Discover The Word

Monday, June 22, 2009

“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” (Exodus 20:17).

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s” (Deuteronomy 5:21).

IDEA: Covetousness centers on what belongs to my neighbor.

PURPOSE: To help listeners see that covetousness isn’t merely desire, but a desire for what my neighbor possesses.

When people murder, do you think they know that they are wrongfully taking a human life?

When people steal, do you think they are aware or feel that they are taking someone else’s property?

When people covet, do you think they have pangs of guilt about covetousness?

Would there be a difference between frontal sins and sneaky sins?

There are frontal sins which, when you commit them, you know you’ve committed them.

Then there are other sins that are sneaky in that they can take you unawares.

I. Covetousness sneaks up on us because it can be a desire for something that is legitimate and good.

Is it wrong for a Christian to want a house? Is it wrong to wish you had some folks to help you with the housework? Is it wrong to wish you had a new car?

In the story of Ahab and Naboth’s vineyard, was it wrong for Ahab to want the vineyard that Naboth owned that was next to the palace? Would Ahab have sinned if Naboth had agreed to sway it for a better piece of land or for a money payment?

II. The hook in the tenth commandment is not that you desire good things or nice things, but that you desire and scheme for what belongs to your neighbor.

The word neighbor appears at least three times each in Exodus 20:17 and Deuteronomy 5:21.

The commandments are concerned with our love for God and our love for our neighbor. They are explicitly expressed in commandment nine as well as in ten: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

III. What makes coveting what belongs to my neighbor so wrong?