We have arrived at the last of the Ten Commandments! This commandment is considered by looking at the Hebrew letter YOD, and the number Ten. There is much more than meets the eye when we consider YHVH’s command not to covet! It has much to do with the Holy Spirit and is the aim of the Path to Righteousness. Do you believe it?
YOD:
The Tenth Commandment: Do not covet your neighbor’s house; do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
YOD is His Hand, the Hand of Power, or the Father’s Right Hand. Yod shows the strength and power of YHVH.
We are admonished not to covet. What does it mean to covet our neighbor’s things? The Mirriam-Webster dictionary defines it this way:
Covet is a transitive verb
1 : to wish for earnestly <covet an award>
2 : to desire (what belongs to another) inordinately or culpably
It is also an intransitive verb
to feel inordinate desire for what belongs to another
So, to covet something is always an emotional thing. It is a wish, desire or an ‘inordinate’ desire for material goods or honor, especially those that belong to someone else. It happens in the spiritual realm, doesn’t it?
Good grief! Most of the commandments are simple to ‘hear and do,’ but this one requires us to monitor our thoughts and emotions!
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE CULPABLE?
Merriam-Webster defines it this way:
Culpable is 1 archaic: guilty, criminal (who faces Brookhaven criminal charges)
2: meriting condemnation or blame especially as wrong or harmful <culpable negligence>
I’m guilty now for what I think?!
What is the Father trying to teach us? Does this mean that we cannot have dreams and aspirations? Or does this only prohibit thoughts or desires that get in between us and the Father? [Revisit the 2nd commandment.]
If we are commanded to control our very emotions and thoughts, how do we achieve that? Does this have anything to do with pride, ambition, or dreams?
In one way it sounds like number ten is saying to stop thinking all about ‘me!’ -Or someone else’s stuff!
But, in a weird way, the tenth commandment is all about You. Coveting is transgression against yourself!
HUH?
If you are content in your own skin and at peace with your circumstances, you won’t be coveting anything that belongs to others. It is a denial of your own worth as a child of God to be so discontent with your own life that you wish to ‘be’ someone else! You want to attach your identity to something that is not yours!
That’s different than aspirations to improve your own life. It is a desire to steal something that rightly belongs to someone else!
Simple! Right?
IS IT WRONG TO MAKE A WISH OR HAVE AMBITIONS?
To earnestly desire something isn’t necessarily coveting, is it? Maybe it has more to do with WHAT we are concentrating so much attention on.
Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not depend on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own opinion. Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
If we place Him ahead of ourselves and our own desires, if we put Him first, He will make our paths straight!
There’s that narrow path again! How do we accomplish that!?
The scriptures above say He is the one that gives us the strength to overcome our thoughts. Sounds a lot like the guidance of the Holy Spirit, doesn’t it?
But, there must be more to it than that! What’s so wrong with ‘thinking’ something?
THOUGHTS LEAD TO ACTIONS
James says this:
Jas 1:14 Instead, each person is tempted by his own desire, being lured and trapped by it. 15 When that desire becomes pregnant, it gives birth to sin; and when that sin grows up, it gives birth to death.
There it is then. Desires tempt, lure and trap us in sin. Eventually, it grows up from an idea to an action that can cause us to sin.
That seems simple enough.
Php 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is fair, whatever is pure, whatever is acceptable, whatever is commendable, if there is anything of excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—keep thinking about these things.
Paul writes:
Php 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
Php 4:12 I know how to be humble, and I know how to prosper. In each and every situation I have learned the secret of being full and of going hungry, of having too much and of having too little. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
He is saying where to put our priorities! He says focus on YHVH and improve your attitude regardless of your circumstances. Don’t waste time obsessing over what someone else has!
The concepts are simple; the implementation not so! It is similar to the old adage, you are what you eat.
He seems to be telling us: You do what you think.
TEN IS COMPLETENESS 
The number TEN symbolizes the law, government and restoration! Just as Yod is the Father’s Right Hand, we know that Yeshua is at the Father’s Right Hand. He will have the government upon His shoulder! He is the Way we are reconciled to the father!
That’s the whole point of the Scriptures! Restoration of the people back to a healthy relationship with YHVH!
Yeshua is how we achieve that restoration! He is complete in the Father and we are to be complete in Him. Right?
Does the number 10 mean this commandment holds a clue for how to be complete in Him?
HOW DO WE KNOW WE ARE ‘IN HIM?’
It seems like the final ‘proof’ that we are ‘saved’ is the in-dwelling Holy Spirit! Don’t we all want to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
But what, exactly, does that mean?
Before he ascended to heaven Yeshua told his disciples to ‘wait’ a few days. And then, on Shavuot (Pentecost) an outpouring of the Holy Spirit fell on them! He gave them his Hand of Power: Yod! And they immediately began to speak the Truth to all nations!
Do you think it is a coincidence that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurred on the anniversary date that marked the speaking of the Ten Words on Mt. Sinai on another Shavuot?
Evidence of the Holy Spirit was manifested in the disciples speaking the Word!
MORE EVIDENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The book of the Acts of the Apostles is filled with the manifestation of this Hand of Power from the Almighty! People were healed from all manner of maladies! Folks rose from the dead! Disciples were freed from prisons! Diseases were healed, demons were cast out!
How were they able to do these miracles?
The first century disciples had a direct link to Him and His Hand of power!
The Disciples were performing miracles just as Yeshua did when he was with them! He even promised them they would do greater miracles than he did!
What has happened to change that? Why are people who claim to be filled with the Holy Spirit not manifesting these miracles today?
One of the clues is found when the Disciples wondered why Yeshua could cast out a particularly nasty demon and they could not. What was his answer?
Mar 9:25 When [Yeshua] saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You spirit that won’t let him talk or hear—I command you to come out of him and never enter him again!”26 The spirit screamed, shook the child violently, and came out. The boy was like a corpse, and many said that he was dead. 27 But [Yeshua] took his hand and helped him up, and he stood up. 28 When [Yeshua] came home, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive the spirit out?” 29 He told them, “This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting.”
WHOSE PRAYER AND FASTING?
Isn’t it obvious? Yeshua made a practice of prayer and fasting! That is why he was able to cast out the spirit when his disciples could not!
This flies in the face of church doctrines. Yeshua was our example for how to walk in Torah observance. Is prayer and fasting a thing of the past?
But, He is God’s Son!
So the question is: Was it being Torah-observant, prayer and fasting, His identity, or all of the above that enabled the miracles to be performed?
Did the disciples fit all of these parameters?
WHO REALLY PERFORMED THE MIRACLES?
We see from the scriptures that both the disciples and Yeshua had permission to harness the power of YHVH, even unto raising people from death! It wasn’t limited to Yeshua! They all walked in that power!
How do we understand this?
Yeshua was ONE with his Father. He did nothing without His Father’s permission and direction! He said:
Joh_14:10 You believe, don’t you, that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own. It is the Father who dwells in me and who carries out his work.
Yeshua was very clear. He did nothing by himself. It was the Father working through Him.
Let that sink in a bit.
WHAT ELSE DO WE KNOW ABOUT YESHUA?
We know that he was Torah observant! He kept the Torah perfectly!
Is that another clue? It seems apparent that He was One with the Father because he was One with the Torah! He was doing the will of his Father!
How do we, who wish to be In Him as he was In the Father, achieve the same manifestations of His Presence today?
Is prayer and fasting a requirement? Perhaps this question is best answered by seeking His will for you.
BUT, YESHUA IS THE SON OF GOD!
Yes, and HalleluYah!
But, how does that explain the disciples’ miracles?
Were the disciples sons of God? Can we become sons of God?
If we wish to be like Him, and adopted into the family of YHVH, then we become ‘sons of God!’
What?
Read the following verses from the New Testament!
Joh_1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Rom_8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Php_2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
1Jn_3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
1Jn_3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Is this saying that we can share the same power as our LORD Yeshua Messiah when we become ‘sons of God?’ The disciples certainly thought so! They walked in His power!
Were they different than you and I?
HOW DOES THIS COMPARE TO GRACE?
James Ryle says, “Grace is the empowering Presence of God enabling you to be who He created you to be, and to do what He has called you to do.” Put another way, Bill Gothard says, “Grace [is] the desire and the power that God gives us to do his will.”
If Ryle and Gothard are correct, then Grace is His power working through us, and that is what makes it possible for us to BE who He created us to be, and to DO what he has called us to do. Gothard says it is power to do His will.
Just as Yeshua said in the Garden of Gethsemene! Not my will, but thine! We echo the same words in the Lord’s Prayer! ‘Thy will be done.’
MAYBE WE NEED TO STOP THINKING OF YHVH AS A MAGIC LAMP
But, He promised that anything we ask in his name he would do!
Joh_16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me no question. Verily, verily, I say unto you, if ye shall ask anything of the Father, he will give it you in my name.
But, there is a catch! He isn’t going to do whatever we ask IF it is outside of His Will. Why would we expect Him to break his own Torah?
Yeshua rebuked his disciples when they stepped outside of YHVH’s will.
Luk 9:54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? 55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save…
When we are focused on our own needs, wants and desires, we cut Him and His plans out of the picture. And Paul reminds us that He is our source of ‘all things.’ We’re even told that He is always aware of our needs so we shouldn’t bother Him about it other than to say ‘Thank You!’
HOW ARE WE TO PLACE ALL OF THIS INTO AN UNDERSTANDABLE WHOLE?
One definition of grace is His Power to Do His Will. We also understand that the Holy Spirit is what empowered Yeshua and the Disciples to Speak the Word and perform miracles!
Sounds a lot like the description of YOD, doesn’t it?
We are supposed to be the ‘body of Christ.’ Right?
Doesn’t that imply that we are to be His hands and feet and voice here on Earth?
Isn’t it time that we realize the spirit of YHVH is not just a gift to hold inside?
It is our marching orders on how to Do His Will. We are to ACT upon his empowering spirit! Just like the disciples.
Are you still unconvinced?
DOES GRACE HAVE ANYTHING IN COMMON WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT?
Let’s consider this:
Gen 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
Contemplate how much ‘grace’ was bestowed on Noah! He was able to build an Ark big enough to house all living things and eight people for several months. He built this boat on dry land in a place that had never seen rain!
I think the only way he could have accomplished this amazing demonstration of faith in YHVH was by the power of the Holy Spirit! Only by the powerful help of YHVH‘s Hand! And the reason it came to pass was because Noah was doing what the Father asked him to do. It was His will that the ark be built!
After all, if YHVH could create the Earth once; he could easily have built the Ark for Noah! For that matter, he could have just started over! But, He had declared His creation to be ‘very good.’ It must have been designed in perfection. Right?
He gave man another chance! He honored his promises! He chose to re-populate the Earth with a remnant! Restoration!
Noah was righteous in his generation; Noah found grace! YHVH told Noah to build the Ark; Noah was obedient; obedience to build the Ark was a righteous act by Noah; Noah’s obedience was enabled by grace; and by grace Noah saved a remnant so the Earth could be restored!
Do you see the circular reasoning here? YHVH is always giving us cycles of righteousness.
TEN IS A CYCLE
The number ten represents a complete cycle; nothing to add and nothing to remove. Ten (YOD) is the power of His Hand. His grace allows us to do his commands. His grace is our ‘helper and comforter.’ It is what we all seek, that perfect ‘Ten.’
Psalms 19:7 The Law of the LORD is perfect, restoring life. The testimony of the LORD is steadfast, making foolish people wise.
HOW DO WE LIVE A RESTORED LIFE?
The bottom line is that everyone who is living and breathing is here because of YHVH’s grace! But grace (Spirit) in tandem with his Torah (Truth) gives us a restored life! An empowered one! And the promise of eternity with Him! If we wish to see the power of the Holy Spirit, we have to be in His Will.
AND WHAT IS HIS WILL FOR US?
Isn’t that the purpose of the Torah? Within it are the keys to His Kingdom! When we are IN HIS WILL the result is blessing and peace. That is His will for All mankind. He gave Torah to us for our good and for the good of all creation.
It isn’t a mechanical thing. It involves all of our being! Our intellect, our emotions and our very actions working together to do His will!
Is that the Holy Spirit? Is that His Hand?
DOES YOD REPRESENT THE HOLY SPIRIT?
How do we understand Yeshua when He prayed to his Father?
He told his disciples he did not do anything without His Father’s direction! He taught his disciples to pray to “Our Father in Heaven!” He never claimed to be YHVH! He said he was YHVH’s Son, the Messiah.
That Yeshua has been given all power and authority and the name above all names I have no doubt. But it was given to Him by the Father. He didn’t take it for Himself. He obeyed the Father, even unto death on a cross, and because He did, He sits on the right hand of the Father.
He is our High Priest. He is the advocate on our behalf with the Father. He is the door! And it is He who guides us. Didn’t he say, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age?”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE ECHAD?
Yeshua said ‘I and the Father are one (echad).’ Just like a man leaves his mother and becomes ‘one’ with his wife; it is a sacred covenant of unity. It describes fealty, loyalty, and a one-ness of purpose.
That is how I see Yeshua and YHVH; unified in purpose, obedience, and mind. One.
Can we achieve a perfect ten?
1Jn_2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
Isn’t that a description of Yeshua? The love of YHVH was perfected in Him because he kept the Word! Perfectly!
Joh_15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
In the same way, if we abide in Yeshua, modeling our behaviors and being conformed into His image, we too can be one with the Father. Yeshua is our guide and facilitator to being grafted back into the true vine!
Yeshua completed the requirements to re-establish our covenant with YHVH. He did His part. Now it is up to us to do our part!
YHVH promised!
Gen 28:15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
THE COMMANDMENTS AS A PATH!
Do you see how the sequence of the Commandments leads us on a path? We start at one: learning who He is. Then we learn how to honor Him. Then he teaches us what we must do to be righteous among ourselves. Finally we arrive at the tenth commandment and we can see how this relates directly with possessing the Holy Spirit! It is a spiritual journey! From recognizing and accepting our Creator to inviting Him into our Heart!
If we take these instructions step by step we walk in the divine empowerment to Do what it is He wants us to Do! Through the power of the Holy Spirit!
A secular view would call this ‘self-actualization.’ But, we should see that as the imposter it is! We don’t look to ourselves to achieve a miracle! Our focus is above! And the reward of seeking first His kingdom is the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is both within us and around us. It enables us to be comfortable in our own skin and content with our state! We are no longer torn by the desire to be someone else. The Holy Spirit enables us to become a son of God! And what better identity could we have?
We understand who He is and who we are. We understand what we are to do and He gives us the power to do His Will. Only then can we be true disciples.
For isn’t that the whole duty of man?
Ecc_12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Just as Noah obeyed God and by the power of His grace enabled the restoration of the Earth, we too are called to obey and set in motion the restoration of all things!
RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS
That is what is happening now! The movement of the Spirit is evidenced by the numbers who are returning to Torah. People from every nation and tribe, all over the Earth!
Every prophet of the Bible taught us to repent and return to Torah. “Get Back! Get inside the fence of His protection!”
That’s what Yochanan the Immerser taught! (Matt 3:2) And the same was echoed by the apostles:
Act 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, [Yeshua], 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
This is not a New Testament phenomenon! It is the same message we have received from the holy prophets of long ago!
There is an exclamation point in the final book of the Older Testament!
Listen to the prophet Malachi:
Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts. [all these describe transgression of the Torah!]
Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. 7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.
HE PROMISES TO RETURN TO US!
Jer 11:2 Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3 and say thou unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man that heareth not the words of this covenant, 4 which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God;
The Ten Commandments are the summary of YHVH’s covenant agreement with us. When we follow them, we proclaim His Holy Name! We are His People and He is our God!
Just as a marriage vow charges both persons to keep their promises to each other, we must keep our part of the covenant agreement that we made with our Father at Mt. Sinai.
Exo 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. 7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. 8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD
A FINAL INSTRUCTION!
Mat 28:18 And [Yeshua] came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations …
Have you ever noticed that Disciples and Discipline are nearly the same word? He is asking us to walk as He walked, and teach others to walk the same. In that way we discipline ourselves to be conformed to His Law, and we make other disciples when they join in the narrow path that leads to life!
Read it again!
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
And Don’t Miss: The Ten Commandments as a Menorah
Thanks for stopping by and for sharing Bulldozerfaith.com]
I have read all what you have written on the ten commandments and most of what is in writers corner, and what amazing teaching this is. Thank you so much for your insight, it has been very enlightening. It is amazing what Yah is doing to bring people back to their roots in Him. My He bless you Julia.
Shalom
Pat