Yes — according to Les Feldick, coveting is the inner desire that must trigger every outward violation of the Ten Commandments.
Les teaches that no one can kill, steal, commit adultery, or speak false witness until he first covets what he wants. Even taking God's name in vain is fueled by coveting attention. Paul singled out 'Thou shalt not covet' in Romans 7:7 because it exposed the lust and desire that lies behind the other commandments.
Romans 7:7 — Paul names 'Thou shalt not covet' as the commandment that revealed his inner lust and desire.
Exodus 20:17 — The tenth commandment makes coveting the neighbor's possessions, spouse, or servants the explicit forbidden desire.
1 Corinthians 13:4 — The New Testament contrasts charity/love with envy, which Les identifies as another word for coveting.
The Bible's tenth commandment targets the heart's desire. Exodus 20:17 says, "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." In Romans 7:7 Paul writes, "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." In the next verse he adds that sin, "taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence." The New Testament also connects envy with the absence of love: "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up" (1 Corinthians 13:4). Scripture, therefore, shows coveting as the forbidden inward desire that the law exposes.
Les Feldick teaches that 'Thou shalt not covet' is the one commandment out of the ten that must always be committed first. He demonstrates this by walking through the commandments: "You cannot kill unless you covet. You cannot steal unless you covet. You cannot commit adultery unless you covet. You cannot destroy someone's character with false gossip unless you covet." The driving point is that all violations of the law are triggered by coveting.
Les says the commandment not to take the name of the Lord in vain also fits the pattern perfectly. By and large, why do people curse and swear? They covet attention — they think they are drawing attention to themselves with foul language. So even this commandment is broken only after a covetous desire first takes hold.
In Romans 7 Paul describes his inner battle of doing what he does not want to do. In verse 7 he says, "I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." Les notes that sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in him all manner of evil thinking (concupiscence). That is why Paul uses 'Thou shalt not covet' as the primary example of the law — it exposed the desire itself, before any outward act.
Les points out that in 1 Corinthians 13:4, "charity envieth not," and the word 'envy' is another word for covet. If you love someone, you cannot covet what is theirs. This matters because, as Les also teaches, the law had no power to help a man keep from stealing or committing adultery; it could only condemn. Love must spring from within, which means the cure for a coveting heart is not external rule-keeping but an inward love that does not envy.
The Ten Commandments Explained: Why "Love" Isn't Mentioned
with them. But I know Dick has said more than once, it was so amazing that when they bring those uncivilized tribes out and communicate with them, they have a moral code, a moral code that many times would make America look pretty sick within their own tribe.
The Commandment That Comes First
Les says coveting is the one commandment that always has to be committed first, and no one can kill, steal, commit adultery, or destroy a character with gossip until they covet.
Cursing as Coveting Attention
Les answers the objection about taking God's name in vain by explaining that foul language is coveting attention, so even the third commandment is triggered by coveting.
Cain's Envy as Genesis Example
Les applies the principle to Genesis, showing Cain's envy of Abel's relationship with God ate at him until it came to the surface.
Envy Precedes Every Commandment Breaking
Les repeats that a person cannot break a single one of the Ten Commandments without first being guilty of envy, pointing to Romans 7.
Paul's 'Thou Shalt Not Covet'
Les shows from Romans 7:7 that Paul had not known lust except the law had said 'Thou shalt not covet,' and challenges listeners to test every commandment.
Law Condemns, Love Springs From Within
Les explains that the law had no power to keep a man from stealing or committing adultery; it only condemned, and love must arise from within.
Love Envieth Not
Les says 'envy' is another word for covet, and if you love someone you cannot covet what is theirs.
Exodus 20:17: 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 tenth commandment identifies desire for a neighbor's possessions, spouse, or servants as forbidden.
Romans 7:7: 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.
Paul points to 'Thou shalt not covet' as the commandment that exposed his inward lust and desire.
Romans 7:8: But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
Paul shows that the covetous commandment stirred up all manner of evil desire within him.
1 Corinthians 13:4: Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.
This verse contrasts love with envy, which Les identifies as another word for coveting.
Yes, in this teaching. Les Feldick points to 1 Corinthians 13:4, where the word 'envy' is another word for covet. He says if you love someone you cannot covet what is theirs.
No, according to Les. He says no matter how you look at it, a person cannot break one of the Ten Commandments unless they covet first. Killing, stealing, adultery, false witness, and even vain use of God's name all begin with a covetous desire.
Because it is the commandment that exposed sinful desire itself. Les explains Paul writes 'I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet,' and that is why he made the tenth commandment the primary example of the law.
Watch the Teaching: The Ten Commandments Explained: Why "Love" Isn't Mentioned