The Ten Commandments: #9

Hey folks! As we begin our journey through Lent, our kids are transitioning into a series of lessons about the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments and the moral vision they espouse form the foundation of Christian moral teaching. With a little consideration one can see this everywhere, from the way we think about worship, to the way we think about the value of human life, humility, jealousy, and so on.

Read our introduction to the Ten Commandments (along with a bit about the first commandment) here.

This week, we’re looking at the eighth commandment, “Thou shall not covet…your neighbor’s wife” (Ex. 20:17).

When Jesus himself summarizes the law, he says that there are, most essentially, two commandments from God: Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself.

A glance at the Ten Commandments shows that those two commands—the love of God and neighbor—map nicely over top of them. Commands to worship God only, honoring the Sabbath, and misusing his name are all primarily directed to God; the rest of the commands have our neighbors in view. 

Both the ninth and tenth commandments are words directed at a person’s interior disposition toward their neighbor: commandment nine deals with one’s desire for their neighbor’s body; the tenth with one’s desire for their neighbor’s things. 

The “ninth word” here is essentially a prohibition against the objectification of the “other”: coveting one’s neighbor’s body is a kind of splitting apart (“rending asunder”) of the nature of your neighbor in your heart—which itself is a kind of murder.

This and the tenth command are words not against action, but against an interior posture that would treat one’s neighbor—especially their body—as less than human. 

Now, like the sixth commandment, this commandment deals with some sensitive territory, especially for 4-9 year-olds. One covets another’s flesh for the satisfaction of sexual desire, and not all (perhaps none) of the children in this ministry are ready to carry the weight of the meaning of human sexuality. For that reason, in an effort to respect their parent’s role in approaching it, we won’t so much be focusing in on the sexual aspect of this command. Rather we’ll want to redirect toward its root: a prohibition of the desire to possess another. 

Scripture to consider:

• Exodus 20:17

• 2 Sam. 11-12

  
  

Question for your kids

• What does it mean to "covet"? Is it an action or a condition of your heart? (Hint: to "covet" in this context is a condition of your heart bent toward possessing something)

• Why doesn't God want us to "covet"? (Hint: Because it's the opposite of gratitude; it's not a receptive posture to God's good gifts, but a possessive attitude toward what we don't have)

Peace,

Danny+