The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 20:17,
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
Exodus 20 is the chapter that contains the "big 10". The ten commandments. These commands do not compromise all of the law the Israelites were to keep in order to fulfill their part of the bargain in being God's chosen and covenanted people. As we continue to read through these first five books of our Bibles, written by Moses we find a lot of laws. These, however, are "showcased" by God in that they will be inscribed on stone tablets and placed into the "Ark of the Covenant" that Israel was to maintain in the "Holy of Holies" within the tabernacle.
I count 8 prohibitions and 2 "must dos" in the list of the ten (keeping the Sabbath and honoring our parents are the "dos". The command in verse 17 is a prohibition against coveting a neighbor's things: his house, wife, servants, domesticated animals, anything he has.
What is interesting to me is the prohibition of coveting is a law of the heart, a law of the "feelings" or attitudes within our hearts: potentially envy, resentfulness, jealousy, avariciousness, etc. The violation of this law can certainly lead to sinful outward activity and probably the intent of the prohibition, but to have the urging of coveting is a sin within itself without any outward action needed. I would think the honoring of our parents, likewise, is a law regarding the heart. Others, like worshipping idols, stealing, adultery, murder, etc. - those are all outward and objective actions.
I'm reminded of Jesus' words in the sermon on the mount. Do not commit adultery becomes a crime within - no need for any outward action, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:27-28.
I suspect that "Do not covet" is not given the standing of importance of these others in our day. However, Paul used this commandment as example of what he meant when speaking of the law, Romans 7:7 and 13:9. James uses the breaking of this command as the cause of fights and quarrels among those he calls "adulterous people" who live at enmity against God, James 4:4.
The law God gave Moses is important as it points to our need of being saved from ourselves and our sin. Keeping the law won't get us to heaven, because we can't keep it. However, without the law, we just might wonder why we need to be saved in the first place! "... through the law we become conscious of our sin" Romans 3:20. Certainly these "inward laws" provide us that.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
Exodus 20 is the chapter that contains the "big 10". The ten commandments. These commands do not compromise all of the law the Israelites were to keep in order to fulfill their part of the bargain in being God's chosen and covenanted people. As we continue to read through these first five books of our Bibles, written by Moses we find a lot of laws. These, however, are "showcased" by God in that they will be inscribed on stone tablets and placed into the "Ark of the Covenant" that Israel was to maintain in the "Holy of Holies" within the tabernacle.
I count 8 prohibitions and 2 "must dos" in the list of the ten (keeping the Sabbath and honoring our parents are the "dos". The command in verse 17 is a prohibition against coveting a neighbor's things: his house, wife, servants, domesticated animals, anything he has.
What is interesting to me is the prohibition of coveting is a law of the heart, a law of the "feelings" or attitudes within our hearts: potentially envy, resentfulness, jealousy, avariciousness, etc. The violation of this law can certainly lead to sinful outward activity and probably the intent of the prohibition, but to have the urging of coveting is a sin within itself without any outward action needed. I would think the honoring of our parents, likewise, is a law regarding the heart. Others, like worshipping idols, stealing, adultery, murder, etc. - those are all outward and objective actions.
I'm reminded of Jesus' words in the sermon on the mount. Do not commit adultery becomes a crime within - no need for any outward action, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:27-28.
I suspect that "Do not covet" is not given the standing of importance of these others in our day. However, Paul used this commandment as example of what he meant when speaking of the law, Romans 7:7 and 13:9. James uses the breaking of this command as the cause of fights and quarrels among those he calls "adulterous people" who live at enmity against God, James 4:4.
The law God gave Moses is important as it points to our need of being saved from ourselves and our sin. Keeping the law won't get us to heaven, because we can't keep it. However, without the law, we just might wonder why we need to be saved in the first place! "... through the law we become conscious of our sin" Romans 3:20. Certainly these "inward laws" provide us that.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
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