To the Unknown God-Part C

“The determinations of the Eternal Mind are not sudden resolves but the counterparts of an eternal counsel, the copies of divine decrees. Our times are in His hand, to lengthen or shorten, embitter or sweeten, as He pleases.” Mathew Henry. 

Paul exhorts people of Athens mostly heathen, that God is present everywhere, and we do not have to place graven images to feel His presence, and even without an altar or without a temple. There is a longing God has placed in our hearts and a longing for eternity, and a necessary and constant dependence upon His providence just like streams have upon the spring and plant life on sun. In Him we live, move, and He is our life and length of days, and we are not perished because of His patience and pity on our lives. God is our Father, and because of His Fatherly care, power, and goodness our frail life our days are prolonged. It is by His providence our souls cherishes, our thoughts run to and fro for many subjects, and our affections and love run towards proper objects. In God our souls move our bodies, we speak, we walk, and He is all in all because God has made man in His image and likeness. In Him we are a noble being ranked high, capable of knowing and enjoying God and not thrown to perish with the misery of the devil because of His love and goodness. Above all we are His offspring, formed by Him and for Him and therefore we as His children are obliged to obey His commandments. Since we are called to live for Him, we have to consecrate our entire being to Him, and become holy and acceptable to Him because there is an eternal well-being in Him.

Paul reasoned out and argued with the Athenian heathens that God cannot be represented by an image of gold, silver, or stone or graven art and by other man’s devices for the following reasons.

·         We are the off springs of God, and spirits in flesh and God our Father is a Spirit Himself, so the Godhead cannot be thought of as an image, or a mould made out of a material from this earth.

·         God does not dwell in a temple made out of our hands, and we wrong God by thinking so and put an affront upon Him. It is extremely sad when we dishonour God by making Him after the likeness of our body. We fail to realize the intensity and the depth of God’s love when He made man in the likeness of His own.

Paul now is addressing the aching question in the hearts of highly learned philosophical Athenians. How did God react towards the Gentile world before the Gospel came? 

·         Can we say that God winked at, during the time of ignorance? It is clear and obvious looking at Athens today that human learning would have flourished so much more than ever even before time of Christ coming into this world. The Gentile world was grossly flourished in all areas except the things of God and they were very ignorant. In the worship of God they were ignorant and we can safely assume idolatry was because of their ignorance.

·         God did detest and hated those times of the ignorance of the Gentiles, because He did not like His glory being parted to something or someone else. So we can safely assume and say that at this time of ignorance God did wink as an act of divine patience and ignorance.

·         God did not detest them by sending prophets as He did to Israel, but in His divine patience and forbearance He did wink and did not punish them in their idolatries but gave them the gift of His providence. He commanded all men to repent of their folly and to break off the worship of idols, and to come and worship the true and living God. He showed His love tremendously on the cross through His Son Jesus Christ, and through His authority and made it very clear that it is our duty and privilege to listen to Him. “Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.  Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good , and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and”; Acts: 14:16-17.

Paul warned them that God will judge the world that He has made, and want all the children to give an account of what they were gifted with. Male and female before God are called to give an account for the what they have done with their body; whether their body served their soul or the soul was useless to the body making provision for the flesh. It is written, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad”; 2 Cori: 5:10. He reasoned out and argued that there is a day appointed in the counsel of God which cannot be altered where the final determination of men’s state for eternity is affirmed.

·         The world will be judged in His righteousness because He alone is righteous. God’s knowledge of men’s characters and actions are infallibly true and so His sentence upon them will be contestably just and no one absolutely no one will be able to act and say anything against this. God will judge the world by whom He has ordained from the beginning of time and that man is none other than our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and unto Him all judgement is committed.

·         God has raised Jesus from death is the great proof of Him being appointed to judge all mankind, the dead and the living. God exalted Jesus Christ by raising Him up from death and that was the beginning, and Jesus Christ judging the world will be the perfection of it, because the One who begins will also make an end.

·         Consideration of the great judgement which is going to come, we should repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and turn to God. This is a serious matter, matter of life or death. This judgement day will be a terrible day for those who are living in sin, and it is a serious matter to make the judge as our friend. True penitents, those who turn from sins will then lift up their heads with joy, and they will be the redeemed of the Lord.

When Paul addressed the resurrection of the dead to Athenians he had some issues with the people and the Gospel has little success just as anywhere else. We can safely assume that the pride of the philosophers of Athens, just like the Pharisees of Jerusalem, has prejudiced them against the Gospel of Christ. There were different categories of people when Gospel was presented.

·         Many ridiculed Paul’s preaching especially when they heard about resurrection of the dead. When they listened to the resurrection of the dead, they cannot bear it totally, because this was in direct contradiction to the principle of their philosophy. They believed life once lost was totally irrecoverable. Athenians had deified their dead heroes, but never thought they would be raised from the dead, and so they could not reconcile themselves to the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, and the everlasting life. Paul’s doctrine was the saints’ joy, but to their jest, and they made a laughing matter of the whole doctrine.

·         Many others were willing to listen and wanted time to consider it. They do not want to comply with what Paul has said now, but want to hear Paul’s doctrine again. They are willing to debate and learn from him but would not want to take Paul’s teaching as absolute truth. 

 

Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. Acts: 17:16-34

 

 

 

 

 

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To the Unknown God-Part B

I realized that Athens is a very learned place and a place for Philosophers, when I visited I can see it has one of the best place for Universities and education. For the Athenians Christine Doctrine is worshipping of strange gods, and worshipping new demons.  So for Paul it was a harder market towards Athenians to bring the doctrine of resurrection and Jesus dying for the world to remove the sins of people. In general we can say Athenians lost the benefit of the Christian doctrine because they dressed it up in a pagan dialect and attributed it towards worshipping of strange gods. Paul was at Aeropagus which is called Mar’s Hill, and was the town house of the city where the magistrates met up for business and the court house justice was generally kept. This was also the theatre place in the University where the learned meet and often discuss and communicate their notions. In this court at Athens when someone denies any God, they are liable to the censure of this court. This is the place Paul was invited to explain the new doctrine of Christ and His resurrection. The good thing which came out after Paul’s speech was Athenians were willing to listen to this strange doctrine even though they debated, and some mocked. The natives of Athens looked upon Paul’s doctrine as strange, very different from the Philosophy they had been taught and professed. Athenians were always for new things: new government, new gods, new Philosophy, new demons, new fashioned images and altars for their gods, new schemes, new plans and forms for new government and new notions and were always given to change. When I stood at the foot of Mar’s Hill I realized that journey for Paul was not easy in that culture at that time, but for me it has been a blessing because I understand Scripture in depth after my visit.

Now we can understand when Paul stood at Mar’s Hill and spoke it was a new sermon and a new doctrine to the heathens at Athens. The scope of their discourse was completely different, while for Paul his aim was to bring them to the knowledge of the only Living and true God. He wanted to instruct them in the first principle of all religions and that is there is a God, and one and only true God and warned them not to worship the false gods made out of human hands. Paul is really concerned that they were mingling the idolatries in all of their current affairs and day to day life and in fear worshipped demons, the spirits which inhibited the images. He is warning about the superstitious beliefs of the people and he charged them in that crime for giving the glory to the false gods and not the true God.

Athenians had a set up an altar “To the unknown God,” and Paul addressed their written inscription to the unknown God. When they inscribed as “unknown God” that means Athenians have acknowledged that there is a God, and the only God which was unknown to them at that time. It is extremely sad to know Athens, being a place for monopoly of wisdom, the true God was inscribed as an unknown God.

·         Some people think this ‘unknown God’ is the God of Jews, whose nature is unsearchable and whose name is ineffable. It is also possible they heard from the Jews and from the writings of the Old Testament about the God of Israel who proved Himself to be above all other gods, and also who hides Himself based upon Isaiah 45:15; “Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour”. The heathens of Athens also believed that this God of Jews is an uncertain God and for them an uncertain deity of Moses without a name.

·         Some other people of Athens think that it will be their happiness to know Him. There was a narration at Athens especially when there was a great plague. When the plague raged when there was continuous sacrifice, people were advised to let go of some sheep as pleased, where they lay down and they wanted to build a proper altar to a proper God who is in charge of removing that kind of pestilence and plague. Athenians do not know what to call Him, and they inscribed it, “To the unknown God”.

·         The Gentiles in general and the Athenians in particular, their devotions were not governed by their philosophers but by their poets and their idle fictions. Homer’s works became the Bible of their pagan theology which is demonology, and their philosophers tamely submitted to it. They rested in their speculations, disputed among themselves and taught it faithfully to their scholars.

Paul wanted to reform their philosophy and give them the notion of the one and one true God, and bring them off from their polytheism and idolatry. Paul taught them the one whom he serves is the God Almighty, God of heaven and the earth and he wanted Athenians to serve that God alone leaving idolatry and polytheism. The world has been like this from the beginning and it was from eternity is the Aristotle’s school of thought and they denied that God formed the heavens and the earth. The world was made by a fortuitous concourse of atoms, which has been in a perpetual motion, and accidently jumped into this frame was the Epicurus school of fancied thought pattern. Paul has been continuously debating with the scholars of the above schools of thought and maintains that God is the alpha, the Omega and the beginning and the end. He reasoned out with them that God according to the contrivance of an infinite wisdom and power made the world and all that is there in. He tried to part the notion that God is the proprietor, rightful owner and possessor of all powers, riches, in this world and in the heavens who is invisible. Do we think that this kind of reasoning is easy? If we think that mission work is hard today, and the ground is hard, what do we think of this place Athens as a mission ground?

Paul reasoned out using the Word of God that God is the great benefactor of the whole creation, including mankind to whom He has given His breath. He breathed into the first man, gave us this soul and He formed the spirit of man within him. God holds our souls in life, every moment the breath goes out, and He gives it back to us in His grace the next moment, and it is His air we breathe, but in His Hands is our breath; Dan: 5:23;  “But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.”

Paul taught them how all the people of this world are made of one blood, but placed in different nations, in their different political capacity. God has dispersed them into communities for their mutual preservation and benefit even though they were made of one blood and of one and the same nature. What God has determined regarding an event must not be disputed because it is unchangeable and cannot be altered because it was determined before even it is appointed. God has appointed the time of our coming into the world and the time of leaving based on Ecc: 3:1-2.  “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted”.

To the Unknown God- Part A

These writings were based on my recent visit to Athens and when I stood on Mars Hill where Paul preached I started to pen for the edification of the body of Christ.  Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you; Acts 17:21-23.  

I have a deep urge in my heart to pen this because the world’s major religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam and other religions are making inroads as a variety of cults, new age Philosophies flourishing and not to forget the paganism had taken deep roots. This is not new to any one when we read God’s Word because it has been a practice to worship idols even before the birth of Christ. How do we carry the Gospel to the areas surrounded by the other forms of worship? As I have lived in different parts of the world like India, Nepal, Malaysia and Singapore the above forms of worship is very common. Recently I have visited Greece, Italy and Turkey and my focus was on Ephesus, Athens and Rome and the historical ruins and the archeology. Let us refer to Acts chapter 17, and here Apostle Paul is giving some guide lines to how to reason out and talk with the help of the Spirit of God to an unbelieving world.

Refer Acts of the Apostles, Paul preaching to Athenians: Acts 17: 16-33.

Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing. Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.  For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you; Acts 17:16-23.

Paul was not in Athens to show off his intellectual capacity to the people of Athens, nor to improve himself in Athenian philosophy. He knows it was only a vain glory; ^“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ”; Col 2:8. He was stirred in his spirit to bring Christ and to correct their disorders in religion and to turn them from serving the idols to serve the Living God. He was concerned and filled with compassion for mankind who were caught up in the perils and bondages of Satan and living in sin. He was annoyed with holy indignation at the heathen priests and philosophers who drove people to idolatry and led them in the wrong direction.

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Acts: 17:24-30.

Epicurean philosophers indulged in all the pleasures and senses of this world which is in direct contradiction to what Christ has taught; which is to deny the world and the things of this world. They do not believe that God made the world and He governs the world and they do not believe that man should pay attention to what God says and do not believe there is a judgement day.

 Stoicks really thought themselves to be as good as God and indulged themselves very much like the Epicurean philosophers and very much give to lust of the eye, the pride of life and the lust of the flesh. They also thought that a virtuous man is equivalent to God and in no way inferior to God. 

Babbler thought of himself as an idle fellow and equated himself to a ballet singer. They thought Paul to be a pitiful contemptible creature and thought he will get money here and there for what he is doing very similar to a bird which searches food and gets grain here and there.

Whom do we glory in?

Today is Good Friday, a remembrance Day that Jesus Christ was crucified for the salvation of the whole world. It was a beautiful and yet a very painful design by God the Father to give Jesus Christ for the whole world. It was God’s plan and design to sanctify us through Christ Jesus.

    The passage below was taken from the first Book of Corinthians written by Apostle Paul. Corinth was the capital city of Greece, and this was the major centre for art, culture and it is one of the world trade centre for commerce. Corinth was a bustling commercial trading city which hosted many businesses and also it is a place for idolatrous worship and degraded moral culture during the period of Apostle Paul. This should not shock any one of us who is reading this write up because we are living in a world of polluted culture and very often pressured from all directions to conform to the image the world projects as the right and the best.

    This Book was written to the believers at Corinth when the church was pressured and the struggles the believers and the Body of Christ faced in a pagan culture. When we read through this Book we notice that Paul addresses a variety of problems in the Body of Christ and there are so many divisions in the Church because of varied beliefs and doctrines. Factions, immorality, questionable practices, abusing the Lord’s Supper and the abuse of spiritual gifts seem to be prevailing and there was tremendous confusion about the relationships of singleness and marriage and believers needed some clarification. It looked like there was no proper spiritual leader to admonish, confront and correct and lead the people in the path of truth in love. Questions were raised by the believers and Paul is addressing the above issues with God’s wisdom and guidance.

Let us read 1 Corinthians 1:17-31:

¹⁷ For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

¹⁸ For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

¹⁹ For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

²⁰ Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

²¹ For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

²² For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

²³ But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

²⁴ But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

²⁵ Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

²⁶ For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

²⁷ But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

²⁸ And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

²⁹ That no flesh should glory in his presence.

³⁰ But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

³¹ That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

    Preaching the Cross of Christ is the main theme while Paul is addressing and he firmly says that for those who perish in wickedness this message was foolishness. At the Cross the wisdom of the world and all its’ intelligence comes to nothing and the wise are baffled and eclipsed by the Christian revelation. This revelation and the glorious triumphs of the Cross is foolishness in the eyes of the worldly men today. In other words unless the Spirit of the Lord awakens our conscience and our spirit one cannot fathom this mystery and it is the wonder working power of God to work in the life of a person to unveil this mystery.  

    Christ crucified is a stumbling-block to the Jews. They had a conceit that their expected Messiah was to be a great temporal prince, and therefore would never own one who made so mean an appearance in life, and died so accursed a death, for their deliverer and king. They despised him, and looked upon him as execrable, because he was hanged on a tree, and because he did not gratify them with a sign to their mind, though his divine power shone out in innumerable miracles. The Jews require a sign, v. 22. See Mt. 12:38. 2. He was to the Greeks foolishness. They laughed at the story of a crucified Saviour, and despised the apostles’ way of telling it. They sought for wisdom. They were men of wit and reading, men that had cultivated arts and sciences, and had, for some ages, been in a manner the very mint of knowledge and learning. There was nothing in the plain doctrine of the cross to suit their taste, nor humour their vanity, nor gratify a curious and wrangling temper: they entertained it therefore with scorn and contempt¹.

    We can safely assume and say that the Hands of God which is full of love had twisted the crown of thorns into crown of glory and we can be safe in His everlasting arms because of His great love for humanity. There is beauty and pain in this Divine act and it is absolutely full of love for the lost humanity. From the above passage we infer Paul’s saying that we have to share the message of Christ crucified. We can celebrate the resurrected Christ and His hope, but we have to remember Christ’s suffering. If we do not remember His sufferings we are missing on the heart of the matter.

   ³⁰ But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: ³¹ That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. The Word of God is very strong in saying that when one glories let that person glory in the resurrected Christ Who was crucified and it was designed by God that all flesh may glory in the Lord. The theme for today is we should be humble enough to acknowledge the Divine act in the salvation plan and Glory and exaltation must go to God in Christ Jesus His only Son through the power of the Holy Spirit.

End Notes:

¹1 Corinthians 1 Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible

biblehub.com/commentaries/mhcw/1_corinthians/1.htm

Bible > Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible > 1 Corinthians 1 1 Corinthians 1 ... Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible by Matthew Henry ...

 

Website References:

1.        1 Corinthians 1 Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible

biblehub.com/commentaries/mhcw/1_corinthians/1.htm

Bible > Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible > 1 Corinthians 1 1 Corinthians 1 ... Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible by Matthew Henry ...

 

2.        1 Corinthians 1 - Matthew Henry’s Commentary - Bible ...

www.christnotes.org › … › 1 Corinthians

Bible commentary about 1 Corinthians 1 (Matthew Henry’s Commentary). Bible Commentary. Christ Notes. Bible Search ...

Covetousness

What is covetousness?

1.covetousness - an envious eagerness to possess something enviousness, envy - a feeling of grudging admiration and desire to have something that is possessed by another   2.covetousness - reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth (personified as one of the deadly sins) avarice, avaritia, greed, rapacity deadly sin, mortal sin - an unpardonable sin entailing a total loss of grace; "theologians list seven mortal sins" Covetousness in other words is a strong desire to have what other people have and especially with worldly possessions.

a strong desire after the possession of worldly things It assumes sometimes the more aggravated form of avarice, which is the mark of cold-hearted worldliness.

covetousness - definition of covetousness by The Free ...

www.thefreedictionary.com/covetousness

cov·et·ous (kŭv′ĭ-təs) adj. Feeling, expressing, or characterized by a strong or immoderate desire for the possessions of another: "At least three European ...

    The sin of covetousness is forbidden in the 10^th commandment and Exodus 20:17 says; ¹⁷ Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. The dictionary meaning for covetousness definitely points to taking something which does not belong to you, or desiring to have it in the wrong way. Covetousness in other words is a strong desire to have what other people have and especially with worldly possessions. Covetousness is an evil desire and it is sin, and if not rooted out it gives birth to many ugly generations. It is the sin of the heart and its hidden evil desires.

    Rom 7:7 says, 7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. According to Apostle Paul, it is lust and an unlawful desire and the law has said that Ye shall not covet. If we look at the lust and the desire to have something not lawful it obviously points that covetousness is a mark of cold-hearted worldliness. Covetousness is the root of all evil, because if we are not satisfied with what we have, we want to have something the other person has. Once the desire sets in a person’s mind, because of the heart and mind connection it gets easily transferred to the heart and the heart energises the person to perform it. Word of God repeatedly warns us that our heart is deceitful, and several warnings are given to guard our hearts because out of it comes the issues of life. ²³ Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life; Prov: 4:23.

How does it make one feel when someone else takes your belonging? Let us stop and think! What would we do to that person?

Scriptural References:

Deut 5:19: “You shall not steal”

Deut 5:21; ²¹ Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or anything that is thy neighbour's.

    The above Words the Lord spoke from the mountain in the midst of fire, the cloud and the thick darkness with a loud voice. The things in this earth even though they are material possession, it was given to one by God, and very often it comes through labour, tears, pain and sometimes through severe persecution.

Notable violations in Scriptures from the Old Testament stories:

    In this story of the Old Testament we see King Ahab coveting his neighbour Naboth’s vineyard and the consequences of coveting neighbour’s possession. Mischief is added more to the real life drama when King Ahab’s wife Jezebel entered in the scene. The story ended dramatically when God took notice of the situation and send prophet Elijah to humble Ahab. Let us read the story of Ahab in 1 Kings: 21:1-19.

¹And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. ² And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. ³ And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. ⁴ And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread. ⁵ But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread? ⁶ And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard. ⁷ And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

⁸ So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth. ⁹ And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: ¹⁰ And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. ¹¹ And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them. ¹² They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. ¹³ And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died. ¹⁴ Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead. ¹⁵ And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead. ¹⁶ And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. ¹⁷ And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

¹⁸ Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it. ¹⁹ And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.

     In this story we find that Achan was detected for coveting and he was destroyed. When he committed the sin he tried to hide it.  We have to understand the human nature and the folly of sin. Probably he thought that he can conceal his sin without exposing to people around, but he fail to realize there is an Omniscient God, who watches over the affairs of men and in His book it is all recorded. The desire to have more worldly possessions can be a snare to anyone. Let us read Joshua 7:19-26 and the story of Achan.

¹⁹ And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. ²⁰ And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: ²¹ 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. ²² So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. ²³ And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. ²⁴ And 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.

²⁵ And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. ²⁶ And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.

     People can argue and say that this is an Old Testament story. We have to remember that the Old is revealed in the new and the new is concealed in the old. In the New Testament we have a New covenant with Jesus Christ when He died for us on the Cross. When we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of our life we are not on our own because we are bought with the most precious blood of Jesus Christ which was shed on Calvary. ⁹ Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. Covetousness brings leanness to our soul because man can see only what he wants and he seem to feed on this act of covetousness. This is feeding on their self and as a result their eyes are blinded and their ears are deaf to hear and understand God’s Word.

    As he blindly pursues his own depraved desires, he says in his soul: I must have my way: I’ll have that woman or that man if I have to break up their marriage to get them. I’ll have that position if I have to kill someone to get it. I’ll have my pleasure and my drink, my money, my home, my job, my good times in life and my way, no matter what the consequences! This is the essence of evil, my friend, and this is the heart of every man or woman outside of Christ. - Spurgeon.

Obtained from Mt. Zion Bible Church (www.mountzion.org). Reformatted by Eternal Life Ministries

    Moreover the tenth commandment embraces the previous nine commandments because the breach of each commandment comes out of the covetousness of human nature. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, ²² Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: ²³ All these evil things come from within, and defile the man; Mk: 7:21-23. The heart of the whole matter on covetousness is heart of man because ⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jer: 17:9. Man in his fallenness and natural state runs away from God, and his heart desires to do what he wants to do fulfill the desires of his flesh. This is the natural heart of every human outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the reason the law was given to us and the law points us to Jesus Christ and in Him the law was fulfilled.

 

Supporting Scriptural references:

¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

²⁰ Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

²¹ Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God; Gal: 5:19-21.

⁸ But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death; Rev: 21:8.

  Other Scriptural references for further reading: Col. 3:5; Eph. 5:5; Heb. 13:5; 1 Tim. 6:9, 10; Matt. 6:20. All the necessary guide lines for a godly, righteous life are in His Word and as believers we are called to be accountable. God’s law is not given to us for destruction but for edification so that we may know the truth and truth sets us free from the bondage of sins and death. The law is there for fallen, hopeless, guilty sinners to come to Christ. ²⁶ To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus; Rom 3:26. 

    Covetousness in human heart is a huge sin and when allowed to grow it will yield fruits of wickedness. It deceives anyone, blinds the soul into believing a lie and separates us from God. ¹⁵ And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth; Lk:12:15. This is a strong warning to guard our heart against covetousness and every greed of any description. May God continue to minister to us in body, mind, and spirit and in our emotions as we meditate on His Word in our heart. Thank you God for Your Son Jesus Christ and for Your Spirit.  

Website References:

1. covetousness - definition of covetousness by The Free ...

www.thefreedictionary.com/covetousness

cov·et·ous (kŭv′ĭ-təs) adj. Feeling, expressing, or characterized by a strong or immoderate desire for the possessions of another: "At least three European ...

2. Covetousness - The Root of All Evil - Eternal Life ...

www.eternallifeministries.org/lrs_covetous.htm

I. For some time now the Lord has been laying upon my heart a series of messages on the SIN OF COVETOUSNESS, which is forbidden by the 10th Commandment: “THOU …

3. Covetous | Define Covetous at Dictionary.com

dictionary.reference.com/browse/covetous

Covetous definition, inordinately or wrongly desirous of wealth or possessions; greedy. ... covetousness, noun. noncovetous, adjective. noncovetously, adverb.