SERMON XII.
NINTH AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS: THOU SHALT NOT COVET.
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house: thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's."—Exodus xx. 17.
This verse contains two Commandments, namely, the ninth and tenth. They both indeed refer to coveting, yet that they are distinct Commandments, is evident from the circumstance that the words, "Thou shalt not covet," are repeated. This will appear still more plain, when we come to set forth the internal sense. In that sense, as we shall see, the Commandment, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house," has reference to the love of the world; whereas the rest of the verse, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, man-servant," &c, has reference to the love of self, and, in particular, to the love of dominion. Thus, the Commandments are distinct.
While upon this point, a few remarks may be made in regard to the different modes in which the Ten Commandments are divided or numbered in different sections of the Christian Church. In the English and Calvinistic Churches, that is, in the Protestant Churches of Western Europe, and, also, in those of America derived from them, the mode of numbering the Commandments is to divide what we have reckoned as the first Commandment into two, and to account the ninth and tenth as one, thus still retaining the number of Ten Commandments. This arrangement prevails also in the Greek Church, and was first suggested by Origen. But in the Lutheran Church, which pervades Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and a great part of Germany,—and also in the Roman Catholic Church, throughout the world, the custom has existed of considering the whole of the first part of the Decalogue, having relation to the worship of one God, as a single Commandment, and of dividing the last part of the Decalogue, or that which relates to coveting, into two Commandments,—thus still retaining the number Ten. The reason why the number of Ten must be retained, is, because they are called in Scripture the Ten Commandments, or (literally) the "Ten Words;"[1] and this, for the reason that the number Ten signifies all, and the Decalogue contains the substance of all the commandments of the Word in a summary.[2]
Let us now consider the general meaning of these two Commandments. And first it may be remarked, that while the other Commandments, in their literal sense, forbid only evil deeds, as "Thou shalt not kill," "Thou shalt not steal," &c, these two last Commandments forbid evil thoughts and desires: as, "Thou shalt not covet"—that is, thou shalt not even desire, or wish to possess, what is another's. But, viewed more interiorly, these two Commandments not only have reference to the particular sin of coveting, but they have a bearing upon all the sins forbidden in the previous Commandments, and teach that we are not only not to do those things, but that we must not even will or desire to do them. The truth of this observation may be seen from the fact that, as before mentioned, these two Commandments refer to the love of self and the love of the world. Now these two loves, the love of self and the love of the world, are, as the New Church Doctrine teaches, the fountains and sources of all evils whatever. Hence, in forbidding these, all evils are in fact forbidden. And this is the peculiar character of a Divine writing, as the Decalogue is:—there is a certain order and progression of its parts towards a conclusion, and at the conclusion all that has gone before is seen summed up, as it were, and presented to view at once as in a mirror. So is it with these two last Commandments: they comprise the substance of all the others.
But now, let us examine them separately. And first, the Commandment, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house." This Commandment forbids the love of the world, in all its forms. By the love of the world is meant an inordinate desire of possessing wealth, property, material things. This desire may be called the rising passion of the present age; and it is one which every spiritual-minded man will endeavor to resist in himself, and check in others. The wish to obtain a competency of worldly goods is orderly and proper, provided that in the pursuit of that wish the life be kept within the strict bounds of honesty and uprightness, and the desire itself be held ever in subjection to the desire for higher and heavenly things, and be conjoined with trust in Divine Providence, and a submission to the Lord's will. But the desire for property is sinful, when it becomes the ruling passion of the mind, when higher things are made subservient to it, and especially when the effort to realize its ends leads the man to the employment of any fraudulent and deceptive arts. Then it becomes a deadly sin. and is called "love of the world."
The love of the world," says the Doctrine of the New Church, "consists in wishing to appropriate to one's self the wealth of others by artifices, and in placing the heart in riches, and in suffering the world to draw and lead it away from spiritual love, which is love towards the neighbor,—and consequently from heaven. Those are in the love of the world, who desire to appropriate to themselves the goods of others by various artifices, particularly by means of cunning and deceit, esteeming their neighbor's welfare of no importance. Those who are in that love, covet the goods of others; and, so far as they do not fear the laws and the loss of reputation which they regard for the sake of gain, they deprive others of their property and even rob."[3]
It is to be hoped that the latter part of this description is applicable to few or none that now hear me,—namely, the disposition to obtain the property of others by fraud and artifice. Yet we know how strong the temptation is to such a course, in the business world at this day; and the best men have need to be on their guard against it. Under the sharp competition that exists in all branches of trade, men are often tempted to use artifices to obtain that profit on their goods, which seems sometimes difficult to be obtained by a fair and regular mode of doing business. Therein lies the power of the temptation. If it were perfectly easy to be honest and get rich, too, there would be no temptation to be dishonest, and the worst men might be upright, because it was respectable and at the same time perfectly convenient to be so. But without temptation, there is less perfection; because without temptation there is no combat, and it is combat against evils which gives us a clear perception of their hateful nature, and a stronger relish for the opposite good. Hence, the Lord's words are, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire;"[4] that is, to seek to obtain that heavenly goodness (signified by gold) which is reached only through the purifying fires of temptation. Temptations are indeed all around us in the world: there is opportunity enough for spiritual combat: and the spiritual-minded man, fighting in the Lord's strength, will make these trials the means to his higher purification. If he be actively engaged in the business world, he will feel the need of being continually on his guard, lest he be contaminated by the influence of bad examples around him, or seduced by the evil counsels of unprincipled men of the world with whom he comes into contact, or provoked by the wrong done to himself to retaliate by doing wrong to others. But the tempter he fears above all the rest, is that in his own bosom. Knowing that all men, at this day, are born with a greater or less degree of self-love and love of the world in their hearts, he feels the need of being on the watch against this hereditary tendency; and conscious of his own weakness, he never permits himself to go forth to the business of the day, without looking up in prayer to Him who alone is good and true, and who alone can stem the tide of temptation that presses from without and from within, and give strength to get the victory.
Thus does the spiritual man strive to be ever on the watch against that gross form of the love of the world, which acts by cunning, artifice, dishonesty.
But there is a more subtle danger yet to be guarded against. Observe the other part of the definition of love of the world, before quoted from the Doctrine of the New Church, namely, that, besides seeking to appropriate the wealth of others by artifice, it consists "in placing the heart in riches, and in suffering the world to draw it away from spiritual love, and consequently from heaven." He who allows the things of the world, and the desire for riches, to occupy his thoughts exclusively or chiefly, and to be set before him as the main object of life,—such a one commits the sin of "placing the heart in riches," and "suffers the world to draw him away from heaven." It is to such a man that the Scripture says, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided. So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."[5] Such a man is truly foolish, because he sacrifices a great thing for a small one; because he throws away the happiness of a thousand millions of years to gain a little pleasure for threescore and ten, or perhaps for not half so long;—because for the sake of show, and vain-glory, and a little worldly pleasure just now, he is willing to lose the splendor and magnificence and myriad delights of the glorious world on high, which he might have enjoyed forever and ever. "What doth it profit a man," says the Lord, "though he gain the whole world, and lose his soul?"
Now it is to be feared that there are many, very many, who are in danger of this folly and this sin. In this most worldly age, and in the push and rush of business, even good men are in danger of forgetting themselves,—in danger of being swept on with the current, and of giving themselves up to the tide; and thus of being "drawn away from love to the neighbor, and consequently from heaven." They are apt to become—if not dishonest, at least hard and griping in their dealings; in seeking their own interests, they are apt to forget the interests of others; whereas the Lord's command is, to "love our neighbor as ourselves", in all things. They are in danger, for instance, of being harsh towards those they employ, of pushing them unjustly in their work, requiring more of them than is right, and of contracting their wages within unfair limits, thus subjecting themselves to the punishment denounced against those that "oppress the hireling in his wages."[6]
These and many other practices that are contrary to love towards the neighbor, men are in danger of at this day. These are the things that draw a man away from heaven, that harden his heart, and make him selfish, and indifferent to the welfare of his fellow-men.
Moreover, too much devotion to worldly pursuits and pleasures is a danger to be guarded against;—as the love of display in dress, furniture, equipage, going to balls and parties and public places of amusement, which when enjoyed in moderation are useful recreations, but when pursued to excess draw one away from the sober duties of life, dissipate all serious thoughts, and thus remove man's mind from heaven. The spiritual man will be constantly on his guard against this and all other forms of the love of the world, and his greatest security is the habits of daily reading the Divine Word and of prayer. No man who keeps in mind the true end of his existence—namely, heaven and the life eternal—will permit himself to pass a single day without going to that Holy Word which is the guide-book to heaven, and refreshing his mind—if even but for a few moments—by perusing its sacred pages—reading a Psalm, or a portion of a chapter, and thus storing up in the treasure-house of his memory some gem of Divine truth which may be a light to him through the duties of the day.
Let us now turn to a consideration of the other Commandment, the tenth:—"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's."
As the ninth Commandment has reference to the love of the world, so this refers to the love of self,—in particular to that form of the love of self, which consists in desiring to rule over others, and subject them to our own will. That such is the meaning of this Commandment does not appear from the literal sense, but only from the spiritual. In that sense, by a man's house is signified his mental house, his mind; and by the things and persons in the house, as wife, man-servant, maid-servant, are signified principles and affections in man's mind. That such is the signification of house in the true sense of Scripture, is plain from the Lord's words, "I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's foes shall be those of his own household."[7] Here by the household is signified the inner household of man's own mind; and by the father, mother, mother-in-law, who are to be opposed, are signified man's hereditary evils and falses which are to be resisted and overcome: the foes of his household are the evils of his own heart, against which he must struggle. So, when the Lord says, "If any one come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."[8] Here it is plain that the words are to be understood only in a spiritual sense: no one, surely, is required to hate the members of his own family, in order to love the Lord. But all these several terms of relationship signify the various natural evils and false principles existing in every unregenerate mind, which are banded together in a kind of household relationship.
So in the text. By "wife, man-servant, and maidservant, ox, and ass," are signified the principles and affections of man's own mind. But here the terms are used in a good sense. By wife is signified the affection of good and truth spiritual; by man-servant and maid-servant are signified the affection of good and truth rational, serving the spiritual (for man's rational mind or reason is intended to be subservient, not opposed, to his spiritual mind); and by the ox and the ass are signified the affection of good and truth natural (for animals, especially beasts of burden, are representatives of thoughts and affections in the natural mind, which are intended to serve both the rational and spiritual). Such is the signification of the terms used in the text.
This being understood, then it will be seen that by coveting these, namely, a man's wife, man-servant, &c, is signified, in the spiritual sense, a desire to get possession of, or get power over, a man's thoughts and feelings, and thus master him. The desire to rule or have dominion over a man's body and property is indeed a great sin: such desire we see in kings, conquerors, political tyrants. But to desire to rule a man's mind, to gain a mastery over his principles and affections, so that he cannot think in freedom—this is a far deeper sin. This we behold sometimes in spiritual rulers, particularly in that corrupt church, called in Scripture "Babylon," in which the effort is unceasingly made to enslave men's mind, in order thereby to hold them and all that they possess in entire subjection. Such lust of dominion is truly infernal: it flows into man's mind from hell itself, and from infernal spirits, whose chief aim is to get the mastery of man's thoughts and passions, knowing well that if they can succeed in this, the man is their slave: they gripe him by the heart, and he cannot move. The members of that subtle fraternity, the Jesuits, have, as is well known, been long distinguished by this species of lust of dominion. Acting as father-confessors of kings and nobles, they have, by first getting sway over their minds, over their ideas and feelings, attained dominion over whole states and kingdoms, and at times have governed according to their will almost the whole of Europe. Thanks to a watchful Providence, their power is now broken forever: as light and knowledge have progressed, men have come to see these agents of the Powers of Darkness in their true character, and are on their guard against them. The Papacy itself is founded in the same wicked lust of dominion, first over men's minds, and thereby over their persons and property. But that evil Power is now tottering to its downfall, and the time will soon come when will be wholly fulfilled that Scripture prophecy, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. With violence shall that great city, Babylon, be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all."[9]
But we must descend, now, from public to private concerns, and thus bring the Commandment nearer our own doors. We are to remember that the text forbids every form of the love of dominion, of ruling over others, of subjecting others to ourselves. For instance, in the household. And first of all,—between husband and wife; the love of rule on either side is especially to be avoided, for it is utterly destructive of true conjugial love. Let no man say, "My will shall be law in my household." A man's will should be law in no case whatever: the Lord's will should be law, and that alone: in other words, the right should prevail, and every one should give up his own will, and let the right be done: the endeavor of the spiritual man in every case will be simply and mildly to seek to ascertain what is right: for thus will the Lord's will be done, and all will be happy. The love of dominion, under the form of will or wilfulness, is one of the greatest disturbers of life, whether social, private, or public. When a man says "I will,'" all is over with him: he has given himself up to the dominion of internal spirits, and while he thinks he is master, he is actually himself the slave of invisible powers. He fancies he is having his own way, but it is their way he is having; they are urging him on, and ere long will bring him into difficulties. "He that committeth sin," said the Lord, "is the servant of sin." The truly spiritual man prays, of all things, to be protected against his own will; for he knows that his will is his proprium, and his proprium is evil. He prays to be guided by the Lord, in all things, great and small; for then he knows that he will be led aright, and all will go well. We should desire to subject none to ourselves, but to subject ourselves to the Lord: for then will the Lord's will be done in us, and, so far as our influence extends, will "the Lord's will be done, and his kingdom come, on earth, as it is in heaven."
THE END.
- ↑ Exod. xxxiv. 28.
- ↑ Swedenborg, having been brought up in the Lutheran Church, naturally adopted the mode of division customary in that Church: perhaps, also, because he thought it better adapted to the internal sense.
- ↑ Heavenly Doctrine, n. 76.
- ↑ Rev. iii. 18.
- ↑ Luke xii. 20, 21.
- ↑ Mal. iii. 5.
- ↑ Matt. x. 35—36.
- ↑ Luke xiv. 26.
- ↑ Rev. xviii. 2, 21.