Commandment #10: Thou Shalt Not Covet (Exodus 20:17)
2023-04-09
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s. (Exodus 20:17)
Not coveting someone else’s things, or desiring them, is the final commandment. In a way, it summarizes the previous commands on how to love others. Coveting someone else’s wife ends in adultery and coveting someone else’s stuff ends in theft. Coveting drove Achan to break God’s terms regarding Jericho, which cost him his life.
The key is being content with what God has given you. In a culture of wealth and instant gratification, this is rare. Madison Avenue is always reminding us that we can treat ourselves to this or that new thing. There is never enough stuff.
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)
No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. (Luke 16:13-14)
For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. (Ephesians 5:5)