Exodus 20:15 -- Do Not Steal

Well, it has been nearly 2 months since I have made a post on here.  I must admit I have not been doing my daily reading as I should.  Not to make excuses, because there were no good reasons why I have not been, but I did find out I was pregnant, had bad morning sickness, and then 2 weeks later found out that we lost the baby. We spent the next two weeks dealing with the miscarriage.  When that was over,all three of us got sick!  I guess when it rains it pours...  Also during this same time, my daughter gave up her morning nap, which is when I normally typed the blog and did my reading.  I am still trying to find a new normal.

Anywho, on with the bible study.

Exodus 20:15  Do not steal.

This seems pretty self explanatory.  Do not take something that does not belong to you.

Exodus 22:1 “When a man steals an ox or a sheep and butchers it or sells it, he must repay five cattle for the ox or four sheep for the sheep. 2 If a thief is caught in the act of breaking in, and he is beaten to death, no one is guilty of bloodshed. 3 But if this happens after sunrise, there is guilt of bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution. If he is unable, he is to be sold because of his theft. 4 If what was stolen—whether ox, donkey, or sheep—is actually found alive in his possession, he must repay double.

Exodus is clear about the punishment for a thief.  He must repay MORE than he took to repay the person he stole from.  If the thief cannot repay, he must be sold to cover the costs to the owner.

Proverbs 30:8 Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me.
Give me neither poverty nor wealth;
feed me with the food I need.
9 Otherwise, I might have too much
and deny You, saying, “Who is the Lord?”
or I might have nothing and steal,
profaning the name of my God.

Here we see that stealing is the same as profaning the name of God.  When we steal, we are looking at God and saying, "I do not trust that you will provide my needs."  or we are saying, "God, I am not satisfied with what you gave me."

Let us look at one thief in the Bible

John 12:1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was, the one Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for Him there; Martha was serving them, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of fragrant oil—pure and expensive nard—anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped His feet with her hair. So the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
4 Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot (who was about to betray Him), said, 5 “Why wasn’t this fragrant oil sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the money-bag and would steal part of what was put in it.
7 Jesus answered, “Leave her alone; she has kept it for the day of My burial. 8 For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”

 Judas, who the Bible calls a thief, was put in charge of the money bags.  He was so greedy for worldly wealth  that he betrayed Jesus, the one whose eternal reward is FAR more than any earthly money, for just 30 pieces of silver.  Judas's punishment was a death on a tree, hung and left to rot.

There is another thief in the Bible who repented of his thievery and is now rejoicing with Christ.

Luke 19:2 There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because of the crowd, since he was a short man. 4 So running ahead, he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, since He was about to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down because today I must stay at your house.”
6 So he quickly came down and welcomed Him joyfully. 7 All who saw it began to complain,“He’s gone to lodge with a sinful man!”
8 But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, I’ll give half of my possessions to the poor, Lord! And if I have extorted anything from anyone, I’ll pay back four times as much!”
9 “Today salvation has come to this house,” Jesus told him, “because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”

As a tax collector, Zacchaeus took more than he should have from the people to make himself rich.  When we met Christ, he turned from that lifestyle and all those he cheated, he was willing to repay 4 times what he took.  As a result, we know that Zacchaeus will be one in heaven rejoicing with all the saints.

Judas and Zacchaeus both stole for earthly gain.  Judas saw earthly wealth as greater than the eternal whereas Zacchaeus recognized the far greater wealth of what Christ offers those who repent from their sinful ways.