THE RIGHT OF PROPERTY

Exo 20:15; Mal 3:6-18; Eph 4:17-32.

We now look at the eight commandment: “You shall not steal”. In comparison, this commandment as well as the other two following it is of lesser importance than the preceding ones. Why? Because breaking the first seven commandments incurred the death penalty, but it was not so with regard to these three last commandments. Though they are of lesser importance that does not mean the last three are of no importance. It is interesting to observe that in current contemporary society, the laws and principles governing stealing rank higher in public opinion than laws and principles that govern our relationship to God. It would certainly be wrong for individual to be punished for refusing to worship or for worshipping gods other than the true God, it is an indication of where our society has come to when we are prioritizing possessions over people. Ignoring God, misusing His name, defaming His character, denying His existence, all of these generally speaking would not be regarded in public opinion as something troublesome or wrong. It is a subtle thing to disregard God to an annoying irrelevance and this is shown most clearly in the way public opinion had inverted the order of this Ten Commandments. In other word, many societies nowadays are more concerned with violation of human rights than with violation of divine rights. Stealing is seen to be greater sin than resisting or making God irrelevant to daily lives.

A preacher once said that whenever he spoke out against such sins as murder, adultery, impurity, theft or lying, he carried his audience with him. But whenever he focused their attention on the more subtle issues of godlessness (a failure to let God be God), he lost their attention. Why? Maybe it is because when we sit in the church and hear about sin as murder, lying, stealing, cheating, adultery, most of us may be able to say to ourselves: “I am not guilty of any of these”. But when the sin of godlessness is identified, who can say to himself:” In every area of my life I am letting God to be God and I am not guilty at all about this sin?”, it is perilously easy to get worked up about other people’s sin because it diverts attention from the unconscious sins that may be going on deep down within our hearts. This commandment at its heart tackles the thorny and troublesome issue of trust in God. When we trust God, His character and His provision, the need to take matters into our own hands and take what is not ours or more than we need is diminished, as we know we can trust Him to meet our needs. There is nothing that our human nature dislikes and resists more than the thought of dependency.

This commandment is probably one of the most clear-cut of all the Ten Commandments. To steal means to take something which rightfully belongs to someone else. Sociologists agree that this commandment is probably the most universal of all laws in the world. In even the most primitive cultures the prohibitions against stealing are of the highest importance. Just as the Sixth Commandment (You shall not murder) safeguards life and the Seventh Commandment (You shall not commit adultery) safeguards marriage, this Eight Commandment safeguards a person’s property and possessions. It has also been recognized that there are only three ways we can come into possession of something: as a free gift from another person (include inheritance); in payment for work done and as a result of theft. The Scripture recognises the first two and forbids the third. The first two are based upon the essential laws of human interrelationships which are love and work. The gift bestowed upon one person by another is an expression of love and becomes the property of the one to whom it is given. Property or possessions purchased from the rewards of toil and work have also been acquired legitimately. But theft breaks with these two important laws of love and work. The thief cannot love the person from whom he steals and when the law of love is broken, they also broke the law of work by attempting to possess without toil. The eight commandment recognises the true rights to property and forbids the possession of anything except upon the condition of obedience to the laws of love and work.

EPHESIANS 4:28

There can be little doubt that like so many of the other commandments, this commandment is being widely ignored in today’s world. Frequently, we can read media reports on the latest scam or what is termed as “white collar crime” which is crime committed by those who work in the areas of high finance. Have we ever noticed how often The New Testament talks and teaches about the subject of money and stealing? Why do you think that is? Mainly it is because stealing is a form of temptation that many Christian wrestle with. Many ministers and counsellors who have had long experience of dealing with people will tell you that this is quite high up on the list. One minister says: “I find stealing an increasingly common thing to be confessed at the altar or in the counselling room.” To gain a Transparent Conscience, one of the questions we have to ask ourselves are “Have I stolen anything from anyone and not confessed it?” It is surprisingly easy to break this commandment without realising it. If we are not careful, we can rationalise it with euphemisms like “driving a hard bargain” or “business acumen” or “a good business deal”, or exploit an advantage or fail to make an honest income tax return. The story of Zacchaeus (Luke 9:1-10) shows that we may never know the full joy of our sins being forgiven until we confess and made right some wrongs that we have ever done in our lives. The human desire to take shortcuts formed the basis of the three temptations of Jesus in the wilderness (Matt 4:1-11). Moreover, many other things besides property and possessions can be stolen as well, like a person’s honour and good name.

But what about stealing from God? We steal from Him when we fail to fulfil our responsibilities as stewards of time, treasure and talent that He already entrusted to us. Take the matter of treasure as an example, are we stealing from God by keeping for ourselves that which belongs to Him? Listen again to what He said to ancient Israelites: “Will a man rob God?” The problem here was that the Israelites held back their tithes and offerings. Perhaps you might say: “Tithing is an Old Testament principle, It does not apply today.” What does apply, however is the principle of proportionate giving. And the amount is something people need to continually review and give to God out of a full and thankful heart (1 Cor 16:1-2 and 2Cor 9:7). We know we are not to take that which belongs to others. So what about when the other is God? Have we broke this commandment? Let us expose our heart to Him and let Him identify areas of our life and then guide us to steps we need to take to gain a transparent conscience. You can trust Him even in the wilderness to meet you and be your provider today.

God Bless,

KS, Holyland Specialist Team