"Thou shall not steal." (Exodus 20:15) The first three of the six commands of the second table of the decalogue have to do with human life itself in both its physical and its, moral aspects, whereas the last three deal with and protects man's property. The eighth commandment protects our temporal possessions, the ninth safeguards our names and reputations, and the tenth forbids the covetous spirit that gives birth to stealing.
Under the Mosaic law the penalty for the violation of each of the first seven commandments was death. Although a lesser penalty was imposed for the transgression of the last three commands, the sentence of the heavenly tribunal for all sin is eternal death. But even under Mosaic law the seriousness of the sins of covetousness and stealing is indicated by the divinely imposed sentence of death upon Achan for his covetousness and theft in connection with the capture of Jericho.
The eighth commandment lays down the basic principle on which rests all human legislation for the protection of the rights of property. It is a recognition of the right to possess personal, and private property and a prohibition of any violation of that right. The word "steal" in its Hebrew original means "to take by stealth," or "secretly." It includes, however, all forms of theft, or the taking of what belongs to another with the intent of keeping it, whether by stealth or by violent attack.
This command, like all others, is written in the very nature of man. The thief himself knows that stealing is wrong, even where there are no written laws to forbid it. Anything of value that is taken from the hand, mind, or heart of another is stealing. Active stealing, in which a person is dispossessed of his goods, and passive stealing in which a person refuses to give to another what is his by right, are alike condemned, by the eighth commandment.
Right Of Property
To ignore the fundamental right to own and possess property, real or personal, is fatal to both society and government. No genuine Christian can consistently believe in the atheistic and destructive philosophy of socialism or communism, which has no basis whatever in the Scriptures. The patriarchs owned property as did the Israelites after reaching the Promised Land, and many divinely given laws regulated the right of private property and imposed penalties for their violation. Through Peter the Lord told Ananias and Sapphira that their property was their own, to be kept or sold as they chose. Their sin was in lying and in refusing to fulfill their pledge. The so-called communism of apostolic days was wholly voluntary and was confined to the city of Jerusalem. It was practiced but a short time to meet an emergency, and furnishes no basis whatever for modern political communism or socialism.
But human ownership is always limited and secondary. God is the absolute owner of all things. He is the unlimited "possessor of heaven and earth." (Genesis 14:19) To Israel the Lord said, "All the earth is mine" (Exodus 19:5), and the psalmist said, "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." (Psalms 24:1) This text was quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:26. (See also Psalms 50:9-12; Haggai 2:8) Man's ownership of property is therefore relative and secondary. He is only a tenant or steward with a definite obligation to the real owner.
The right of individual property, therefore, comes from God, and not from the State. It is a divine right based on the authority of the Creator. The dominion of man over all things on earth was a gift from the Eternal. (See Psalms 8:4-9) All that has been lost through sin is to be restored by inheritance through Christ. "For all things are yours; whether ... the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and you are Christ's; and Christ is God's." (1 Corinthians 3:21-23) "The children of God" are declared to be "heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ," in Romans 8:16,17.
The evidence by which we recognize that God is the owner of all things and that we are only tenants or stewards is the tithe, and a failure to return to "the possessor of heaven and earth" that which He demands as an evidence of His claims of ownership is divinely designated as robbery. (See Genesis 14:18-20; Malachi 3:7-14) Robbing God in tithes and offerings is the most serious of all forms of theft and is a sin of which no Christian should be guilty. It is bad enough to rob our fellow men, but it is far worse to rob our Maker.
Strict Honesty
The eighth commandment demands strict honesty in all our dealings with both God and man. It has been truly said that "an honest man's the noblest work of God." Both time and experience have proved that "honesty is the best policy" at all times and under all circumstances. Its rewards may sometimes be long delayed, but they are certain and enriching in the end. Honesty in business matters demands the giving of an equivalent in time, money, or labor, for what we receive, in all our dealings with others. Bernard Shaw once said that "a gentleman puts more into life than he takes out," and the same should be even more true of a Christian.
In all his business transactions the Christian gives "good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over." (Luke 6:38) "Show me a people w'hose trade is dishonest, and I will show you a people whose religion is a sham," declared Froude. Only those who are strictly honest in all their relations with God and man can be saved. Paul said, "Be not deceived : neither ... thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the Kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9,10)
There are only three ways by which we may come into possession of anything: by gift, which includes inheritance; by labor, both mental and physical; and by stealing. The eighth commandment recognizes the right of possession through the first two methods, and prohibits it through the other method. The first two fulfill the law of love and labor, and the third violates it. The thief gets possession of his property by fraud or violence. The two legitimate means of gaining possession of property are commended and the illegitimate way condemned in Ephesians 4:28: "'Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth." Everything possessed by everybody has been received either as a gift or by labor or by theft.
Forms of Violation
Theft is one of the most flagrant forms of the violation of this commandment. Its seriousness is enhanced by the fact that theft is usually committed deliberately and as the result of planning.. It is seldom the sin of ignorance. It is the unlawful taking of another's goods without his knowledge or consent. Robbery is another form of the sin of stealing. It is taking property or goods by force or violence. Embezzlement is a breach of trust. It is the appropriation to one's own use of money or property held by him in trust for safekeeping. This is the sin of the banker or treasurer of a company when he fraudulently appropriates money of which he is only the custodian. He may intend to pay it back, but if he does he returns stolen money. The sin is in the taking, whether he is caught or not.
The private use of the tithe is clearly a case of embezzlement of the Lord's goods. Because of the faith and trust involved, embezzlement is worse in many respects than robbery. Stealing from the public treasury on the part of those elected to office is a popular form of thievery that totals several billions of dollars a year and which is destroying the confidence of the electorate to the extent that only 50 or 60 per cent of the voters go to the polls in the average election. Stealing from the church treasury is, of course, a still more serious form of embezzlement that will not go unpunished in the day of final reckoning.
Perhaps no form of stealing is more popular in these days than gambling, in its many and varied manifestations.. Through betting, lotteries, and all sorts of "skin games," men and women are trying to get something for nothing. These are all forms of theft. Gambling has been called "the new national disease." Whose unlawful profits reach the staggering sum of $10,000,000,000 a year in the United States alone. The very least that can be said of a person who obtains money through games of chance is that he is a thief in the making, if he is not one already.
In his book The Ten Commandments, R.E. Golladay says:
"Gambling stands in about the same relation to stealing as dueling does to murder. Because a man is willing to risk his life in an encounter, does not make it right for him to take another man's life. Nor does the fact that a man is willing to risk his own property in a game of chance, make it right for him to take another man's property without the payment of an equivalent. There is nothing considerate or brotherly in a gambling transaction. Men gamble simply as a result of their feverish desire for quick and easy gain at any cost, even of their souls."--Page 310.
Extortion is another form of stealing. To Israel the Lord said, "Thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten Me, saith the Lord God." (Ezekiel 22:12) Jesus declared that the Pharisees were "full of extortion and excess." (Matthew 23:25) Paul declared that "extortioners" shall not "inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6:10) Extortion is the sin of officials and others who oppress and prey upon the poor by taking advantage of situations that make it possible for them to collect more than is due. This is a popular but serious sin that will not go unpunished by Him who says, "Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord."
The sin of extortion is also described in Leviticus 25:14, "If thou sell aught unto thy neighbor, or buyest aught of thy neighbor's hand, you shall not oppress one another." It is always wrong to drive a sharp bargain because circumstances place the buyer or seller at your mercy so that you can dictate your own price or terms. Obtaining money under false pretenses is also a form of stealing. This includes lying advertisements in print or over the radio as well as all other forms of stealing "within the law." Jacob was "within the law" when he stole his brother's birthright. He doubtless considered it a shrewd bargain which demonstrated his business ability. Jacob was not punished by the civil authorities because his thievery was "within the law." But later when Laban practiced the same sort of trickery on him, Jacob was indignant and complained bitterly. With such persons it always makes a great difference as to who is being defrauded. "As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool." (Jeremiah 17:11)
Employers and Employees
Stealing includes the underpaying of laborers or the withholding of their wages. "Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: at his day thou shall give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee." (Deuteronomy 24:14,15)
Note other scriptures setting forth the same principles of honesty: "Thou shall not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him: the wage of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning." (Leviticus 19:13) "Woe unto him ... that useth his neighbor's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work." (Jeremiah 22:13) "Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the cars of the Lord of sabbath." (James 5:4)
These texts demand the strictest, honesty on the part of employers. It is not only wrong to withhold wages; it is also wrong to delay payment beyond the time agreed upon. Many professed Christians are guilty of sin on this basis. No employer has the right to take advantage of a situation and pay starvation wages just because the employee cannot help himself. He should be paid what his labor is worth in returns to the employer or business at the time the service is rendered. The eighth commandment forbids overworking and underpaying workers, and it demands a fair dea1. "A fair wage for a fair day's work," is a Christian maxim. His service is often all a poor man has to sell, and the man who buys has a God-given duty to treat him justly.
On the other hand, the employee must do a fair day's work and give in service the equivalent of that which he receives in wages, or he too, is a thief. The man who shirks his duty and loiters on his job and wastes the time for which he is being paid is guilty of violating this command. Many employees deliberately attempt to give just as little labor as possible for the wages received.
The eighth commandment demands economy, diligence, frugality, and industry. The divine command is
"that if any would not work, neither should he eat." (2 Thessalonians 3:10) The apostle then declared that some were acting "disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies." He then commanded his class "that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread." This would be wise legislation at the present time. It would do more to end financial depressions than all other experiments combined. The Lord seems to place a special ban on indolence.
The wise man said: "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth; and thy want as an armed man." (Proverbs 24:30-34)
Fraudulent Dealings
A business adage of the first century was "Caveat emptor," which means "let the buyer beware." This adage has not become out of date. One writer has said that "many 'cut-rate stores' should be called 'cut-weight stores' "; and another said that "what is called 'high finance' is sometimes, if not frequently, deserving of the designation, 'low felony.' " It is not necessary to practice highway robbery in order to be a thief. To purchase for less than their proper value because the seller cannot help himself, is just as much stealing as is selling them for more than they are worth because of misrepresentation.
On this point the Scriptures are very specific: "A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is His delight." (Proverbs 11:1) "Divers weights, and divers measures both of them are alike abomination to the Lord." (Proverbs 20:10) "Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. Thou shall not have in your house divers measures, a great and a small. But thou shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shall thou have: that thy days--may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. For all that do such things, add all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the Lord thy God." (Deuteronomy 25:13-16) "Are there yet the treasurers of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable? Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?" (Micah 6:10,11)
The wise man describes a very common practice among buyers and sellers that constitutes a form of thievery. "It is nought, it is nought, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth." (Proverbs 20:14) It is a common practice for buyers to depreciate the article or property in order to get the as low as possible, and then boast of their business skill in driving a sharp bargain. This will not stand the searching test of honesty as set forth in the eighth commandment.
Unpaid Debts
The borrower never owns what he borrows, even though he keeps it for a long time. It is not his by a mere possession. His obligation is a debt, and an unpaid debt is stealing. "The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again." (Psalms 37:21) The person who borrows money or anything else without the expectation or ability to repay it is to all intents and purposes a thief. The same is true of the person who purchases with a good intent to repay, but refuses to do so when the debt is due. Many debts are contracted when it should be known that the promise to pay or repay can never be fulfilled, and this also comes within the category of stealing.
The person who has many unpaid bills and who is wasteful and extravagant in his own dealings is a thief of worst sort. Borrowing or contracting debts that never paid is too often a polite way of stealing.
The poet Emerson said:
"Wilt thou seal up the avenues of ill?
Pay every debt as if God wrote the bill."
And Shakespeare gave the following wise counsel:
"Neither a borrower nor a lender be:
For loan oft loses both itself and friend;
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry."
This form of stealing includes the borrowing of books that are never returned to the owner. Disraeli wrote in his Curiosities of Literature: "Great collections of books are subject to certain accidents besides the damp, the worms, and the rats; one not less common is that of the borrowers, not to say a word of the purloiners." He must have had some of the experiences common to most of the owners of books.
Thieves of Reputation
Through vicious gossip or slander a person can be robbed of his good name or reputation, and this is the most damaging of all forms of thievery. A person's reputation is the capital stock on which he does business or makes a success in his work, and he is robbed of his usefulness in proportion to the injury done to his name. This is a form of stealing that never enriches the robber. It does injury to others without being in any way beneficial to the thief. This principle is well stated by Shakespeare: "Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, Is the immediate jewel of their souls:
Who steals my purse steals trash;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed."
It is worse still to plant doubts that will rob others of the their religious hope and expectation, so that they lose eternal life. But in all forms of stealing, the thief himself is the chief victim and receives the greatest injury.
"Thieving, then, in its mildest forms, cheats the cheater. At best, it makes the one who practices it a parasite. That, in itself, is tragedy. No man can really get away with stealing. If no one else finds him out, his sin will. In fact, the most pathetic thief is the one who is getting away with his dishonesty. Sin is always a failure, but it never fails so disastrously as when it succeeds. It is always deadly, but it never kills so brutally as when it seems to give life."--Clovis G. Chappell, Ten Rules for Living, p. 128.
Restitution
Obedience to the eighth commandment demands restitution of all that has been taken wrongfully and paying of all debts and obligations to both God and man. Here is the law of restitution and its divine promise: "If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live." (Ezekiel 33:15,16)
When Zacchaeus found Jesus and salvation, He made full restitution for all his fraudulent dealings as a publican or tax-gatherer. 'Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, for so much as he also is a son of Abraham." (Luke 19:8,9)
The inference of Jesus is that salvation will never come to the person who does not straighten up his financial affairs in harmony with the eighth commandment and Christian principles. All the sorrow and weeping over the sin of stealing that we are capable of will never atone for sins that ought to be confessed and made right by full restitution. Nor will unkept promises square the account in the books of heaven. Christians must be scrupulously honest in every respect. Then only can we expect the smile of God and the approval of Heaven.