The Ten Commandments
THE SIN OF COVETOUSNESS
(Ex. 20:17; Luke 12:13-21; 1 Tim. 6:6-10; KJV)
Subject
The Peril of Making Money the Center of Life’s Affections
Golden Text
“Thou shalt not covet” (Ex. 20:17).
Plan of the Lesson
The Law Prohibiting Seeking to Possess What is Not Ours (Ex. 20:17)
Christ’s Warning Against Covetousness (Luke 12:13-21)
The Virtue of Contentment (1 Tim. 6:6-8)
The Dangers of the Love of Money (1 Tim. 6:9, 10)
Setting of the Lesson
Time: The Ten Commandments were given in 1498 B.C. The words from Luke were spoken during November or December, A.D. 29; the First Epistle of Paul to Timothy was written A.D. 65.
Place: The Ten Commandments were given from Mount Sinai. The words taken from Luke were spoken in Peræa on the eastern side of the Jordan River. It is not known exactly where Timothy was when he received this letter.
Scripture Reading: Exodus 20:17
The Law Prohibiting Seeking to Possess What is Not Ours
20:17 … “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.” With slight variations, this commandment is also repeated in Deuteronomy 5:21. Whereas much of the code of the Decalogue can be found in various forms in the criminal statutes of other nations, there is one great distinction between the laws of other people and the Hebrew code as found in the Decalogue – among no other people do we find a law against covetousness. The commandment “Thou shalt not covet” passes beyond the domain of civil magistracy into that intellectual realm of motive, desire, and thought, where God alone is Lord and Judge. The insertion of this tenth law is justified by the fact that the supreme Magistrate and Legislator of the Hebrew nation was none other than Jehovah Himself, that all its jurisdiction reposed on loyalty to Him, and that in order to be a blameless citizen of it, one must approve one’s self without stain in those eyes that search the hearts of men. Were the Decalogue nothing more than a criminal code for the State, this tenth article would plainly be out of place. The laws of earthly nations are cognizant of overt acts; whereas this commandment invades the province of hidden desires.
The meaning of the word
In its original meaning, the actual word “covet” implies delight in some object, and because delight in anything necessarily means a sense of desire to possess, the word was used to mark that desire to possess more than the delight that prompted the desire. In the repetition of the commandment, chronicled in the book of Deuteronomy (5:21), two words are used.
“The first word translated ‘covet’ in the Revised is the same as that already referred to in Exodus. The second word translated ‘desire’ in the Revised is a word meaning simply to wish for. The apostle Paul in quoting the commandment uses a Greek word, which in its different forms in the New Testament is most frequently translated ‘lust.’ It is often rendered ‘desire,’ and sometimes ‘covet,’ and occasionally ‘concupiscence.’ These translations will help to throw light upon the word. Its essential meaning is ‘to set the heart on,’ very literally, ‘to pant after.’ The sin, therefore, suggested by the word is very evidently that of desire to possess something which belongs to another” (G. Campbell Morgan).
Notice the sequence suggested by the word itself. The eyes rest on some object that commands the admiration of the beholder, something that is delightful and to be desired. To desire to possess that object is to covet. By way of illustration, a person may see a picture on the wall of a friend’s house, admire it, desire it, and then purchase one like it. The desire in that case is not the sin of coveting, because it was satisfied legitimately. Where the object admired is for any reason out of reach of the one admiring, admiration merging into desire to possess breaks the commandment. Herein lies the searching and revealing power of this last word of the Decalogue. The desire for that which cannot lawfully be possessed is distinctly forbidden, and so this tenth word passes much deeper in its moral requirement than any preceding it; setting up God’s right over the realm of desire.
Covetousness the root of all sin
In its scope, covetousness includes all social life. Out of disobedience to this command will spring sins that break every law written on the second table of the law. It is the sin of covetousness that makes it possible for a man to say, “It is Corban,” of possessions he should use in honoring his father and mother. Criminal records will no doubt prove that in most cases unholy desire was the inspiration of murder. No word need be written to demonstrate the fact that the look of concupiscence precedes the act of adultery. The offspring of every description of theft is the desire to possess something that is unreachable by lawful means. The evil spirit that makes false witness possible is often motivated by covetous aspiration. Thus the whole realm of human inter-relation is disorganized and broken up by dishonoring the tenth commandment.
The terrible consequences growing out of covetousness “What great harm, you say, in a mere guilty look, a mere guilty wish, a mere guilty longing? Well, are they so harmless? Nay, for from these roots of bitterness the grapes of Sodom and the clusters of Gomorrah draw their sap and nourishment. The guilty look of David at Bathsheba from his palace roof, the guilty longing of Achan for the ingot of gold, the guilty desire of Ahab for Naboth’s vineyard – did nothing come of them? In the first case, the bad desire led to adultery; in the second to theft; in the third to murder” (F.W. Farrar).
Scripture Reading: Luke 12:13-21
Christ’s Warning Against Covetousness
12:13 … “And one out of the multitude said unto him, Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me.” Dr. Farrar says that this question “was the most foolish and unwarrantable interpolation ever made to our Lord.”
“The previous discourse is a complete unit, so that it seems Jesus paused a moment, and this man in the multitude, who probably had worked his way up near Jesus, took that pause to shout out his request. This man’s personal affair was the supreme thing for him, not the teaching of Jesus. As lawyers assumed authority to judge and adjudicate in disputes of the kind here presented, this man wanted to use the authority of Jesus to his interest in bringing him into the dispute about his brother. Whether his brother was holding the entire inheritance for himself, or was curtailing his brother’s portion, cannot be determined; nor can we say how just his claims were” (R.C.H. Lenski).
For the law of inheritance see Deuteronomy 21:15-17.
12:14 … “But he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?” As on similar occasions (as e.g., John 8:1-11). Jesus absolutely refuses to go out of His purely spiritual domain, or to do anything that might give Him the appearance of wishing to put Himself in the place of the powers that be. Jesus was never indifferent to the physical and material needs of men, though His great mission was to deal with the inner life and character and testimony of men; yet the Lord never set Himself as a rival to the magistrates of the land.
12:15 … “And he said unto them, Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness.” Even though, as Dr. James E. Priest points out, “the Greek noun here translated ‘covetousness’ appears in the New Testament ten times, the adjective four times, and the verb five more times,” still, as significant as this obviously is, we almost never hear a sermon on this besetting and subtle sin. The word here translated “covetousness” means “the desire or claim to have a larger share than others; rapacity, the disposition to seek, and the habit of seeking, one’s own enrichment without regard to the rights and interests of others (2 Cor. 2:11; 7:2; 12:17, 18; 1 Thess. 4:6). Such unrighteous advantage may be taken in the transaction of business, or by employment of religious influence and ecclesiastical position as a means of gain. This was the sin binding this man who came to Jesus with this question; all he could think of was the acquisition of more property, and everything in life was measured by its ability to gratify this consuming passion.
“For a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” Here is one of the most remarkable statements to be found in the New Testament, one that goes directly contrary to almost all the world’s thinking. What our Lord was continually emphasizing was the life of a man; not what he possessed, but what he was. He came that we might have life, and that we might have it more abundantly; and by this statement, He cut right through all false philosophy concerning property, possessions and material things, declaring that life never consists of possessions that are always external to one’s self, but of things possessed in one’s heart. A man may be worth mega millions and be a pauper in his soul; he may have power over thousands of men who work for him, and at the same time have no control over his own wild passions; he may have great estates, rolling hills, lovely lakes, lavish sunken gardens, and a home filled with beautiful objects of art; yet his mind may be burned, barren and blighted.
12:16-18 … “And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he reasoned within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have not where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my grain and my goods.” Our Lord is about to illustrate the evil consequences of the sin of covetousness by one of His most remarkable parables (a parable found only in the Gospel of Luke). No name is given; rich men of this sort have no record in heaven, no names worthy of memory. All that could be said for and of him was that he was rich. It sounds good to hear Jesus drop all this false show, presenting this man as he really is – “a certain rich man.” Of course, there is no odium attached to his riches – it is no crime to be rich. Abraham was rich, but he was far more than “a certain rich man.” Our offers no hint of wrongful, ill-gotten riches; rather the contrary – the man owns a fine farm, probably inherited or rightfully purchases. He is not pictured as a extortioner, an oppressor of poor laborers. He was honest, a man of standing and highly respected in the community; many no doubt envied him. His wealth had greatly increased; his land had produced well, so well that his place could not accommodate the new crop. Even his covetousness has nothing repulsive about it. He just lived for these earthly things; they and they alone filled his life and soul. That was all. The world has any number of duplicates. Thee French painter, Eugène Burnand brings out the inwardness of what is here conveyed by Jesus. He paints the rich man as he has come to his decision. He has carefully recounted his gold and silver, setting one sack after another to a side. A certain amount for other purposes is placed on a shelf above his head. The money for the new buildings is stacked on the table before him. Now he leans back – furrows of thought on his forehead, a far-away look in his eyes – he is thinking of the great change the replacement will make, the money and work it will mean, and the picture it will make, all the new, fine, grand storehouses, full to overflowing with “all my grain and good things.” What a picture. But turn the page; here is the same man, cold in death, his hands crossed on his chest.
12:19 … “And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry.” Cf. 1 Corinthians 15:32. First, we should note the constant recurrence of the personal pronoun of the first person. Five times in these three verses we have the pronoun “my,” expressing possession; six times in these six verses we have the personal pronoun of the first person, “I.” The conversation is entirely with himself. He does not think of others who may be in need. He has no regard for those who are laboring for hi, though no doubt he paid them decent wages. He says nothing about increasing his gifts to God, if he was giving anything to God. The tragedy is that all this increase of goods was probably due to hard work, careful planning, persistent industry, and a life that was possibly free from great moral transgressions. All these things led him to the false conclusion that everything he had was of his own doing; that things would go on for years to come just as they had for years past. Further, when he talks to his soul, he talks to it only about material things. The man was all animal, there was not one little bit of blue sky in his universe. His universe was a great dinner-table or a great wine-cellar. He told his soul that it would find heaven in the barn. He had his writing materials, and bent over and wrote his memorandum, and it looked well; and, when he had added up what he set down, he said, “That is the sum total.” But he had omitted God.
12:20 … “But God said unto him.” This man thought there were four acts to his life play, but, at the end of the third act the curtain fell, and he was called into another world. What a contrast between the phrases, “I will say to my soul,” and, “but God said.” There comes a time when God will say something every soul.
“Thou foolish one.” Lenski points out that the adjective used here as a noun means “devoid of sense,” “without mind or reason.” Wise in his own conceit, his wisdom was blank folly.
“This night is thy soul required of thee.” When God says, “I want you tonight,” it is time to go and a note of excuse will not do. “Like a jay, he was pruning himself in the boughs, when he came tumbling down with the arrow in his side. His glass was run when he thought it to be but new turned” (John Trapp). Truly we know not what tomorrow brings. Proverbs 27:1; James 4:14.
“And the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be?” Stripped naked, he passes from our sight a bare, desolate soul, lost in the darkness of eternal remorse, his voice still dolefully echoing the condemning voice of God, his soul turning on itself with the everlasting reproach, “Thou fool! Thou fool!”
12:21 … “So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Cf. Matthew 6:19; 2 Corinthians 12:14. To be rich in God is to have the wealth that is found for us in God. This wealth consists of pardon, peace, and salvation in union with God and “in God” signifies faith.
“He is rich in God who has the saving gifts which God gives him, and holds them with gratitude by faith as his own. Such a man is truly rich, however little he may have of earthly goods; nor will earthly possessions interfere with his true wealth, since he will treat this like Abraham, David, and others did, making it wholly subservient to God” (R.C.H. Lenski).
How many virtues did this man have as far as strict human morality is concerned? How many mistakes were there in this man’s calculation? How did Jesus, in all His life, perfectly reveal a spirit utterly fee from all covetousness? Leaving aside for a moment the question of the eternal destiny of a soul, can a man who devotes all his thought and energy to the accumulation of wealth and property have the joy in his heart that a Christian has who lives first, and in every part of life, to serve God, and has God’s approval on his conduct? Can possessions, however great and beautiful, ever satisfy the deepest needs of the human heart, and if not, why not?
Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 6:6-8
The Virtue of Contentment
6:6 … “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” In the previous verse, Paul speaks about men who, bereft of the truth, suppose that godliness is a way of gain, i.e., pretending to be good, to pray, to attend worship service, to mingle with believers, is a road that leads to personal gain, to the increase of business, to the multiplication of wealth. There is hardly anything more blasphemous than pretending to be good so that we may get rich, using religion as a “way to gain.” In contrast to this Paul tells us that true gain in life is found in godliness itself, together with contentment. The word rendered “contentment” signifies self-sufficiency, denoting the state of one who has within himself the means of satisfying all his desires, and, therefore, is not dependent on external conditions. It is rendered “sufficiency” in 2 Corinthians 9:8. The adjective is found in Philippians 4:11. This is not the proud independence of the Stoic, but that elevation of soul above external earthly conditions that comes from a consciousness of God’s presence, love, and all-sufficing providence (Ps. 23; 37:16-29; Prov. 14:14). Anything that brings contentment is a means of gain, but contentment may spring from either having all we want or from not wanting more than we have. It is the latter that is the result of true piety. Paul knows that man is only satisfied in God; and therefore devotion to God is the first condition of this true satisfaction, and the second is contentedness with our earthly lot.
6:7 … “For we brought nothing into the world, for neither can we carry anything out.” See Job 1:21; Psalm 49:17. Henry Alford pointed out that we “come naked into the world to teach us to remember that we must go naked out of it.” The very manner of our birth is a dissuasion from the love of money, since it distinctly demonstrates that earthly failure is a mere accident of existence, a temporary possession left behind at death.
6:8 … “But having food and covering we shall be therewith content.” Probably the word here translated “covering” refers not only to the clothes that we wear, but also to the shelter of the home in which we live.
Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 6:9, 10
The Dangers of the Love of Money
6:9 … “But they that are minded to be rich.” Cf. Proverbs 23:4. Notice that the verse does not refer to those who are rich, but to those who are determined to be rich, for whom the acquisition of wealth is the driving motive of their life. “Fall into a temptation and a snare.” Thayer points out that this last word is sometimes translated “trap” or “noose,” and is “often used of snares in which birds are entangled and caught (Prov. 6:5; 73), and sometimes in the New Testament, refers to anything that brings peril or loss or destruction.”
“And many foolish and hurtful lusts.” The desires in question are foolish because they cannot be logically defended; they are hurtful because they hinder true happiness.
“Such as drown men in destruction and perdition.” Albert Barnes points out that the first noun refers to consequences in this world, while the second noun refers to eternal consequences in the world to come. He goes further, stating that those who set their hearts on being rich “become involved in the meshes of worldliness and sin; their movements are so fettered by cares and inordinate desires, and by artificial wants, that they are no longer free men.”
6:10 … “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
“For money, men, alike rich and poor, have been ready to make all their lives a lie to themselves and a fraud upon their neighbors. For gold men have betrayed their country, their friends, their God, their immortal souls. For gold they steal, and rob, and break open houses, and commit assaults and murders, and become the terrors and scourges of society. For gold men forge and cheat and start bubble companies, and tamper with securities, and snatch the support of the widow, and steal the bread of the fatherless. For gold they live by trades and manufactures which are the curse and destruction of mankind. For gold they involve whole countries in the horrors and crimes of war. For gold they sell the honor of their sons, and sell their daughters into gilded misery, and poison the world with stagnant gossip, and stab noble reputations in the dark. For gold they defraud the hireling of his wages, and grind the faces of the poor, and wring the means of personal luxury from rotting houses or infamous pursuits. Gold corrupts trades and professions into that commercial standard which is often little better than systematized dishonesty. Gold can condemn the innocent and shield the guilty. Look into the history of any civilized nation, analyze with reference to this one cause of crime and misery the lives and thoughts of their nobles, priests, merchants, and men of luxurious life. The sin of the whole world is essentially the sin of Judas. Men do not disbelieve in Christ, but they sell Him” (F.W. Farrar).
“Notice that this money-lover is not necessarily a rich man. When we speak of the dangers of covetousness, the great mass of persons who are not rich are apt to think that the warning applies only to the wealthy. It is a great mistake. The old woman who hoards her few shillings and tells lies about them in a back street, the needy clerk secretly longing for the death of some one who may have him one hundred dollars, the mechanic fraudulently trying to make bad work pass for good, the begging-letter impostor, the hulking idler, the anarchrist indulging in senseless ravings to persuade men that luck will come to them by the ruin of tens of thousands more worthy than themselves – all these are as ardent money-lovers and money-seekers as the man who greedily accumulates his millions” (James Hastings).
Innumerable illustrations can be found of men in both the Old and New Testaments who committed every conceivable kind of sin because of the lust for money and property that possessed them. We can go as far back as Genesis and find Jacob lying and deceiving other members of his family that he might grow rich. Balaam falsely prophesied because of the love of money that burned in his heart. In his lust for possessions, Achan brought defeat to the whole Israelite army because he stole forbidden things from some of Israel’s conquered enemies. Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, lied to Naaman only because he had a greedy hunger for wealth. Judas Iscariot sold our blessed Lord for a few miserable pieces of silver. Ananias lied to the early church that he might keep some of his property. It would be an interesting study if one tried to discover the men and women in the Scriptures who, because of covetousness violated (one one, and another another) the Ten Commandments.
The cure for covetousness
The Tenth Commandment is God’s demand that man put the reins of the government of his life into the hands of God. In other words, the final lesson is that there is no self-control apart from God-control. Man’s nature can only be cleansed by turning in the deep river of God’s grace and holiness. When he comes in, foul desires disappear. Immoral purposes cease to ripen. Unholy desires are brought under restraint. The final fruit of the Holy Spirit in the life of an individual is self-control through God-control. Read once again the beautiful and glorious catalogue of the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control: against such there is no law.”
