Ten Commandments: Respect for Each Other

Theft 

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

(5) Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. 
(6) You shall not murder. 
(7) You shall not commit adultery. 
(8) You shall not steal. 
(9) You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
(10) You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭20:12-17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

These last six Commandments deal with how we are to relate with each other in light of our relationship with the Lord. It stands to reason that our neighbor’s “things” are not ours. And for us to walk away with them is just flat out wrong. We do not have the right to take things that don’t belong to us. 

So what do we do with people in our country who are convicted of theft? Usually they are incarcerated for a period of time corresponding to the severity of the crime. 

Let’s see how this was handled at the time the Ten Commandments were handed down. 

Anyone who steals must certainly make restitution, but if they have nothing, they must be sold to pay for their theft.
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭22:3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Now if the US were to adopt this punishment, we might discourage people from stealing. Don’t you think? If I thought I might be sold into Alavert, I might rethink the idea of robbery. 

Or if slavery isn’t enough, we could go another route. 

People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving. Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭6:30-31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Interesting. Steal something worth $100 and pay $700 to get off the hook. 

My English teachers always warned against plagiarism which is stealing someone else’s words and using them as if they were your own. Looks like in Jeremiah some of the prophets were caught plagiarizing. 

“Therefore,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭23:30‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God’s pretty serious about stealing. In fact all these Commandments are addressed in Jeremiah. 

Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe—safe to do all these detestable things?”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭7:9-10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We have got to be stronger than the people of the Old Testament. They had barely received the Commandments when they were off breaking them. And then acting like nothing ever happened. Sounds kind of like today, doesn’t it?

Is it pretty safe to say that most of the people reading this blog have never really stolen anything that would land them in prison? Maybe. Maybe not. We’d best analyze our situations carefully and honestly and reconcile any shortcomings with the Lord. 

Lord, I pray that your Spirit will remind me of my sins regarding thievery. Take away the guilt and help me move forward in healthy relationships with your people.