Exodus 20:17
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor"
Coveting is an intense desire that makes you seek to acquire something that belongs to another, often by any means necessary. It encompasses emotions like jealousy, greed, lust, and pride, each of which is a spirit that leads to thoughts and actions that detrimentally impact everyone if left unchecked.
Genesis 3:1-7
Now the serpent was more crafty (subtle, skilled in deceit) than any living creature of the field which the LORD God had made. And the serpent (Satan which is an Aramaic word for enemy) said to the woman, "Can it really be that God has said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, except the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God said, 'You shall not eat from it nor touch it, otherwise you will die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You certainly will not die! For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened [that is, you will have greater awareness], and you will be like God, knowing [the difference between] good and evil." And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise and insightful, she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of the two of them were opened [that is, their awareness increased], and they knew that they were naked; and they fastened fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
The spirit of covetousness stands as the foundational source of all sin.
The story of the Garden of Eden illustrates this concept. The serpent spoke to Eve, sowing doubt about the truth of God's word and emphasizing the benefits of eating the forbidden fruit while highlighting the supposed drawbacks of God's command. The initial sin committed was an act of coveting, driven by the desire for something that was not yet meant to be possessed.
In essence, coveting goes beyond the mere desire to have things like one's neighbor; it is the yearning to obtain something at the expense of others, it underpins the origin of wrongdoing. In the case of Adam and Eve, it is at their own expense and that of future generations. It was a sacrifice of the relationship humanity has with God in order to gain in the moment knowing and understanding. They sacrificed who they and all of us could become for knowledge in the moment.
This commentary is the basis to the children's poem book God's Law Revealed in Poems now available on Amazon. If you read and enjoy this book, please leave a review on Amazon to help others guide their children towards the light.