Neither Shalt Thou Steal
K. H. Caspari. Deuteronomy 5:19 Neither shall you steal. God has divided the world's goods diversely. To one He has given much, to another little. This has been since the beginning. No attempt to alter this order of things has succeeded. That which God has given to the individual is called his property or possession; and in this commandment God throws a shield over men's possessions, be they great or small, and says to each, "Thou shalt not steal." When do we keep this commandment? I. WHEN WE DO NOT ACQUIRE OUR NEIGHBOUR'S PROPERTY UNJUSTLY. 1. Of thieving. Luther says: "It is the meanest occupation, yet the most widely practised profession on earth; and if one considers the world in its various conditions it will be found to be a den of thieves." 2. If a man waylays another and takes his gold, we call him a robber. If another breaks into a ]louse and carries off money or clothing, etc., we call him a thief; and of him who receives the stolen property we say, "The receiver is as bad as the thief." 3. But he who invades his neighbour's acres, who removes his neighbour's landmark, or takes produce from his neighbour's field, even though he plead necessity, is still a thief. 4. So, too, is the man who gets gain by adulterated goods or false dealing, the merchant who uses false weights or measures, who passes off spoiled or inferior wares as fresh and good, the artisan who gives "scamped" work for good pay, the purchaser who passes false coin, the extortioner, the servant or official who neglects duty, the beggar who by labour might earn a day's wage, the man who finds what has been lost and makes no effort to trace the owner. 5. And it matters not whose possession is thus wrongly appropriated. The Government steals when it receives the taxes of the people and does not apply them for the good of the people, but for its own fads and designs; but the subject also steals when he seeks to avoid the legal taxation. The child steals when it takes or sells what belongs to the parent; but the parent steals when he squanders in play or debauchery the wife's or children's portion or what should be given them for dally bread. It would be impossible to enumerate, briefly or at all, all methods of theft and robbery; and the victims — "God is the avenger of all such." II. WHEN WE DO NOT UNCHARITABLY PERMIT OUR NEIGHBOUR TO BE DESPOILED OF HIS POSSESSIONS. 1. Many who lose their property have not to lament theft or deceit, but the carelessness of those who should have warned and helped them, e.g., the guardian who permits his ward to squander his property or is careless as to the investment and safety of that property; the neighbour who sees what damage his neighbour's servants or children are doing and does not warn him such deal unjustly. 2. So, too, do those who damage their neighbour's trade or credit. Rather we are to aid our neighbour to increase and protect his possessions, as the apostle has said (1 Peter 4:10). 3. In the sight of men what you possess is your own; in the sight of God it is simply lent. It is His, and should be used according to His will. If God, therefore, requires that we should give or lend in order to increase or protect our neighbour's possessions, we should do so. "Give to him that asketh," etc. (Matthew 5:42). 4. Further, Scripture says, "Give thy bread unto the hungry," etc. (Isaiah 58:7). Not that the lazy, work-shirking beggar or the child who is being trained in beggary are to be directly relieved, for this would be to have part in sin; but whenever we are convinced that the truly poor and needy are before us we are to consider them as sent of God for our help. "He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord," etc. III. WHEN WE ARE CAREFUL THAT OUR POSSESSIONS DO NOT UNHAPPILY BECOME TO US OCCASIONS OF SIN. 1. We must be careful that we have not to blush at the question as to how we obtained our possessions. Gold on account of which tears are shed — tears of poverty, of the deceived — will burn in the heart. Better to be Bartimaeus the beggar than Ahab and Achan the thieves, or as the miser who on his death bed lamented that the gold which had once been to him like rose leaves on which he could sleep peacefully now appeared to be like thorns and thistles and red-hot needles. 2. We must guard against idleness. He who is idle may soon come to poverty; and if he cannot dig and is ashamed to beg, he may take to thieving. This applies as well to those who have no need to labour for daily bread. To every man some work is given, and "labour has a golden foundation." 3. Beware of extravagance. He who squanders his possessions in play or drunkenness, etc., has no right to say, "I spend what is my own." No, it is God's possession — the possession of his children and, if they have enough, of God's poor. The prodigal's fate is mostly an evil one. "The young free-liver becomes the old beggar." 4. Beware of avarice. "Many treasures, many snares." To him whom Mammon never satisfies sufficiently, who will sooner forego love and mercifulness than goods and gold, his possessions are occasions of sin. Avarice increases with gain during the years — binds its cords on rich and poor alike, makes the heart stony, and is indeed a "root of all evil." Many a one would not go about with disturbed mind and troubled heart, a broken promise, and the curse of the betrayer on the conscience, had such an one remembered that Mammon is a merciless lord and gives evil rewards to his servants. "What shall it profit a man?" etc. 5. Beware of envy. "A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." Men may have wealth and yet sorrow and misery enough. "Poverty and riches lie not in chests, but in the soul." He is rich who combines godliness with contentment. Modest and honourably acquired possessions are like a graceful fountain, full of water (like the widow's cruse), which fills many pitchers and yet is not exhausted. "From a small fountain we may satisfy our thirst as well as from a great one." 6. Set not your hope on riches. The riches which water engulfs, fire destroys, rust eats, worms gnaw, and thieves steal are truly uncertain riches. 7. Let both rich and poor put their hope in God. With Him men can be poor or rich without sin; and He has given the promise, "I will never leave thee," etc. And where poor and rich can grasp this promise, then what Solomon says takes place. (K. H. Caspari.) Parallel Verses KJV: Neither shalt thou steal. WEB: "Neither shall you steal.