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Revelation 21:17--12d |
Revelation 21, Page 22e-12d | ||
Significant Words and Comments: Commentary on Revelation 21:17 expansion (18 August 2008): Commandment or Structure #12: “Thou shalt not covet . . . anything that is thy neighbor’s.” Detail #12:5: Covetousness materialism ultimately brings total demise. “He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.” It was such covetousness which led Achan to steal and bury part of the loot from Israel’s successful destruction of Jericho: “When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.” Achan’s entire family was stoned. Likewise, it was covetousness which led Ahab to have Naboth killed so he could take his vineyard. Ahab lost the kingdom and was killed. Covetousness drove Elisha’s servant Gehezi to lyingly beg silver and garments from Naaman and then seek to hide his deception from Elisha. Gehezi became a leper. To protect us from destroying ourselves, Yehuveh seeks to turn us from covetous motives. Proverbs 28:22; Joshua 7:21; 1 Kings 21:1, 2; 2 Kings 5:20-27. Also: Proverbs 23:6; 13:11; 20:21; 23:4. Detail #12:6: Coveting brings evil on our families and our own souls. “Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil! Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul.” “He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live.” Not only are there troubles within the financial conduct of the home, but the spirit of covetousness spoils the moral values of the children, setting their feet in the same path of valuing material gain above Yehuveh’s instructions. When Achan stole the garment, gold, and silver, he probably acted alone, but when his family became aware of his wrong and cooperated with him in concealing it, they became party to his crime and ultimately participated in his punishment: “Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? Yehuveh shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.” The corrupt mindset which led to Achan’s action permeated the training he had given his family; all were corrupted by his choices and actions. Habakkuk 2:9-10; Proverbs 15:27; Joshua 7:24-25. Also: Genesis 13:10-13; 18:25; 19:26-38; Exodus 20:5; Numbers 16:27-31; Deuteronomy 7:25, 26; Joshua 6:18, 21; 7:11, 12, 21-26; 1 Samuel 8:3-5; 1 Kings 21:2-4, 19-24; 2 Kings 5:20-27; Job 20:19-28; Proverbs 1:19; 11:19, 29; 20:21; Isaiah 5:8-10; Jeremiah 17:11; 22:13-19; Habakkuk 2:9-11; Zechariah 5:1-4. Detail #12:7: Covetousness motivates unrighteous unions for gain. “It came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. . . . And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her.” Had David strictly guarded Yehuveh’s instruction he would not have been thus snared, for “the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: to keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Lust [covet] not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids. For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?” The desire for a beautiful woman is not, of course, the only covetous snare. Solomon coveted the national secrets of the nations around him, prompting him to marry the princesses to gain access to information otherwise apparently inaccessible to him. Shechem used a covetous appeal to gain support for his countrymen to submit to circumcision in order to forward his desired marriage to Jacob’s daughter: “Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.” If we avoid coveting, we avoid many another snare to enter into difficult human relationships. 2 Samuel 11:2-4; Proverbs 6:23-27; Genesis 34:23. Also: Proverbs 5:15, 18-19; 18:22; 19:14; Ecclesiastes 9:9; Malachi 2:14-15. Gael Bataman Originally Written: 18 August 2008 Latest Update: 18 August 2008 Return to Zadok Home Page Continue . . . Return One Page Go to Revelation Intro |