What does “the desires of the eyes” mean?
The desires of the eyes are sinful cravings that arise when a person sees something and begins to desire it in a way that leads to lust, greed, envy, or idolatry.
In 1 John 2:16 the Bible shows this temptation in the story of David and Bathsheba, when David saw a woman and lusted after her. But the desires of the eyes also include greed, envy, and idolatry—sins that begin when our eyes fix on something God has not given us. Scripture warns that human eyes are never satisfied, yet Jesus Christ overcame this temptation and helps believers resist the love of the world.
David and Bathsheba: A biblical example of the desires of the eyes
It was late afternoon. The king had been resting on his couch. He probably was bored. He rose and mounted the stairs to the roof of his palace, where he began to walk and survey his kingdom, enjoying the view of his city.
Then without warning his eyes fell upon the courtyard of a nearby house, where a woman was bathing. He enjoyed what he saw and could not stop watching. Soon his thoughts turned to how he could satisfy the lust he felt. He sent a messenger to inquire about her and an additional messenger to summon her to himself. Sometime later she returned home and in the course of time informed him she was pregnant.
This was the turning point of the king’s reign. For the rest of his life, he suffered the consequences of this sin. The son who was born to him died within days, and eventually another adult son mounted a rebellion against him. The Bible describes these consequences as punishments from God.
The desires of the eyes
The story of course is of David and Bathsheba, told in tragic detail in 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12.
All this pain and family wreckage resulted from what 1 John 2:15–16 calls “the desires of the eyes”:
“{15} Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. {16} For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. {17} And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (ESV for each citation)
The desires of the eyes and sexual lust
When we think of the desires of the eyes, the first thing that comes to mind is sexual lust, especially in our age of ubiquitous pornography and sex-driven marketing. Second Peter 2:14 speaks of those who “have eyes full of adultery.”
Jesus warned the one “who looks at a woman with lustful intent” this sin is so serious that “if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell” (Matthew 5:29).
But 1 John 2:16 has more than sex in view. The desires of the eyes that drive the love of the world also include the following.
Greed and covetousness: Achan’s sin
Think of shopping, in a mall or a catalogue. Think of the pleasure of just seeing things you want and dwelling on them in your heart.
When Israel entered the Promised Land and defeated the city of Jericho, a man named Achan sinned by taking some of the spoil. It led to defeat for Israel in its next battle, and God eventually revealed Achan’s guilt. Here is how Achan explained his sin:
“Truly I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them” (Joshua 7:20–21).
Envy and jealousy when we see the prosperity of others
The psalmist described how the desires of the eyes contributed to his sin of envy: “Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:1–3).
How hard it is not to compare ourselves with others as we see them enjoying good things we do not have!
The desires of the eyes and idolatry
Worshiping any created object, including statues and drawings created for religious purposes, as well as the sun, moon, stars, trees, rivers, mountains, and so on is the sin of idolatry. God explicitly condemns it within the Ten Commandments:
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me” (Exodus 20:4–5).
Notice how Scripture says the desires of the eyes function in idolatry: God speaks of a wicked person who “lifts up his eyes to the idols” (Ezekiel 18:12).
God uses even stronger language elsewhere: “Cast away the detestable things [the idols] your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the LORD your God” (Ezekiel 20:7).
Insatiable: The eyes are never satisfied
The Bible has much to say about the insatiable desires of the eyes.
“Never satisfied are the eyes of man” (Proverbs 27:20).
“Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes” (Proverbs 6:25).
How Jesus overcame the desires of the eyes
It is not surprising, then, that Satan tried to use this temptation against Jesus himself in the wilderness:
“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me’” (Matthew 4:8–9).
Jesus, however, did not succumb to the desires of the eyes. He resisted Satan by quoting the Scriptures:
“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”‘ Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him” (vv. 10–11).
Jesus was victorious, so he can help you overcome the love of the world brought on through the desires of the eyes.
Next week
In my next post we will examine the third driver of the love of the world, which is the boastful pride of life.
Also see last week’s post on the desires of the flesh.