Be not Discontent

Numbers 16: 41-50 & 1 Corinthians 10: 1-13

The Reformer's Fire
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Exposition by Max A Forsythe

Question 81:
Whatis forbidden in the tenth commandment?
Answer 81:
The tenth commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor, and all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his.

As the common law allows several levels of severity in regard to the killing of another person, so does this last and final commandment consider several degrees of intention in this danger of covetousness. We may rightly judge that this commandment seems to cover the same ground that the commandments against adultery and stealing do, but at a deeper level of consciousness. Where actual adultery and theft may come to light and be discovered, the desires of the heart may well be kept secret from outward discovery. One of my commentators, J Douma observes that:

"The government can punish murder and the church can discipline adulterers. But God goes further, since He knows the human heart. He comes to us with this tenth and final commandment as the Judge who knows the deepest recesses of our hearts and therefore is able to condem;even the slightest inclination or thought contrary to any of God's commandments'."

Oh my, so much for outward appearances! God would reign over our hearts and minds as well as our actions. Yes - by any public administration of the essential commandments of the second tablet - we may well be held back from being all the more wicked that we might really yearn to be!

However, as Calvin and other theologians well understand, there is and are degrees of sin. And in the context of this commandment theologians and commentators see four stages of sin related to a right understanding of this tenth commandment. A person starts by having an immoral desire in regard to a particular commandment. Then, a person may take a first step and nurse that desire by thinking upon it in a habitual manner. Second, a person may then surrender his will to that desire. And third, a person may develop a plan to satisfy that desire. Fourth and finally, a person may translate that desire into a deed.

Now, we are so used to the ancient language of the King James that we do not appreciate a more modern understanding. We may more accurately render the tenth commandment in these words: "You shall not set your desire on -" This translation moves us quickly to step three whereby planning is becoming involved. It is at this level of functioning where the rubber meets the road for the clear meaning and regard of the tenth commandment. In the Old Covenant, Achen set his desire on a particular robe and precious metal which he took to his tent until he was discovered. In Micah's day, some people stole the fields of others. The implication of the Hebrew text in the commandment is that those who set their desire on something will not be able to keep their hands off!

With premeditation, they set out to accomplish their desire. J Douma would tell us that this is the primary meaning of the tenth commandment. Yes, we may all be able to accomplish a minimal control over the desires of our hearts, but any nursing of secret objectives never realized create real tensions in our relationships.

Well did the almost ancient story of Camelot detail the destructive desires within the Royal household. Now, depending upon the version of the tale, Lancelot and the Queen may only desire one another, or engage in a public display of flirty infatuation, or even go on to fulfill the actual desires of their hearts. Those three versions exist side by side in the telling of the tale. So the popular wisdom well documents the stages of covetousness outlined by the theologians. Yet in all the Camelot versions, the household of the king is disrupted and the edenic imitation of utopia is eventually destroyed. There is a reason why that medieval morality saga has survived into our own time .

That is because of the truth behind the commandments. The human heart is desperately edicated to the desire and attainment of sin. And whenever we come close to controlling the heart we learn that there is another level of desire with which we must contend. C.S. Lewis well understood the depth of depravity in many of his writings. In his description of Romantic Literature, which by his definition would encompass any and every popular classic, he shows how the desire of the human heart will follow a florimell or aspiration which every level of desire eventually tires of. He goes on to show that either we die from our pursuits or finally discover that there is only one thing sufficient to fill our hearts - that that person is Jesus Christ.

Well do we see the whole of humanity portrayed in the Exodus crowd of Israelites. Their desires for comfort, food and entertainment demonstrate that our culture is not alone in its favorite desires. Even grumbling in Israel led the people to sin as we saw in our Old Covenant passage. Rebellion broke out and an angry crowd gathered at the Tent of Meeting. There we see an unusual scene. But before we consider the report of Numbers, let me share a moment of family history.

One of my relatives was Sheriff of Guernsey County at the time of the Civil War. On one occasion an accidental death had taken place and the person responsible was locked up in the jail. A bitter crowd assembled and since the Sheriff was out of town and the deputy as well, the Sheriff's wife who cleaned and cooked was at home in the jail complex. She bravely picked up a shotgun, stepped out on the porch and notified the crowd that if they intended to get inside, they would have to trample her first. After all the prisoner had a right to trial by jury! The crowd eventually thought better of their plan to hang the prisoner.

With that in mind let us consider the scene in Numbers. An angry crowd had gathered to grumble against Moses and Aaron. Look at the extraordinary action of the leaders of Israel. Instead of threatening the crowd, they immediately worked to make atonement for the foolishness of the people. They stood between the living and the dead and the awesome power of God's destructive wrath was soon abated. But not before 14,700 people died for their discontent with the righteous administration of our Creator God.

Paul in our New Testament passage which refers back to this and many other instances, urges the Corinthian saints to be not discontent with the rule, salvation and sovereign administration of our Lord and King - Jesus Christ. Now there were a lot of things going on at the Church in Corinth, it like every other Christian congregation was imperfect. The world and its desires were ever near and specific sinful eruptions plagued the community of saints.

Well may we learn that a certain amount of depraved wickedness lies just below the surface of saved civility which we have been allowed to put on through the grace of God. The imputed righteousness does not penetrate the heart in this life, and while our public lives may better reflect the fact of grace, we still have temptations to contend with. If Paul finds it necessary to confess "I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good." How much more must we admit that the process of sanctification never ends in this life, but the fact of sin must encourage us to depend completely upon the Sovereign Grace of God since we are truly unable to put off the depravity which we have inherited from Adam.

Here is revealed in this commandment the total depravity of every human heart. Are we not responsible for all of those stages of desire that infect us? Catholic theologians maintain that we are assigned responsibility for nurtured desires and fulfilled desires, but leave us innocent for spontaneous desires. The Reformation theologians were forced to admit that total depravity meant that whatever comes out of the heart shows us our desperate need for the cleansing blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I well remember when I was five or six, certain imaginations were suddenly in my mind that had not been stimulated by books because I could not yet read, nor from television because we had none. No they were there because the human heart is fallen. Like Paul we may all cry out in the depths of our desires - "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"

In that classic passage of wrestling with a sinful nature (found in Romans 7: 24-25) Paul also gives the answer - "I thank God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!" And it is to Him that Paul points us in our text for today. Even so does my commentator J Douma do likewise at the end of his commentary on the commandments.

"The proper interpretation of the tenth commandment - just like that of the other nine commandments - is impossible without going back again and again to the beginning: from the house of slavery known as sin there is but one who has delivered us and can always deliver us again; Yahweh, the God of Israel, who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ."

What a wonderful ending to a commentary on the law of God and to every sermon as well. The marvelous grace of our Creator God and Christ our King. Yes, the Christian life is valuable beyond all imagined wealth, yes we shall have life in heaven for ever and all because Jesus' body was broken on the cross and His blood was shed for our real sins and our constant predilection for sinful desires as well.

Yes, even once we realize that we are saved for eternity with Christ, we still struggle like Paul with the old person within our hearts and bodies. Those sinful attitudes may well be there to remind us that we are just barely saved. We should also be reminded in the weekly cycle of worship and daily study of God's Word that our sins are covered by the blood of Jesus and the fact that He alone can atone for our ongoing condition.

Look carefully at verse twelve, if you think to highly of yourself and your ability to put away the sins of the flesh, you are only fooling yourself. But let us also make certain of the Gospel of Grace in the last verse - He has provided and will continue to provide forgiveness in and through Jesus Christ. Whenever you fail, He will pick you up, dust you off and remind you once again how much you need His forgiveness, His mercy and His grace.

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