Commandment 8 - Be Content With God's Provision

You shall not steal. (Ex 20:15, NIV)

Outline

Main Point: Because God has promised to provide, the believer can be content with His provision and avoid stealing.

I. Understanding the commandment:

1. Stealing is not the normal way to live.
2. There should be appropriate consequences for different types of stealing.
3. Stealing is opposed to loving – one who steals from you does not love you.
4. A thief will not be able to stand in the presence of God.

II. Applying the Commandment

1. The solution to being a thief is to become something else – to put off stealing and put on honest labor.
2. We should always seek neither riches nor poverty but contentment in what the LORD provides.

III. Conclusion

I. Understanding the commandment:

This is the 8th commandment of the “Big Ten” given to the Israelites in the desert. The Hebrew word translated “steal” means – to steal. To take what is not yours. Stealing represents an offense against another for taking their possessions. Yet it is also an offense against God because it means you are not trusting Him to meet your needs as you walk with Him through life. Like a two-year-old who says, “I do it myself,” you and I tell God “I’ll do it myself” when we steal from another for whatever reason.

Sometimes people steal for no apparent need – just for the thrill of it. Many a young person has had to grow up very quickly after shoplifting – just for the thrill of it – getting caught and paying an enormous price for that thrill. “Do the crime, do the time,” they say. But the LORD says, “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15, NIV).

Stealing is a sin and as with any sin against a holy and all-knowing God – “… you will be sinning against the LORD; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23, NIV). Whether you get caught in this life and pay and enormous price relative to the value of what you stole or whether you get caught in the judgment by God – either way, you will pay.

Bottom line - There is a price to pay, even when you steal.

1. Stealing is not the normal way to live.

for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. (1 Thess. 5:2, NIV) A thief entered a house one dark night and began pilfering through the goods when he heard an unexpected sound, “Jesus sees you!” He shined his flashlight around and did not see anyone. Thinking it was all in his head, he went on and continued his evil deed. Again he heard, “Jesus sees you!” Frantic, he shined the light all over the room and finally saw a large bird in a cage near the end of a hall. As he walked to it, he started cursing the bird and threatening to rip out its vocal cords. But as he gazed at the bird, he began to hear a low growl. Looking down he saw a huge pit bull and it wasn’t happy! The bird said, “Jesus sees you! Sick him Jesus!”

Stealing is simply not normative behavior at all -- when it happens it is unexpected. The “day of the LORD” is a reference to a time of great judgment upon the people who dwell on the Earth for their unbelief in Jesus Christ. The focus of this judgment will be Israel (through whom Jesus Christ was born) but the whole world will feel the wrath of Almighty God during this time. The unexpected arrival of God’s judgment is compared to the unexpected arrival of a thief in the night.

Jesus Himself compared His return to the unexpectedness of a thief:

Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed. (Rev 16:15, NIV)

The return of Christ will be unexpected, sudden, and irreversible. No one will be able to say, “wait – just a little more time!” So it is with a thief. When the thief arrives, it will be at a time you don’t expect it. Otherwise you would be ready.

That happened to me once downtown. I parked my car in an open lot near the corner of two buildings. When I came back just an hour or so later, I put my computer in the back seat and noticed my lunch box was missing. Thinking I had left it at work, I opened the front door and hopped in. “Strange, what is that hole in the console of my car? And what is all this glass doing on my seats and floor?” I was staring right at the result of someone bashing in my car window and ripping the stereo out of the console and it just did not dawn on me that someone had stolen from me. It took a minute before I got very angry. But it was done and there was nothing I could do about it. And, as I found out, nothing the Fulton police would do about it.

I did not expect a thief to do that – if I had expected it, I would have been prepared and watching, as Jesus said we should do in light of His return.

2. There should be appropriate consequences for different types of stealing.

The Bible makes it clear that not all crimes are the same – some are worse than others. In the case of stealing, there are various scenarios that result in different penalties:

If you can return the item when you are caught, the price is double: If the stolen animal is found alive in his possession—whether ox or donkey or sheep—he must pay back double. (Ex 22:4, NIV)

If you can’t return the item when you are caught, the price is quadrupled or worse: If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he must pay back five head of cattle for the ox and four sheep for the sheep. (Ex 22:1, NIV)

If you steal a human being (slavery), the price is your life: If a man is caught kidnapping one of his brother Israelites and treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from among you. (Deut 24:7, NIV)

While your motives may be understandable, the consequences of stealing are the same: 30 Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving. 31 Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house. (Prov 6:30-31, NIV)

3. Stealing is opposed to loving – one who steals from you does not love you.

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.” (Romans 13:9, NIV)

A prominent thief in the Bible -- one of Jesus' own disciples (Judas Iscariot) did not love Him as he was loved by Jesus:

3Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5"Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." 6He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. (John 12:3-6, NIV)

4. A thief will not be able to stand in the presence of God.

9 Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10 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? 11 Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 7:9-11, NIV)

The presence of the LORD is a place of holiness. Impurity in any part of your life makes being in the temple of the LORD a very uncomfortable place. For the Christian, in whom the Spirit of the LORD dwells, stealing creates a particularly heinous impurity. The LORD associates stealing with murder, adultery, lying, and idolatry but specifically points out stealing in His complaint against the Israelites: “Is this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers…?” (v11).

Further, in the book of Galatians, the apostle Paul writes that those who continually steal will not enter the kingdom of Heaven:

9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, NIV)

There is grace for those who turn from their sins and trust in the LORD Jesus who died for those sins. When you follow Him you follow the path of life:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10, NIV)

II. Applying the Commandment

1. The solution to being a thief is to become something else – to put off stealing and put on honest labor…

22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness … 28He 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. (Eph 4:22-24,28, NIV)

When is a thief not a thief? When the thief becomes something else … simply locking someone up does not change them – it deprives them of what they want to do for a temporary period. The thief must first put off stealing and then get a job. Working for a living so that he has something to share with those in need – that is the cure for being a thief.

Q: Have you ever gotten into a cycle of sin? Sin that you seem to repeat over and over?

It is not enough to say “No!” to unrighteousness – you must say “Yes!” to the righteousness of Christ. Simply putting off an ungodly act puts you into a mode of saying no, trying hard to stop, giving in, feeling sorry, and then doing it all over again.

The unrighteous desire in your heart must be replaced by righteous desires and plans.

2. We should always seek neither riches nor poverty but contentment in what the LORD provides.

The wise writer of Proverbs (the Spirit of the LORD) prays a most unusual prayer:

7 "Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: 8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. 9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD ?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. (Prov 30:7-9, NIV)

Over at a favorite restaurant that Mary and I frequent – Cracker Barrel – they used to have a section of the menu called “Just Enough.” It had the same tasty food (if you like southern cooking) but in smaller portions. For me, it was literally “just enough!”

That is the essence of this prayer: LORD, give me just enough. If I have too much, I may forget the LORD, the source of my strength and blessing. If I have too little, I may resort to stealing and “take the name of my God in vain” (v9). Isn’t it interesting that stealing is equated with cursing God? This is one of the rarely considered consequences of stealing. It defiles the name of God.

A few years ago, the principal of a local high school was caught shoplifting some items in a store – items of nominal value. This principal held a PhD in Education and, yet, resorted to stealing for no apparent reason. Her previously good name was defiled – we would say something like “trashed” today. Not only her name, but the school she represented was “trashed” as well. All for stealing.

Imagine what people would think about God if Billy Graham was caught stealing? It would be a complete embarrassment to the name of Christ. Better to have “just enough” and be able to live in the peace and provision of walking with the LORD Jesus.

III. Conclusion

You shall not steal. Why?

• Because God commanded you not to do this.
• Because it brings shame to you and to the name of the LORD.
• Because it is not loving.
• Because it is not good for you.

Illustration: There is a list of funny but true stories called the “Darwin Awards.” Pastor Billy shared one of them recently about “Leisure Chair Larry.” There is a report of a thief who went into a convenience store, put a $20 bill on the counter and politely asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash register, the thief pulled out a gun and demanded all the money in the register. “Sure, here it is,” said the clerk with a grin. The thief grabbed the money and ran out of the store – with $15 in cash. He literally paid $5 for his crime.

Bottom line: There is always a price to pay for stealing. Let it never be named among God’s people.

©  Copyright 2005, Randy Lariscy.

Back to the Men's Ministry Index