July 12, 2026 - The Tenth Commandment (Exodus 20:17)

The Tenth Commandment (Exodus 20:17)

Rev. Myung-Sin Choi

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.

Introduction

In France, there is a famous story about an old rich man who had a lot of wealth and he had a warehouse full of gold. And this rich man would look and touch his gold and it would make him very happy. The rich man thought that he was going to hide all of his gold and wealth underground in a tunnel and every single day, he would visit the underground to touch and look at his gold and be very pleased. But one day, this old man went missing and whenever people searched everywhere but couldn’t find him. After some time passed, no one could find this old man so they sold his house. But one day, this person found a door to underground in the wine cellar and when he opened the door, the old man was dead holding onto his gold and silver. What happened was that the door closes automatically and this old man went underground without his key so he became locked in. No one was Abel to find him so this old man ended up dying. This rich man loved his gold and silver so much that he would visit his gold every single and forgot the key. Today’s sermon is about not coveting. This message is a very important message. This message is the last commandment that God gave to us, the 10th commandment which means that since it is the last, it is the most important. 

1. The Meaning of the Tenth Commandment

(1) The meaning of covetousness

Verse 17 - But today’s Biblical passage says not to covet twice in the scripture. First, it says not to covet your neighbor’s house and then not to covet anything that belongs to your neighbor. God was very specific about this 10th commandment. You Amy think that this commandment is the same as the eighth commandment because the eighth commandment says not to steal so coveting and stealing may seem like the same thing. When you steal something, you take an action but in the 10 commandment, it is speaking about your thoughts and what is your heart. Why did God give us the 10th commandment? The word covet in Hebrew is "chamad." There are two meanings in "Chamad", the first meaning is when you have greed and selfish greed. But the original meaning of covet was not greed. The original meaning of covet in Hebrew was “to look very good.” But these two meanings share the same meaning in Hebrew. This is very interesting. When you look at something nice, you have a lot of happiness just looking at something nice. But when something nice is not yours, you think to yourself that you wish that it was yours. When you have the thought and heart that you want something, you start developing covertness for that thing. They share the same meaning and God is telling us not covet. When you see something nice, don’t covet what is not yours. God tells us not to covet your neighbor’s house. This is not simply talking about a building but this house represents the world and community around you. When your neighbor seems to be doing well and have nice things, don’t covet those things. Secondly, God tells us not to covet what belongs to your neighbor, their wife, their servants, donkey, ox, or anything else that belongs to them. You see that your neighbor has nice servants and wish that those servants belong to you. God is telling us having covertness towards those things, you are committing a sin. 

(2) The start of covetousness

Romans 7:7 “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’ ” - Paul is saying that covetousness is envying the things of your neighbors but that is sin. But many people don’t know just envying the things of your neighbor is a sin because they are not physically stealing something from a person. God is saying that just coveting and envying the thing of your neighbors is a sin. We may do this all the time without us knowing. The 10th commandment is the conclusion of the 10 commandments. If you look at all of the commandments, what is causing you to sin and why God gave us the 10 commandments because of our covetousness. 

This was how Satan deceived mankind in the beginning, it was with covetousness as seen in Genesis 3:5-6 “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.”

By imprinting covetousness into the minds and heart of Adam and Eve, the result of that is shown in Genesis 3:6 - Since Satan imprinted covetousness into Adam and Eve, it was so easy for Adam and Eve to break down. The easiest way to break down mankind is through covetousness. The start of the fall of Satan started with covetousness as well. 

John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” - Covetousness started with our father, Satan. How did covetousness start? 

Isaiah 14:14 “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” - The reason why Satan was judged was because he coveted the glory of God. Everything started from covetousness. 

2. The importance of the Tenth Commandment

(1) Covetousness is idolatry

Colossians 3:5 “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” - Covetousness is idolatry. Why is that? When you worship idols, man made idols. In order to fill their empty hearts, man made idols. Many people in the Bible worshipped many idols and they would worship these gods to give them good crops and harvest. And they would worship idols to give them fertility and to raise many children in order to become powerful. In order to fulfill their greed, they would worship these idols. Since things weren’t going their ways with their physical abilities, they would worship these idols. They would worship these idols but they wouldn’t know that darkness was at work. In order to fulfill their greed, they would worship idols but this would cause darkness to work. 

Ephesians 2:2 “In which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” - Through what the nonbelievers serve, Satan acts like their master. These idols were created through greed, and Satan would use this to show that he is the master over their lives and teach them idol worship. Since they would worship idols, Satan would be at work. That is why covetousness is an idolatry. That is why the first commandment tells us not to worship any idols. The 10th commandment commands us not to covet because coveting is idol worship. That is why idol worship and covetousness is the same thing. This makes all of the 10 commandments connected all together. Covertness is the root of all evil. That is why God commands us not to covet and emphasizes us not covet, and said that twice. Covetousness may seem very simple but can cause very dangerous problems. We must open our spiritual eyes to this. 

(2) Healing of faith

1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” - To love money means to idolize money as your god. Just like how I spoke in the introduction, this rich man loved his gold and wealth. He didn’t care about God or the church, and only loved his gold and wealth. The people of this world are like this and cannot come out of their greed for money. 

Our remnants must hold onto Luke 12:15 “And He said to them, ‘Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.’ ” - Your life is not determined by money. You must hold onto this fact. You must change your thoughts. No matter how wealthy you are, you have to eat three meals and you have to wear the same clothes as everyone else. God sees you no different no matter how wealthy you are. Life is more important. During the VBS in Oklahoma, I spoke about the times when I evangelized. When all people die, they all confessed that the angel of death came to them. No matter who you are, the angel of death will come to you. When the angel of death comes to you when you die, that means that you don’t have life. When the angel of death comes to you, then that means that you are going to Satan. Those who have life, the angel of life will come to you. This is the most important, nothing else is important. Life is most important, not money. 

Ephesians 5:5 “For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” - Many people have fallen into so much sin and greed. They find only physical pleasures in life and only chase after these things. There was a pastor who went to a casino in Oklahoma and they all looked like zombies. They all looked like zombies chasing after only money. But many people are lost in this way. They have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. There are so many people who try to find happiness in this world but they cannot find it. True happiness comes from God and the kingdom of God alone. Remnants you must understand this and have victory.

Galatians 5:24, 2:20 “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” - We who are Christians, all of your covetousness, passions, and desires have been crucified on the cross with Christ. Our direction is different. Our direction is towards Christ and the kingdom of God. Why is that? 

Galatians 2:20 - We no longer exist and we only live for the glory of God. Hold onto Christ alone. All of the knowledge and treasures are found within Christ. All blessings are found within Christ. 

3. Three Ways

(1) The fundamental path

The reason why physician Luke wrote the book of Acts is seen in Acts 1:1 “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.” - The Son of God came down to Earth to die on the cross and to solve all of our problems once and for all. Solving all of our fundamental problems was the work of Christ. 

(2) The path to enjoyment

Acts 2:3 “Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.” - The Holy Spirit is within us. We are filled with the Holy Spirit and we must enjoy that. All power and blessings are within this. 

(3) The path to relay the message

Acts 2:4 “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” - Through the Holy Spirit, God will guide us. God will guide us towards the path of creation of this world. May we enjoy these blessings. 

Conclusion

Hold onto Philippians 3:8 “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” - Discard all of your covetousness and hold onto only Christ. This is not something that we should do lightly. If we hold onto Christ, then God will guide and protect us for the rest of our lives. May we receive great blessings within our lives.