Exodus 20:17
“You do not covet your neighbor’s house, you do not covet your neighbor’s wife, not his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, or whatever belongs to your neighbor.”
Sirach 10:9 (Included in original KJV 1611):
“How could earth and ashes be proud? There is none more wicked than a COVETOUS man; for such a one puts his own being up for sale; for while he lives he destroys his inner being.”
A person will literally deteriorate internally by stressing and spending his days wanting what others have and will do anything to get it, even sell his own being.
Proverbs 21:25-26
“The desire of the lazy man slays him, for his hands refused to work. He COVETS greedily all day long, but the righteous gives and does not withhold.”
The definition of covet is: yearn to possess or having something, to be consumed with desire for, have one’s heart set on.
Coveting is not being satisfied with the provision that YHWH has given and that person is jealous of what others have. For example there have been studies showing how people will get on Facebook and covet other people who post pictures of them living what they assume to be perfect lives. Pictures of their cars, their jobs, their money, their family, vacationing, partying, and their relationships.
The person who is envying the lives of others begins to covet what they have and try to keep up with “The Joneses’”. They aren’t satisfied with their life but covet someone elses’ which leads to hatred, depression, or even suicide; and furthermore, nobody knows how those individuals that they are coveting are living outside of Facebook. They could be depressed, in debt, or having suicidal thoughts, so be careful when coveting because you do not know the situation.
Mathew 6:22-23
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, all your body shall be enlightened. But if your eye is evil, all your body shall be darkened. If, then, the light that is within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
Sirach 14:9-10
“The greedy man has an evil eye; he turns away his face, and despises men. A covetous man’s eye is not satisfied with his portion; and the wickedness of the wicked dries up his being.”
So if you are coveting everything that others have then your eye has become evil and your body will become darkened with jealousy, hatred, and envy which are works of the flesh and not of someone who is being led by the Ruach ha’Kodesh The Holy Spirit as Paul writes:
Galatians 5:19-20
“And the works of the flesh are well-known, which are: adultery, whoring, uncleanness, indecency, idolatry, drug sorcery, HATRED, quarrels, JEALOUSIES, fits of rage, selfish ambitions, dissensions, faction, EVNY, MURDERS…”
Mathew 15:19
“For out of the heart come forth wicked reasoning’s, murders, adulteries, whorings, thefts, false witnessing, slanderers.”
James 4:14-17
“But if you have bitter jealousy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast against and lie against the truth. This is not the wisdom coming down from above, but it is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For where jealousy and self-seeking are, there is confusion and every foul deed. But the wisdom from above is first clean, then peaceable, gentle, ready to obey, filled with compassion and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”
The fruit of the Spirit is peace and life, but the works of the flesh by one coveting could birth all kinds of evil which stems from your heart, that could make one murder or steal for what they have been coveting. We are called to be selfless and not selfish, which means that we are to be satisfied with what we have been given.
Can coveting and desire lead to murder?
Exodus 20:17
“You do not covet your neighbor’s house, you do not covet your neighbor’s WIFE, not his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, or whatever belongs to your neighbor.”
YHWH says everything for a reason because He knows the hearts of men, so when David coveted and had a strong desire for Uriah’s wife it ended in murder.
2 Samuel 11:2-5
And it came to be, at evening time, that David rose up from his bed and walked about on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very good to look at. And David sent and asked about the woman, and one said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliyam, the WIFE of Uriyah the Hittite? And David sent messengers, to fetch her. And she came to him, and he lay with her-for she was cleansing herself from her uncleanness-and she returned to her house. And the woman conceived, and sent and informed David, and said, I am pregnant.” Verse 14-15 “And it came to be in the morning that David wrote a letter to Yoab and sent it by the hand of Uriyah. And he wrote in letter, saying, “Put Uriyah in the front of the heaviest battle, and you shall turn away from him, and he shall be smitten and shall die.”
Be satisfied with what YHWH has blessed you with!
1 Timothy 6:7-8
“For we brought naught into the world, and it is impossible to take any out. When we have food and covering, we shall be SATISFIED WITH THESE.”
Sirach 29:21
“The NECCESITIES for life are water, and bread, and garments, and a house for privacy.”
Hebrews 13:5
“In manner, be without covetousness, and be SATISFIED with what you have. For He Himself has said, “I shall never leave you nor forsake you…”
So based off the words of Paul and the scripture from Sirach we do not need much more outside of the necessities, because you understand that life here is temporary and not to store up treasures on earth, but in heaven. If YHWH blesses you with more then give Him praises for it, but if you have food, water, bread, clothing, and a house then praise Him for that too, because He gave it to you. Sadly, most people are ungrateful with what they have been given and always want to seek more which leads to covetousness. Always focus on YESHUA! May YHWH bless you all in YESHUA’s Name!