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by Charlie Wolcott

“You shall not covet…” -Exodus 20:17

This is the last of the Ten Commandments. You shall not lust after that which belong to your neighbor. Not his wife, nor house, nor car, nor children, nor things, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor. Not even their skills and talents, and interestingly enough, some people covet other people’s trials because they think they could handle them more easily than their own.

Covetousness had multiples causes; greed, control, jealousy, and lack of being content are the first four that come to mind. Greed, because you want things and if someone else has something you don’t, you want it too. Control, because if someone else has something you want and you don’t have control over it, then you can’t control that person either. Jealousy, because someone else is happier than you are, even if you have more stuff. Lack of being content, because “stuff” never satisfies and always leaves us wanting more. One could argue that covetousness is a root of breaking the other horizontal commandments, and I’ll make the argument that it can also be a root of idolatry. Unlike the other commandments where idolatry either is the violation of the commandment or leads to the violation of the commandment, violation of this commandment of covetousness leads to idolatry.

Few stories showcase covetousness more than Ahab. I give credit to David Wilkerson for pointing this out to me. Jezebel is perhaps the most wicked woman recorded in Scripture to the point where her name means “false teaching” or “false spirit.” She was the one who manipulated Ahab and controlled him. She led him into an even greater level of idolatry than Jeroboam had done, and as a result Ahab was considered the most wicked king of Israel. Ahab saw a vineyard owned by Naboth and because it was convenient and looked good, he wanted it. Naboth could not sell it according to the Law, and so Ahab threw a fit before Jezebel, and Jezebel did her thing to kill Naboth and give Ahab the land. In Ahab’s greed and covetousness, he turned to a false god and a false prophet to get it. His covetousness led to idolatry, turning to someone (in this case Jezebel) other than God.

During the time of the Judges and the Kings, the people of Israel and Judah kept turning to the gods of their neighbors. Why? 1) They wanted to be like their neighbors. Hint: that’s a form of covetousness. That’s why they asked for a king. Their neighbors had something they wanted: a physical ruler to represent them, rather than God. 2) The false gods offered something they didn’t believe God offered: fertility, rain, money, prosperity, etc. The gods offered all the people desired there and then, out of God’s will and out of God’s timing. There’s one big problem with all that: God DID promise He would provide everything they would need and above and beyond that. They just needed to trust Him.

Covetousness leads to turning to sources other than God for our needs, and that leads to idolatry. At the same time, already having an idol in your heart produces covetousness as well. When we have an idol, it means we don’t trust God to provide for us. And when we don’t trust Him, it means we end up seeking something that caters to our flesh instead of trusting God for what we need. Remember what Jesus faced in the wilderness? You can summarize the temptations in three words: health, wealth, and prosperity. That’s what Eve saw in the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It’s also the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. That’s what Satan offers, and it’s what the coveter seeks in his lusts. When a man seeks something, he will seek that which will give it, even if it is an idol and even if it means a deal with the devil. And Satan will gladly offer it, but it won’t last nor endure.

If we instead seek God, He will provide all we need and above and beyond that. But it will be in His timing and it won’t be for the purpose of satisfying our lusts. I have never seen God fail to deliver on His promises, though He will intentionally delay them to test us to see if we will prove faithful. There are many times where man may jump the gun and go too early where if they had only waited, the right thing or the right person would be in place to direct them. God often allows a counterfeit to go first to see if we will take the bait, but if we trust Him, there will be no need to seek after the other gods to give us what we think we want.

There is always a cost when we covet, and that cost is not merely failure of our endeavors. People have lusted after fame and fortune, coveting the lavish lifestyle, the media love, the popularity, the money, the expensive toys and large houses, etc., and many of them got it. They turned to their gods and their gods delivered them. But their gods also have their own “quid pro quo” terms. It often comes in the form of serving the gods in demonic ways. If the people of Israel turned to performing sex orgies, drunkenness, and child sacrifice to serve their idols, how much more so are people doing that now? When Jesus said, “If you gain the whole world but lose your soul…” this kind of thing could very well be part of that. Jesus knew what went on behind the scenes, behind the publicity and the paparazzi. History books don’t tell you those things and the few who are allowed to speak out, are allowed because they won’t be a threat to those pulling the strings.

When it initially dawned on me how idolatry can be or is involved in the breaking of all Ten Commandments, I was still thinking surface level, but as this series began to come together, it’s hit me on a greater level how deep and how dark idolatry is. I am seeing more and more now why God took it so seriously. There is absolutely nothing good that can come out of idolatry. However, every one of us has engaged in idolatry is some way shape or form, and in that idolatry, we’ve broken these Ten Commandments from mere dwelling of hatred of our brother or lusting in our hearts to the actual deeds themselves. And as a result, every one of us are guilty before God of treason deserving of death. Next week, I will talk about how idolatry is the root of all evil, but fortunately there is hope for us, which I will write about after that.

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