Thou Shalt not Covet ...the Wayfarer11/29/16

Thou Shalt not Covet
11/29/16

Exodus 20:17

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁷ Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

This 10^th commandment delivered by Moses, written on a tablet of stone by God’s own hand, is perhaps one of the most easily recognizable to have been neglected, ignored, and refused by those to whom it was given, and to all mankind in general.

It sums up the cause of the distress and misery that has beset the world, and all of the “great civilizations” that mankind has produced, and attempts to continue to produce while in denial of it as well as the other nine given on those same tablets of stone.

It was that same covetousness that was the cause of murder as Cain slew Abel when offerings were given their Creator, a covetousness of blessings received for the efforts that went into that offering, and the value of that effort given was determined by God himself.

It was that covetousness that prompted Eve to ignore the single commandment of prohibition given as the serpent lied to her, telling her that rather than producing death, as was promised by God, that the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil  would instead make her and her progeny equal to God.

It was that same covetousness of the “wealth” of all about them that caused God’s chosen to disregard the first commandment in hopes of acquiring that “wealth”, while ignoring the true wealth of the blessings conferred on them when those ten foundational laws were followed.

Each looked about, each saw what was held by others, each conveniently forgot what was given them as they sought ever more of what was held to be valuable to those around them, while the value of what was given them was deemed as never enough.

James spoke of that same covetousness and its result as it proliferated and continued in his day, and as it continues to proliferate and continue in our own as well:

James 4

King James Version (KJV)

4 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

² Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

³ Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

⁴ Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

⁵ Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

⁶ But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

⁸ Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

⁹ Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

¹¹ Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

¹² There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

¹³ Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:

¹⁴ Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

¹⁵ For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

¹⁶ But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

¹⁷ Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

In the past, I have used many of the wonderful hymns of praise to illustrate points being made, and in the future I shall, undoubtedly, return to that habit.

Today however, my heart is drawn to another illustration, one that also comes from the music of my youth, that is not in the common sense a hymn of praise, but is an affirmation of the covetousness that while remaining so ignored by generation after generation, is a reminder of where that covetousness leads.

One tin soldier
Listen people to a story
That was written long ago,
'bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley folks below.
On the mountain was a treasure
Hidden deep beneath a stone,
And the valley people swore
They'd have it for their very own.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing,
Come the judgment day,
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away.

So the people of the valley
Sent a message up the hill,
Asking for the buried treasure
Tons of gold for which they'd kill.
Came the answer from the kingdom,
With our brothers we will share,
All the riches of the mountain,
All the treasure buried there.

Now the valley cried with anger,
Mount your horses, draw your swords
And they killed the mountain people,
So they won their just rewards
Now they stood before the treasure
On the mountain dark and red
Turned the stone and looked beneath it
Peace on earth, was all it said.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat and friend,
Do it in the name of heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day,
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away.

Songwriters: BRIAN POTTER, DENNIS EARLE LAMBERT

As warfare continues throughout the world for lands and territories coveted by those who seek the values of what is held within the resources provided by God within them, that 10^th commandment remains forgotten and ignored.

As demand is made within the very fabric of otherwise peaceful societies for “equality” of material wealth and anarchy raises its ugly head in destruction of what has been built by others, rather than effort being produced to achieve that equality through the initial sweat and effort expended by others, covetousness reigns, while compassion shown is ignored; while greed comes ever to the fore as blessings given are ignored, or taken as inherent right as opposed to being something earned, the words to this old song from my youth stridently ring out as they did the first time they impressed themselves on me so long ago.

The line within the song that says, “there won’t be any trumpets blowing, come the judgement day”, are a reminder that those trumpets shall have sounded prior to that day, and they too shall have been ignored.

As that day draws ever closer the time to hear and heed those trumpets, also draws to a close.

The time left to hear and heed the simple message of redemption through repentance, preached by Christ Jesus also draws closer to its close as well, as does the time left to comprehend and follow the single commandment left us by Him that in and of itself refutes covetousness and embodies what is to be given in its place.

2 Timothy 1:12 King James Version (KJV)

¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Amen and Amen

the Wayfarer