Misplaced Desires | Exodus 20:17

I believe it serves us to frequently remind ourselves of the particular context of the Ten Commandments. The people of Israel, you remember, are meeting, for the very first time, the One who so powerfully and graciously rescued them from slavery. And now here, at the foot of Mt Sinai, God speaks to them, audibly and directly. On this occasion, God chooses not to communicate through a messenger. Rather God addresses them, and not only as a nation corporately. He addresses them as individuals – made plain through the consistent use of the 2nd person singular pronoun, “you.” It’s as though God is making eye contact with each one individually. It’s so very important that we notice that, since God is making very clear the very personal nature of what is happening in this holy moment. God is calling each one individually to be faithful, faithful, NOT just to God’s holy law, but ultimately faithful to Him. I find it helpful to see this occasion as something akin to a marriage ceremony, and the moment when the couple face one another, and communicate their vows to one another. 

God is calling each of them to Himself – to the One who delivered this most undeserving people from their most helpless and oppressed condition. When God saves, He calls people, He draws people and invites them to Himself. The gift of salvation is the gift of God Himself. 

And so, we come to the 10th and final commandment in Ex. 20:17. 

 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” 

—Exodus 20:17

My outline has just two points. 1) The RULE of the 10th Commandment, and 2) the REVELATION of the 10th commandment. We begin with the RULE.

The Rule of the Tenth Commandment

And the rule is, “you shall not covet.” And unlike the other nine commandments, and in order to feel the force and seriousness of the tenth commandment, God repeats it two times. And the Hebrew word translated “covet” is NOT a negative word, in and of itself. It simply means “desire.” But so that there is no misunderstanding, this rule does not assume that every desire, every longing is wrong in God’s eyes. It’s not sinful for us to desire a Nick’s Giro, or a slice of Sunny’s Pizza, or a Look’s Porkulese sandwich. It’s not sinful to desire a promotion at your place of employment, or good grades in all of your classes, or a few hours of precious sleep at night – especially if you’re the mother of a newborn. Children, it’s not sinful to want toys or games. 1 Tim. 6:17 says, “God . . . richly provides us with everything to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17).

So, the 10th commandment is not a rule that forbids the enjoyment of God’s countless expressions of generous-hearted goodness. Rather, the 10thcommandment forbids desiring what belongs to someone else. It forbids misplaced desire for things such as your neighbor’s house, or your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or ANYTHING ELSE that belongs to your neighbor. The rule of the 10th commandment prohibits desiring for ourselves what belongs to someone else. Coveting, then, is a misplaced desire – the desire to possess what is our neighbor’s. 

The rule does not forbid desiring something we don’t have. The rule forbids desiring what someone else has.

And this isn’t some vague, fuzzy, abstract rule. The LORD applies this command very specifically. He applies it to their neighbor’s house, ox, donkey. But this list is meant to simply get them kick-started with the self-evaluation process. Notice that it begins with specifics, but then broadens and concludes with “anything that is your neighbor’s.” Jesus said, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness” (Luke 12:15).

That means we must be mindful of covetousness in it’s many shapes and sizes. Which leads to another crucial observation. Notice that, unlike the other nine, the 10th commandment specifically addresses the heart. The rule of the 10thcommandment does not speak to our actions. It speaks to our desires and affections. The 10th commandment is about a forbidden desire rather than a forbidden act. The 10th commandment speaks to, and rules against sinful, inordinate, misplaced desires, before they turn into sinful acts. The 10thcommandment makes crystal clear that what goes on in our hearts, what is going on in our thoughts and our feelings, it MATTERS. And it matters massively to God. It’s not just our conduct and our behaviors that everyone can see that matter. It’s not just the fruit that matters. It’s the root that matters. It’s what’s going on inside us, that only God sees, that matters. 

A friend pointed me to a comic strip. And in this single-framed comic, is a drawing of Moses. He’s standing before God, holding the tablets of the Ten commandments. And after reading the 10th commandment, Moses looks up to God and says, “Oh I understand. With the coveting part, we can get everybody.” 

There are some who wonder why we give attention to an OT text that focus’ mainly on conduct and behavior, when it is the concern of the NT to focus on the heart. According to the 10th commandment, focusing on the heart is as much an OT concern as it is a NT concern. And in a very real sense, the 10th commandment DOES get everybody. That’s because everybody is guilty of coveting, in some way or form, his or her neighbor’s stuff. And so, the 10th commandment searches and scrutinizes our hearts. It’s like a “spiritual MRI. It confirms for us that we are sinners in light of our disobedience to this clear command.”

The 10th commandment certainly had this effect on the apostle Paul. Prior to his conversion, Paul described himself as – 

 “A Hebrew of Hebrews. As to the law a Pharisee. As to zeal a persecutor of the church. As to righteousness under the law, blameless.”

—Philippians 3:5-6

Paul was self-assured he was blameless, that is, until he examined his heart in light of the 10th commandment. It was the 10th commandment that exposed his misplaced desire. In Rom. 7, Paul writes,

“If it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

—Romans 7:7-8

Do you see how crucial the 10th commandment is? It is intentionally and carefully crafted by God, and therefore, suited to highlight our need for a Savior. Francis Schaeffer writes,

 “’Thou shalt not covet’ is the internal commandment which shows the man who thinks himself to be moral that he really needs a Savior. The average such ‘moral’ man, who has lived comparing himself to other men and comparing himself to a rather easy list of rules, can feel, like Paul, that he is getting along alright. But suddenly, when he is confronted with the inward command not to covet, he is brought to his knees.”

—Francis Schaeffer

When we seriously consider the 10th commandment, and our daily tendency to break the 10th commandment, it should bring us to our knees. We don’t have to think back any further than this past week to discover some example of coveting what belongs to our neighbor. There are modern equivalents to every one of the temptations listed in Ex. 20:17 that we are faced with every day.

So, and you look out your window and begin to study your neighbor’s house. And you start to notice all the ways your neighbor’s house is superior to your house. It looks like it could be featured on the cover of Midwest Home. Even the design of the garage door looks like a work of art. The lawn doesn’t have a single weed. And it’s always mowed diagonally. 

You covet the modern equivalent to the Israelite neighbor’s ox when you look out the window and see your neighbor mowing his perfectly manicured lawn with the latest John Deere riding mower. And you don’t have a riding mower. And you were totally fine with that, UNTIL he purchased his John Deere.

And then fall arrives, EARLY. And leaves cover your lawn. And your neighbor hires the equivalent of male servants, who are going to remove every single leaf from his perfect lawn – while you will devote countless hours to the muscle-inflaming, blister-breaking, hip-joint grinding, time-consuming task of raking, and blowing, and bagging, and making multiple trips to the leaf dump. And you will spend a ridiculous amount of money on joint-relief supplements, while working at what turns out to the be an utterly futile task, as the South Dakota wind blows what remaining leaves that may be in your neighbor’s yard into your yard, and seemingly mocks you as those leaves continue to collect under your shrubs and against your fence. But not your neighbor. He hires people. And those servants collect all those leaves and carry them away. So that he can continue to enjoy his retirement, and take trips to Cornhusker football games. 

Or how about the temptation that rises when your friend shows up with his shiny new, black, pickup truck? His new pickup truck is the modern equivalent of the latest donkey. As a means of transportation goes, you were just fine with your donkey, UNTIL he showed up with the latest model. Heated steering wheel, and air-conditioned seats. Cameras connected to a massive flat screen monitor on the dashboard, providing 360 degree coverage of any incoming danger. And as you’re looking at that new donkey, in comparison to your donkey, well your donkey is pathetic. Everything changes because of what your neighbor has obtained. 

And this temptation can involve ANYTHING that is your neighbor’s. That’s why Jesus said, “Be on guard against all covetousness. Because it can involve your neighbor’s job, your neighbor’s salary, your neighbor’s appearance, ability, intelligence, his new hunting rifle, or her new fiancé, or her wedding venue, or her friends or figure. It can be your neighbor’s happy and apparently conflict-free and vitalized marriage. It can involve your neighbor’s children, who always seem to be respectful and never break the rules. And children, it could your own brother or sister’s toys. Things are peaceful around the house, until your brother or your sister gets something that you want. Or it just might be that your neighbor never seems to have to have to face anything hard. He/she never seems to suffer. And as you take all this in, you don’t find yourself able to rejoice with your neighbor. Instead, you find yourself discontented. And, in fact, your find yourself resenting your neighbor. And further, if you’re completely honest, you actually find yourself embittered toward God, because God has NOT blessed you with what He has blessed your neighbor.

And more often than not, your neighbor is clueless that you are coveting what he has. He doesn’t even know. But according to the 10th commandment, God knows. 

In essence, the rule of the 10th commandment is that we should desire NOTHING more than God. In fact, the 10th commandment is essentially the same as the 1stcommandment. The 1st commandment says, “You shall have no other gods before me.” The 1st commandment says, when it comes to your allegiance, your affection, your desires, find your satisfaction in God and God alone. And the 10thcommandment tells us specifically what we should NOT desire more than God, namely, and in particular, our neighbor’s stuff. So, these two commands, these two rules, no other gods and no coveting what belongs to others, they, in fact, form bookends to the Ten Commandments. To break the rule of 1st commandment is idolatry, which is precisely what the apostle Paul ascribes ALSO to the 10thcommandment. Look at Col. 3:5. Paul writes, “Put to death . . . covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).

Put to death desiring other’s things more than you desire God. Why? Why is coveting what belongs to others worthy of such sanctified violence?  “Kill it!” It’s because coveting what belongs to others is idolatry. And idolatry is breaking the first and foremost command. Idolatry is seeking satisfaction or contentment in something or someone other than God. And an idolatrous heart is always looking elsewhere for what can only be received from or experienced in God and God alone. Yes, idolatry involves bowing down to some man-made image, as described in the 2nd commandment. But it also involves pursuing the satisfaction of one’s heart-hunger in someone or something other than, or more than God himself.

God is NOT trying to “get us.” Catch us. Or trap us by laying down the 10thcommandment. Rather, the LORD is expressing and maintaining His generous-hearted care, by communicating a gracious warning to us of this particular example of idolatry that is more subtle, and less obvious, but no less (and actually more) serious. IDOLATRY. That is what the rule of the 10th commandment forbids. Now second,

The Revelation of the Tenth Commandment

The 10th commandment is not simply a rule. The 10th commandment communicates something. The 10th commandment points to the most valuable, the most beautiful, the most soul-satisfying object in the universe. The 10th commandment communicates the most precious and profound gift one may ever receive. The 10th commandment does not merely say, “No!” The 10th commandment says, “Yes!” And it invites. It calls every reader, every keeper of the 10th commandment into the eternal pleasure of God himself. For the 10th commandment calls us to be satisfied in all that God is, and has revealed himself to be for us IN CHRIST JESUS.

Don’t covet your neighbor’s stuff because, true, enduing, full, everlasting contentment is found ONLY in God, and all that He promises to be for us in Christ. You see, the remedy for misplaced desire is discovering contentment in God, as He has revealed Himself, ultimately in the person and work of Jesus. 

I believe our friend John Piper makes this point so effectively when he writes, 

 “Covetousness is desiring something so much that we lose our contentment in God. Or, (to say it another way) it (covetousness) is losing our contentment in God so that we start to replace God with something in our desires and contentment.”

—John Piper

When contentment in God decreases, covetousness for stuff other than God increases. That’s why Paul says in Col. 3:5 that covetousness IS idolatry. Covetousness IS idolatry because the contented heart should be getting its satisfaction from God. I believe Piper is right. Coveting is desiring anything other than God, in a way that betrays a loss of contentment (or satisfaction) in Him. 

In other words, a pattern of coveting reveals a defective view of God. He’s become so small. And coveting reveals a deficient relationship with God. We’ve misplaced our desires to the point where God is diminished in our pleasures. He’s dethroned in importance. He’s less than all our other longings.

Now, there is a way to put a nail in this most troubling of sins. And that is by pursuing complete heart-satisfaction in all that God has revealed Himself to be for us in Jesus Christ. Put to death covetousness, says Paul, by pursuing, by faith, complete satisfaction with what God has so generously and kindly and wonderfully provided. The 10th commandment compels us to be content with God Himself. To be content with God above all. To be content with all that God has so graciously revealed Himself to be, promised to be, communicated Himself to be, proven Himself to be for us in Christ.

When we break the rule of the 10th commandment, and covet what belongs to our neighbor, we dishonor God. We diminish God. We say, in effect, “God, you are NOT enough!” To desire what our neighbor has, by discontentedness in what we have, is to find fault with God. It’s to criticize God. It is to believe a bald faced lie about God and his goodness, and his wisdom, and his generous-heartedness – and to place ourselves, and our perspective and our desires above His. 

Given all their recent experience with God, and all He had done, you’d think, it shouldn’t be that great a challenge for the Israelites to feel contentment in Him and all He had done for them. In Ex. 19:4, God says, “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle’s wings and brought you (where?) to myself” (Exodus 19:4).

God just blew away the greatest military superpower in the world, with flick of his finger, and essentially (metaphorically) airlifted the entire nation of Israel, out of enslavement, out of danger – on the wings of eagles. What did they bring to it? They were utterly helpless, and hopeless, apart from God’s saving intervention. They were like baby birds. And God just picks them up – the entire nation – puts ‘em on his back, and carries ‘em out. 

And then He personally, and supernaturally led through the wilderness. He personally and supernaturally protected them and provided for them. He made bad water pure. He delivered food. He handed their enemies over to them in battle. And most importantly, he brought them to Mt. Sinai – to Himself. God brought them out of slavery and into his presence. He saved them to be His people. He set them free to be His holy nation, His treasured possession. And He did it so that their satisfaction in Him, their contentment IN HIM would transcend the pleasures of this world. He did it to confound a coveting world. He did it ALL to magnify His greatness and glory among the nations. Loved ones, the 10th commandment is NOT just a rule. The 10th commandment is intended by God to communicate a revelation that contentment and satisfaction of one’s soul is found in God alone. 

And if you are a Christian, then your story, your salvation history, and this purpose is no different than the purpose for which God rescued Israel. ONLY, IF you ARE a Christian, then your history, AND this revelation is greater in every way. That’s because all that took place in the Exodus pointed to one greater than Moses. It pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the greater Exodus that He would lead, delivering sinners, discontented coveters, like you and like me, rescuing us, saving us from our enslavement to sinning and from the wrath of God against our sins, through the sinless life and substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. 1 Pet. 3:18 says, 

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.”

—1 Peter 3:18

If you are Christian, then you have been delivered from your enslaved condition to sin by the righteous one who died in the place of unrighteous ones. And he died in our place for our sins so that we might enjoy the greatest, soul-satisfying treasure in the universe, God himself. Jesus died on the cross so that we might NOT covet our neighbor’s things. He suffered and died once so that He might bring us to God. What the world needs most is NOT more stuff, but the greatest and most glorious treasure of all – God himself! We are forgiven so that our guilt doesn’t keep us from God. We are justified so that condemnation doesn’t keep us from God. God is propitiated so His wrath doesn’t stand between us and God. The gospel love that God gives us is ultimately the gift of himself. God himself is the gospel! And this is what we were made for. And this is what we lost because of our sin. And this is what Christ came to restore.

The ultimate nail in the coffin of covetousness is God and all he has revealed himself to be and promised to be for us in Christ. “My God will supply every need according to his riches in glory IN CHRIST JESUS” (Phil. 4:19).

This is a promise the gets something done. And we’re praying that what it will accomplish is to cause covetousness to diminish, discernibly diminish in our hearts, so that we can say “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” (Phil. 4:11) And we pray that our heart’s capacity for joy and soul-satisfaction in the Lord would grow. We pray that our experience of pleasure in God and His glory might so increase, that we can sincerely say, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Phil 3:8) Help us, Lord, by strengthening our faith. Through Jesus. Amen.