The second tablet of the Ten Commandments turns from God to neighbor, from worship to conduct. These commands govern human relationships, yet they are not separate from the first tablet. They flow from it, extending the love of God into the life of the community.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus revisits these commands with a deeper emphasis on the condition of the heart. Anger, desire, and intention are brought into view, revealing that obedience is not merely external. The law is not reduced but expanded, pressing inward as well as outward.
This essay reads the second tablet alongside Jesus’s teaching, tracing how the commandments are fulfilled not by lowering their demands, but by revealing their full scope.
“Jesus came to fulfill the Law and Prophets and uses the phrase, “You have heard that it was said” five times in Matthew 5. In doing so, he reiterates the second tablet commands and expands on their implications regarding the condition of our hearts and our difficulty fulfilling these commandments.
The Sixth Commandment
“You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13)
and
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire” (Matthew 5:13).
God values us more than we can possibly imagine. To take a life is to take what belongs only to God. But God also knows our hearts, “You discern my thoughts from afar” (Psalms 139:2), and he wants to redeem those, too. To not take a life is a low bar to strive for, but to love our neighbor as ourselves is the highest. Jesus comes to save us and to share this good news with others, which won’t be accomplished through those whose hearts are filled with anger and hatred. John says, “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15). Destroying God’s creation begins with hating his creation. “Cain was very angry. Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him” (Genesis 4:5, 8). Anger comes first.
In war propaganda, one must demean the enemy aggressively to defeat the enemy enthusiastically, even if this means tapping into falsehoods and exaggerations. We often do this in more ordinary circumstances by creating an atmosphere that belittles and smears our neighbor. Solomon notes how common this attitude is when he says, “Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others” (Ecclesiastes 7:22). We tend to speak about each other in unkind ways. While this may seem inconsequential in the moment, it starts us down the path of not loving our neighbor, which, not surprisingly, also breaks our fellowship with God. When it comes to the sixth commandment, we all fall short.
The Seventh Commandment
“You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14)
and
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:14)
Adultery violates two vows; one made to a person, and another made to God. As such, adultery breaks both great command–ments, damaging our relationship with another person and damaging our relationship with God. Both weaken our faith and diminish the Church’s testimony to the world.
The idolatry of the Israelites is often presented as adultery against God, “With their idols they have committed adultery” (Ezekiel 23:37). Hosea is even told to marry a wife who committed adultery as a picture of God’s people being unfaithful to him (Hosea 1:2). Paul reverses the order. He calls adultery idolatry: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). The equivalency of the two is consistent in both testaments.
Regarding lustful intent today, church goers commonly expose themselves to so-called adult online content. Studies show that two-thirds of Christians view inappropriate content regularly, as well as half of their churches’ pastors. Pastor Chuck Swindoll calls this “the greatest cancer in the Church” today. But of course, this issue precedes the internet. Job says, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin? Does not he see my ways?” (Job 31:1). Yet this sin persists, for we do look, and God does see. Our lustful passions are idolatry because they are thoughts and emotions we put between us and God. When it comes to the seventh commandment, we all fall short.
The Eighth Commandment
“You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15)
and
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.” (Matthew 5:38-42)
Both passages are about stealing. One says don’t steal; the other says don’t stop someone from stealing–from us! This turns our view of ownership upside down. We think all we have belongs to us, including our body (cheek), our possessions (tunic), and our time and effort (two miles). But all that we have belongs to God, “Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it” (Deuteronomy 10:14). An Egyptian Pharoah said, “The Nile is mine, and I made it”–and Egypt became “an utter waste and desolation” shortly after he said this (Ezekiel 29:9, 10). Nothing is ours, and God will reveal this continually to us throughout our lives.
Deuteronomy says, “Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth’” (Deuteronomy 8:17-18). If everything belongs to God, a mine attitude puts us in control of God’s possessions. In this way, we become the thief, denying God the use of his possessions. And if God intended these possessions for someone else, we are also stealing from them. As Job says, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return” (Job 1:21). We all begin and end this life with equal status. Only our imagination makes us think we are better off than others based on what we own.
Jesus tells the rich young man, “Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (Mark 10:21). To love our neighbor is to not withhold from anyone what is rightfully God’s to give. “For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you” (1 Chronicles 29:14) and “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven” (John 3:27). Whatever we give to another originates from God’s store. When the Psalmist says, “The one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord” (Psalms 10:3), he states the incompatibility and foretells Jesus’ teaching, “You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24). If possessions have a hold on our hearts, God cannot.
The parable of the Good Samaritan illustrates this attitude when the Samaritan says to the innkeeper, “Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back” (Luke 10:35). This is a blank check if there ever was one. This could only come from a person who doesn’t value his wealth as his own but considers it meaningless, or rather, purely to serve God’s purposes alone.
Our attitude about ownership affects our attitude toward God and others. Possessiveness and generosity are mutually exclusive. God’s mercy to us through Jesus is the most extraordinary generosity ever shown. Luke’s account of this passage in the Sermon on the Mount ends this way: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). Only when we fully comprehend God’s mercy can we let go of our possessions and be merciful to others.
This is not impossible, for in the early church, “no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common, [and] there was not a needy person among them” (Acts 4:32, 34). This is why they grew to over 5,000 so quickly. People see lives transformed by Jesus and so are transformed, too. We cannot worship God while stealing from our neighbor, a condition that only comes from a transformed heart when we see our need for a Savior. Yet, we all fall short when it comes to the eighth commandment.
The Ninth Commandment
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16)
and
“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” (Matthew 5:33)
In direct contrast to the simple yes or no, Proverbs says that “when words are many, transgression is not lacking” (Proverbs 10:19). The fewer words, the better. In the strictest sense, a false witness could be considered legal testimony under oath in a court of law. But as in all matters, Jesus sees our heart and applies it in a much broader manner. Participating in gossip or exchanging unsubstantiated rumors is likely included. Thomas Watson expands the definition: “It forbids anything that may tend to the disparagement or prejudice of our neighbor.”
Truthfulness is not simply not lying. It extends to not hiding what is known to be true. Leviticus says that if someone knows the truth “yet does not speak, he shall bear his iniquity” (Leviticus 5:1). And this is how it all began to go wrong when Satan says, “Did God actually say?” (Genesis 3:2). Satan casts doubt on God’s word not by saying it is untrue but by indirectly questioning the legitimacy of its source, leaving out the essential truth: God did say it. Aaron and Miriam use the same tactic when they say, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses?” (Numbers 12:2). Miriam’s ensuing leprosy is cured only because of Moses’ desperate plea.
Jesus says, “I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37). Pilate’s dismissive “What is truth?” (John 18:38) is the culmination of Satan’s long misdirection to hide the truth. If there is no truth, then there are no lies, and if there are no lies, Satan has no culpability. The “father of lies” (John 8:48) can freely reign, saturating the world with lies no longer recognized as such. We should not be a part of this.
Jesus adds more to this commandment than meets the eye when he reiterates that you shall perform what you have sworn to the Lord. Leviticus says a man “shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth” (Leviticus 30:2). When we say we are going to do something, whether for God or our neighbor, and do not follow through, we bear false witness. In the parable of the father who asked his two sons to work, one said yes but did not go. His “yes” became false witness against his own deeds.
Truth matters. Our faith and hope are based on this historical truth: an empty tomb on Easter morning. “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile” (1 Corinthians 15:17). When we tell lies or share unfounded rumors, we bring a false witness into the conversation. “You shall not spread a false report” (Exodus 23:1) could be reworded as “You shall only spread a true report.” Sharing the latest purported news that we don’t know to be true or false would also be a false witness. Speaking this way harms our credibility in defending the resurrection to a world that does not trust what we say. This, then, is the most disastrous effect of bearing false witness: we become an unreliable messenger, and we doom our credibility to witness to the essential truth of all, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, the world’s hope for salvation. And yet again, when it comes to the ninth commandment, we all fall short.
The Tenth Commandment
“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 is your neighbor’s.” (Exodus 20:17)
and
“You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:43–45)
To covet is to wish we could have what someone else has. Often others, particularly enemies, have the most significant possession we don’t have and often wish we did: the power to do to us as they please. Solomon says, “All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt” (Ecclesiastes 8:9). The Psalmist thanks God that he “hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy” (Psalms 31:8, KJV). On this Charles Spurgeon comments, “To be shut up in one’s hand is to be delivered over absolutely to his power.” Not coveting is more than not wanting what another has. It also does not covet the position and power that another may have over us.
C.S. Lewis writes, “Greed may drive men into competition if there is not enough to go round; but the proud man, even when he has got more than he can possibly want, will try to get still more just to assert his power.” Pilate exhibits this when he says, “Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” (John 19:10). Or put another way, Don’t you covet the power I have over you? Jesus does not covet Pilate’s power because he knows, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11). Professor Raj Raghunathan’s recent book, If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy? explains that “chasing superiority is not some shallow or superficial trait that only those with an unusually big “ego” or with a narcissistic personality exhibit. Rather, it is a deep-seated need that almost all of us have.” As common as the hate and lust of the sixth and seventh commandments, pridefulness creates a barrier between us and our neighbors.
To love our neighbor is not to covet what is rightfully theirs and not to covet what God gives them. But, as always, Jesus goes further. Our concern should be his prayer for all people and salvation for all people because he offers himself as a ransom for all people (1 Timothy 2:1-6). He “makes the sun rise” and “sends rain” to everyone (Matthew 5:45). So, rather than want what they have, we ought to rejoice that they have what we have–our cloak, effort, and love.
When we covet a thing, our heart cannot help but make the owner of that thing our adversary. These thoughts inevitably lead to undesirable behavior. The Encyclopaedia Judaica says, “The traditional legal exegesis understands ‘hamad’ [covet] to involve action: one who exerts pressure to get something.” But this bad action can be replaced with a good action: to pray for those who persecute us. Timothy asks that “prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people” (1 Timothy 2:1-4), especially our enemies, as they need them most. This requires a change of heart!
Coveting fills the space between us and others with our needs, concerns, and desires, leaving little room for theirs. When Jesus emptied himself, he made room for his Father to do his will in his life for our benefit. This is consistent with the Father’s commandment not to covet and the Son’s later admonition for us to walk the extra mile and give away our coats. Paul emphasizes this in the Church age, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4). The Father prohibits coveting, the Son exhibits what it looks like not to covet, and the Holy Spirit inhibits coveting by teaching us to count others above ourselves..
Finally, to covet what those around us have is the most transparent communication to God that we’re not satisfied with his provision. “But godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6). If we aren’t content in God, we can never be content with less than what others have. But if we are content with God alone, we have no desire to compare ourselves to others. Paul says, “You joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one” (Hebrews 10:34) and “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content” (Philippians 4:11). Give us this day our daily bread is our prayer. Contentedness with God inevitably leads to a generous heart toward our neighbor, not wanting what they have.
The Ten Commandments on the two tablets are not merely the foundation of legal systems or archaeological relics of an ancient age. Today, they are more than simply relevant; they are bound up in the Sermon on the Mount and in the very nature of our being. They are both an unattainable standard and a mirror through which we see our failures. But Jesus provides another mirror to look at, one in which we see a new creation through his sacrifice for us.”
This essay is part of Shadows of Christ: Twelve Essays.
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