and mine,
Chrom