That's Still Not Yours!

Exodus 20:17 “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.”

Simply put, to covet is to desire and crave for something that isn’t currently yours. What many people may not know is that coveting isn’t always a bad thing! The Hebrew word that is used in the tenth commandment is “chamad” - it is variously translated as covet, desire, take pleasure in, lust after, long for, and enjoy. For many misguided christians, this doesn’t seem like a good thing! But let’s be clear, God is very interested in what is desirable, pleasing, and fun for us. He isn’t some “prude” in Heaven, ruling against any kind of fun or pleasure.

Let me show you what I’m talking about:

Genesis 2:9 “And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
The Hebrew word for “pleasant to the sight” is the same word - chamad. God made the trees (and by inference, the whole of creation) to be enjoyable for us and pleasing to look at! God’s intention in creation was to make things we would want!

Psalm 19:9-10 “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”
Here we see that we should be coveting - craving and longing for - the judgements of God, found inside the word. Has there ever been a time in your christian life when you could say that you coveted (lusted for and craved) the words on the pages of the Bible? This is the healthiest place any believer could be in!

When we move into the New Testament, the good type of coveting is still apparent. The Greek word for covet is “epithymeo” - its meaning is still the same: desire, longing, lust, craving.

Matthew 13:17 uses this word: “...for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
In this verse we see Jesus telling His disciples that many righteous men coveted the very days that they were living in - the days when Jesus walked the earth!

1 Peter 1:12 shows us that it wasn’t just the prophets of old that longed to know the New Testament realities we’re living in - apparently, even the angels have this craving! “To them [the prophets] it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.”

So we can see through these verses that there are times when it is right for us to covet some things! So when does coveting become a bad thing? When does desiring something become breaking the tenth commandment? The answer is simple. We can see the difference between godly and godless coveting in Galatians 5:17 -  “For the flesh lusts  (epithymeo) against the Spirit, and the Spirit [lusts ]against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” Did you see that? There are two types of covetousness - spiritual and fleshly.

Fleshly covetousness is only concerned about desiring things that we have no right to possess. Coveting things that have been devoted to God (i.e. the tithe) is one of these sinful desires - just ask Achan (Joshua 7:21)! Proverbs 6:25-26 tells us all about the dangers of coveting the beauty of a prostitute.

But now let’s look at the things that the tenth commandment specifically warns us not to covet.

“Your neighbor’s house...” - We are not to be jealous about where someone else lives.

“...your neighbor’s wife...” - don’t desire to have someone else’s spouse! But even beyond that, don’t allow yourself to be jealous of someone else’s family (parents, siblings, kids, etc.).

“...nor his male servant, nor his female servant...” - don’t envy their position in life. Don’t be jealous of their job, their influence, or the people that look up to them.

“...nor his ox...” - Cattle and sheep were a means of livelihood in those day. Today we would say, “Don’t desire or crave your neighbor’s bank accounts or full wallets.” Don’t be jealous of their wealth!

“...nor his donkey...” - quite simply, a mode of transportation. Cars, boats, motorcycles - don’t be jealous of their ways of getting from point A to point B.

“...nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” - If there’s anything else that isn’t mentioned before, it’s listed right here. The point is simple, don’t desire something that belongs to someone else!

Your desires should be focused on the things that you have a right to possess. You have no biblical right to desire what belongs to someone else. In today’s society, especially in light of the various protests against the “rich”, it’s important to remember that this command still applies! You have no right in God’s eyes to even long for what someone else has - let alone demand a part of it! Let’s forget this “class warfare” mindset and move into total obedience to God’s Word. It’s time to bring our very desires in line with God’s plan for us!

Hebrews 13:5-6 “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’”

That's Not Yours!

Exodus 20:15 “You shall not steal.”

Theft, for any reason, is wrong. The motive doesn’t matter. The end results don’t matter. It’s wrong because God says so - we don’t need another reason. It’s sad to see how many people have adopted the “robin hood” mentality. It’s become a heroic thing in our society to take from people who have and give it to those who don’t have. As noble as this might sound, it is no different in God’s eyes than petty thievery or armed robbery. Taking something from someone by force or cheating them out of it by deceit is simply sin.

Do you believe me? Do you believe that you can have the best of motives still not be justified in stealing? Or do you need more proof than the simple, four-word commandment? Listen to what the Proverbs 6:30-31 says, “People don't hate a thief who steals to fill his empty stomach. But when he is caught, he must pay seven times as much as he stole. It may even cost him everything he has.” It doesn’t matter if the thief is stealing to feed himself - it doesn’t matter how noble his motives are - he will be held accountable for what he does.

Why is God so opposed to theft - especially if it’s “for a good cause”? God hates it because He is a Giver, not a taker! The most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16, tells us that God’s love motivated Him to give. James 1:17 agrees with this concept, it says: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” You see, God is love, and love always gives.

Thieves are not on God’s side. It doesn’t matter what the motivation is, when someone takes something that doesn’t belong to them, they are following in the footsteps of Satan himself. John 10:10 shows us this: “The thief (Satan) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” The devil is a thief. He took what didn’t belong to him in the Garden of Eden. He is constantly trying to steal what God gives to His people. He isn’t just a thief, he is the thief. And any time a person takes what doesn’t belong to them, they are following the same path!

When someone takes what doesn’t belong to them, even if they’re taking it for someone else, they are not walking in God’s love. Paul said in Romans 13:9 “For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” When you love people with God’s kind of love, you will give like He gives. You won’t want to take from anyone! This is important for God’s people to understand. He is our Father - we should want to be like Him!

So what’s the answer? What if I have stolen something from someone? What if I walked out of a store without paying for something? What if I stole from my employer by goofing off when he was paying me to work? What if I realize now that I need to repent? Can I just ask God for forgiveness and leave it at that? Well, not exactly. You see, it would be silly for a man to rob a bank, move to Mexico, and then ask for forgiveness while he’s still living off of the money he stole. The Bible talks about something called restitution - something every repentant thief needs to know.

Exodus 22:1-4 shows us God’s law for a person who was caught stealing. “Suppose a man steals an ox or a sheep. And suppose he kills it or sells it. Then he must pay back five head of cattle for the ox. Or he must pay back four sheep or goats for the sheep...What if the stolen ox, donkey or sheep is found alive with him? Then the thief must pay back twice as much as he stole...A thief must pay for what he has stolen. But suppose he does not have anything. Then he must be sold to pay for what he has stolen...” Do you see this? It was never God’s will for a thief to be forgiven and then keep what he stole!

Remember the story  of Zacchaeus? Do you remember this tax collector and thief’s response to being accepted and forgiven? He said, “"Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of what I own to those who are poor. And if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay it back. I will pay back four times the amount I took." This is a very important point - you can use this to tell if a thief is really repentant or not. Repentant thieves will usually become the most generous people in the world! Ephesians 4:28 backs this up - it says: “Those who have been stealing must never steal again. Instead, they must work. They must do something useful with their own hands. Then they will have something to give to people in need.”

Stealing - whether it’s big or small, whether the thief is selfish or “noble”, no matter what the circumstance - is always a sin! Whether it’s an employee that takes a 30-minute lunch when they only get 20. a thief that steals a few thousand dollars from a bank, or a congressman that confiscates millions from the “rich” to give to the “poor” - in God’s eyes, it is all equally wrong. Why? It isn’t wrong because someone gets hurt. It isn’t wrong because someone loses out on what is rightfully theirs. It is wrong simply because...God said so!