Exodus 20:15 - "You shall
not steal."
Commandments six,seven and eight, "You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal." Make such perfect logical sense, and you would think that any culture would agree. But as I've said before, man is really good at finding reasons to disobey the perfect word of God. God takes stealing pretty seriously. After giving this commandment in Exodus 20, He goes into more detail in chapters 21 and 22 about the penalty for those who disobey this law. Exodus 21:16 says - "He who kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death." The word "kidnaps" can also be translated "steals". And God says that the penalty for stealing a human being is death. He goes on in Exodus 22:1-4 to say - "If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for the ox and four sheep for the sheep. If the thief is caught while breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no bloodguiltiness on his account. But if the sun has risen on him, there will be bloodguiltiness on his account. He shall surely make restitution; if he owns nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If what he stole is actually found alive in his possession, whether an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he shall pay double." The penalty for kidnapping was death. If you stole an animal you had to repay the owner double. If you stole and killed an animal, you had to pay the owner 4 to 5 times the cost! God wanted to make sure that the thief paid for his crime.
When we as believers steal, we are basically saying to God that He has not able to meet our needs. In Proverbs 30:8-9 the writer prays - "Keep deception and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny Thee and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God." Because we bear the name of Christ, any dishonest gain gives Him a bad name. In Ephesians 4:28 we read - "He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need." The Lord hates thievery but He loves honest gain. While stealing is condemned, hard labor is commended. Stealing is a sin against God, and against man. It's a sin against God because it profanes His name and says that He is incapable of providing, and it is a sin against others because we are taking something that is rightfully theirs, they've worked for it. And yet people, even Christians, are stealing all the time, and they don't even give it a second thought. Employees will steal things like small office supplies from their bosses, but even more than that, a lot of people will steal from their bosses in relation to time. They agree to work from a certain time to a certain time, but they arrive late and leave early. Or call in sick when they're not really sick. Or they'll simply spend their time at work fooling around. Americans admit to spending 20% of their time at work goofing off, and that's just what they admit to. As well as employees stealing from their bosses, employers will also steal from their employees in certain ways. When someone takes the credit for something that someone else did, that is a form of stealing. Another form of thievery is by cheating on taxes. Paul said in Romans 13:6-8 - "For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor."
All these scenarios may not be what we generally think of as stealing, but there are many forms of stealing and God is opposed to all of them.
In Matthew 21 we see the Lord Jesus' response to thievery. In verses 12 and 13 we read - "And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.”" We wouldn't consider this your average definition of stealing either, but Jesus certainly considered it to be thievery and it infuriated Him to see the way that these religious people were ripping people off. We see here Jesus' anger against thieves. But at the cross we see His love, even for thieves. We read in Mark 15:27 - "And with Him they crucified two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left." And we read in Luke 23:39-43 - "One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”" God is both just and merciful. All sin makes Him absolutely sick and He must punish it, but "the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives" because He has taken their sins, their thievery upon Himself. And in this way He is able to be both just, and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Just one last thought on this commandment "You shall not steal." Malachi 3:8 says - "“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings." All that we have and are belong to Christ. When we try to hold back something from God, whether it's our money, time, talent, or any part of our lives we are robbing God of what's rightfully His. I'm not saying we need to quit our jobs and become monks, or that we need to take every paycheck we get and put it straight in the offering plate. But I am saying that everything we have and are need to be given unreservedly to God and surrendered to His Lordship. We need to recognize that everything we have and are belong to God and He has the right to do with them whatever He will.
Commandments six,seven and eight, "You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal." Make such perfect logical sense, and you would think that any culture would agree. But as I've said before, man is really good at finding reasons to disobey the perfect word of God. God takes stealing pretty seriously. After giving this commandment in Exodus 20, He goes into more detail in chapters 21 and 22 about the penalty for those who disobey this law. Exodus 21:16 says - "He who kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death." The word "kidnaps" can also be translated "steals". And God says that the penalty for stealing a human being is death. He goes on in Exodus 22:1-4 to say - "If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for the ox and four sheep for the sheep. If the thief is caught while breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no bloodguiltiness on his account. But if the sun has risen on him, there will be bloodguiltiness on his account. He shall surely make restitution; if he owns nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If what he stole is actually found alive in his possession, whether an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he shall pay double." The penalty for kidnapping was death. If you stole an animal you had to repay the owner double. If you stole and killed an animal, you had to pay the owner 4 to 5 times the cost! God wanted to make sure that the thief paid for his crime.
When we as believers steal, we are basically saying to God that He has not able to meet our needs. In Proverbs 30:8-9 the writer prays - "Keep deception and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny Thee and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God." Because we bear the name of Christ, any dishonest gain gives Him a bad name. In Ephesians 4:28 we read - "He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need." The Lord hates thievery but He loves honest gain. While stealing is condemned, hard labor is commended. Stealing is a sin against God, and against man. It's a sin against God because it profanes His name and says that He is incapable of providing, and it is a sin against others because we are taking something that is rightfully theirs, they've worked for it. And yet people, even Christians, are stealing all the time, and they don't even give it a second thought. Employees will steal things like small office supplies from their bosses, but even more than that, a lot of people will steal from their bosses in relation to time. They agree to work from a certain time to a certain time, but they arrive late and leave early. Or call in sick when they're not really sick. Or they'll simply spend their time at work fooling around. Americans admit to spending 20% of their time at work goofing off, and that's just what they admit to. As well as employees stealing from their bosses, employers will also steal from their employees in certain ways. When someone takes the credit for something that someone else did, that is a form of stealing. Another form of thievery is by cheating on taxes. Paul said in Romans 13:6-8 - "For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor."
All these scenarios may not be what we generally think of as stealing, but there are many forms of stealing and God is opposed to all of them.
In Matthew 21 we see the Lord Jesus' response to thievery. In verses 12 and 13 we read - "And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.”" We wouldn't consider this your average definition of stealing either, but Jesus certainly considered it to be thievery and it infuriated Him to see the way that these religious people were ripping people off. We see here Jesus' anger against thieves. But at the cross we see His love, even for thieves. We read in Mark 15:27 - "And with Him they crucified two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left." And we read in Luke 23:39-43 - "One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”" God is both just and merciful. All sin makes Him absolutely sick and He must punish it, but "the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives" because He has taken their sins, their thievery upon Himself. And in this way He is able to be both just, and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Just one last thought on this commandment "You shall not steal." Malachi 3:8 says - "“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings." All that we have and are belong to Christ. When we try to hold back something from God, whether it's our money, time, talent, or any part of our lives we are robbing God of what's rightfully His. I'm not saying we need to quit our jobs and become monks, or that we need to take every paycheck we get and put it straight in the offering plate. But I am saying that everything we have and are need to be given unreservedly to God and surrendered to His Lordship. We need to recognize that everything we have and are belong to God and He has the right to do with them whatever He will.
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