Pentecost Week 18 - The Tenth Commandment
Scripture Reading
*Explain the context: “This week, we will continue to read about God giving Israel his instructions at Mt. Sinai after God had freed them from Egypt.”
Exodus 20:17
Big Idea (For Parents)
We love our neighbor by not wrongfully wanting what God has given him.
Family Reflection
(Read aloud or summarize)
The Tenth Commandment continues to teach us what “love” looks like as we seek to love our neighbor as ourselves. A "neighbor" in this sense is anybody whom God brings into your life.
The Tenth Commandment prohibits coveting. One way to covet is to want a specific thing that God has given to another which you cannot have. For example, it is always wrong to want someone else’s specific spouse. It is not wrong, however, for an unmarried person to want a good spouse in general, or even a spouse that has some of the same good qualities as some else’s spouse. Another way to covet is to want what is another’s in a way that moves you to wrongfully obtain it. For example, it is not wrong to want someone else’s car if you only want to obtain it in a proper way, such as buying it for a fair price. But if you are unable to obtain it in a proper way, you must be content with not having it.
When God gives the Tenth Commandment, he says first not to covet your neighbor’s “house,” and this is best understood as “household” here. All the following items are things included in that household: his wife, his servants, his livestock, and all that is his. God has made your neighbor the authority over all these things and you must honor his authority over them by not wrongfully wanting them in a way that will tempt you to wrongfully take them. In this way, the Tenth Commandment in the “love of neighbor” section of the Ten Commandments corresponds to the Fifth Commandment in the “love of God” section, in which we honor God as the ultimate authority by honoring the lesser human authorities God sets over us.
Importantly, the Tenth Commandment makes clear that we can sin against God not only in our outward actions, but also in our inward desires. It is not only sin to actually steal my neighbor’s car. It is also sin to covet it, even if I never touch it.
In Deuteronomy, Moses groups his teaching on God’s laws according to the order of the Ten Commandments. The section dealing with the Tenth Commandment includes a law commanding Israel to engage in holy war. This implicitly teaches us that one of the best ways to avoid covetousness is to remain hard at work fighting the daily battles God has called us to fight. By doing so, we leave our minds and hearts no time or space to fill with covetousness.
Discussion Questions
(Choose 1-2. Adjust for age.)
1- What is one thing you are tempted to want which God has not given you? Is there is a proper way you could have that thing, or is it something you cannot have and thus it would be coveting to want it?
2- Why do you think God cares not only about what we do and say, but also about what we think, feel and want?
3- [*For older children due to implied mature content*] Read 2 Samuel 11:1-3, the beginning of the story of David and Bathsheba. What did David do wrong in that story before he ever saw Bathsheba? How did this initial failure contribute to his coveting?
(Hint: Where was David? Where was his army? Where was the king expected to be when the army was out fighting?)
Practice—No Idle Hands!
A common saying is that “idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” That saying overlaps with the bible’s implicit teaching that we can seek to avoid covetousness by keeping hard at work fighting the battles God has called us to fight. What battles has God appointed for you this week? Work? House chores? School? Homework?
Name the battles, commit yourselves to focus on fighting them rather than being idle (or “unoccupied”) in a way that invites covetousness, and pray together as a family for God to direct and bless your efforts.
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