The Desire for Others’ Property – The Tenth Commandment

The Desire for Others’ Property

Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21

“And you shall not covet…”

1 Kings:21.4

And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.”

Covetousness – it can get you killed.

Probably when most of us think of covetousness, we think of coveting things – material possessions. Again, we need to insist that the desire for material things is not wrong. God has provided material things for us, and He intends us to use them to define, enhance, and enrich our lives, so that we can serve Him more completely and more effectively. So to desire material things is natural and can be quite good. Unless, of course, the material things we desire, especially if we desire them strongly, belong to someone else. Ahab is the classic case. He was astounded that Naboth would not sell him his family’s inheritance so that the king could have little garden of his own. Sulking like a three-year-old, the king returned to his palace, making sure, of course, that the right people should learn of his vexation. Like the murderous Jezebel. Now Jezebel coveted power, and she was smart enough to know that the way to wield power in Israel was to control the king. So to control the king and satisfy her own covetousness, she murdered Naboth and satisfied the covetousness of her husband, handing over the innocent man’s property for the covetous man’s leisure. Yeah, covetousness can get you killed.

How can we tell when our desire for material things – a proper desire – is beginning to degenerate into covetousness?

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.