Last week we discussed the 7th Commandment (You shall not commit adultery) in a message titled “Be true to your husband or wife.” Now we are going to discuss the 8th Commandment found in Exodus 20:15 “You shall not steal.”
Webster’s New World Dictionary gives us this definition for stealing:
To take another’s property dishonestly, in a secret manner, slyly, stealthily.1
Webster’s New World Thesaurus gives us some other words that mean to steal – take, thieve, loot, rob, embezzle, defraud, carry away, appropriate, lift, remove, abduct, kidnap, run off with, hold up, strip, poach, swindle, plagiarize, misappropriate, burglarize, blackmail, fleece, plunder, pillage, ransack, stick up, hijack, pinch, mooch, gyp. 2
Have you ever thought about all the ways people steal? There are so many ways that a thief can steal. This list helps to see some of them, but let’s put them into everyday methods that we all get tempted to do.
Borrowing something and not giving it back. Taking any items home from work without the owner’s permission, using someone’s words without giving credit, copying music or videos without permission, getting paid for an hour of work while you talk, play or do personal stuff on the computer or phone. Taking a few extra minutes for coffee break and lunch on the employer’s time. Taking credit for something that others did.
I could go on for longer, but I think and hope you get the idea of what stealing is. Not always is it a big event, it can be lots of tiny little things that Satan convinces you are okay to do. Why is it so bad? It destroys community!
Lawrence O. Richards, The Bible Readers Companion gives us this view of stealing:
“The command prohibits stealing of any kind. The concern here is not so much for the rights of the individual to property, as for the destructive impact of stealing on relationships within the covenant community. Thus the penalty for theft in the OT is not jail, but restitution, by paying back at least twice what was stolen. Payment made to the victim is intended to restore harmony by balancing the books, and is not punitive. 3
Leviticus 6:1-7 NIV
1 The Lord said to Moses:
2 “If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the Lord by deceiving his neighbor about something entrusted to him or left in his care or stolen, or if he cheats him,
3 or if he finds lost property and lies about it, or if he swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that people may do—
4 when he thus sins and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to him, or the lost property he found,
5 or whatever it was he swore falsely about. He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day he presents his guilt offering.
6 And as a penalty he must bring to the priest, that is, to the Lord, his guilt offering, a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value.
7 In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the Lord, and he will be forgiven for any of these things he did that made him guilty.”
The Israelite people understood sacrifices for atonement of sin. They were strong on family and national unity. This commandment “Do not steal” was to keep that unity and harmony in the family and nation.
Paul’s answer to all this is summed up in one verse.
Ephesians 4:28 NIV
28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
The NIV Study Bible has this note: It is not enough to cease from sin; one must do good. The former thief must now help those in need. 4
Romans 13:9-10 NIV
9 The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
When Jesus came and walked amongst them, He taught an even more intense love for family and nation. Jesus lived, talked and demonstrated “love your neighbour.”
Paul writes about this in Romans 5 where he talks about disobedience and righteousness.
Romans 5:18-21 NIV
18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
As we go into our Communion service, I want you to remember that it was Jesus that made our salvation, our gift of eternal life, a reality. Jesus came to take on our punishment for all the sins that we have done, including stealing. Jesus is the righteousness that justifies our existence with God.
Let’s pray!
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