Covet Not

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (Exodus 20:17, NIV).

First one covets; that is, desires to own something that is not his own. This is the basic sin that leads to stealing. It can also lead to excessive indebtedness, wanting something that the budget cannot afford. The character damage done by coveting is severe. Coveting is rooted in envy and wanting more than can reasonably be attained, or, most of the time, things not actually needed in the first place. The ethical health of a community depends upon mutual respect and care of property. God disdains any act of dishonesty that infringes upon one’s neighbors’ property rights. And oftentimes at the very heart of disabuse, stealing and dishonesty lies the evil of covetousness. Notice the things we should not covet: a neighbor’s mate, servants, possessions (ox, donkey, being specifically mentioned, as the Israelites lived in an agricultural society).

To quote Dr. Robert L. Cate on his exegesis of Exodus: “Ultimately the foundation of this command was the concept that everything a man possessed was a gift from God. Further, to envy what another had was to despise what you had. Thus covetousness was a rejection of God’s loving providence.” (Broadman, 1979, p. 97).

And now that we’ve walked through the Ten Commandments, one-a-day-fashion, I would like to summarize by quoting theologian Dr. Elton Trueblood: (This body of laws is) “not an outworn set of specific prohibitions, but positive principles of such a nature that a good society cannot be constructed or reconstructed without reference to them.” (Foundations for Reconstruction, Harper, 1946, p. 10). And for any who think the Ten Commandments no longer apply, or that their principles are outdated, listen to what Jesus said: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18 NIV). Whether the Ten Commandments can be displayed in public places is not nearly as important as that they are obeyed by believers. These principles for living—vertically, man-toward-God, and horizontially, person-to-person—are still the standards for which we should strive.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Saturday, August 14, 2010