Isaiah 66:2 CSB – I will look favorably on this kind of person:
one who is humble, submissive in spirit, and trembles at my word.

Matthew 22:38-40 CSB – He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important command. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.  40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

The Assumption of the 8th Commandment: God Owns It All

Assumption: All Property Belongs to God—Personal Property is Sacred

Isaiah 61:8 CSB – For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and injustice

John 10:10 CSB – A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

James 1:17 CSB – Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights,

Psalm 24:1 CSB – The earth and everything in it,
the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord;

Psalm 50:10 CSB – for every animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.

The heart-test of the 8th Commandment: Trust

Luke 16:10-12 CSB – Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much.11 So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with what is genuine?12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own?

Matthew 6:21 CSB – “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Job 41:11 CSB – Who confronted me, that I should repay him? Everything under heaven belongs to me.

  • The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.” – John Adams

 

  • It is an essential, natural right that a man shall quietly enjoy and have the sole disposal of his own property… The Utopian schemes of leveling, and a community of goods, are as visionary and impracticable, as those which vest all property in the crown… – Samuel Adams

Assumption of the 8th Commandment: God Owns it All– He is the Good Shepherd who Provides

Psalm 23:1-3 CSB – 

The Lord is my shepherd;
I have what I need.
He lets me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside quiet waters.
He renews my life;

Psalm 62:10 CSB – Place no trust in oppression or false hope in robbery.
If wealth increases, don’t set your heart on it.

The cautionary tale of King Ahab

1 Kings 21 The Message

Naboth the Jezreelite owned a vineyard in Jezreel that bordered the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. One day Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard so I can use it as a kitchen garden; it’s right next to my house—so convenient. In exchange I’ll give you a far better vineyard, or if you’d prefer I’ll pay you money for it.”

3-4 But Naboth told Ahab, “Not on your life! So help me God, I’d never sell the family farm to you!”

Ahab went home in a black mood, sulking over Naboth words, “I’ll never turn over my family inheritance to you.” He went to bed, stuffed his face in his pillow, and refused to eat.

Jezebel his wife came to him. She said, “What’s going on?

Why are you so out of sorts and refusing to eat?”

He told her, “Because I spoke to Naboth I said, ‘Give me your vineyard—I’ll pay you for it or, if you’d rather, I’ll give you another vineyard in exchange.’ And he said, ‘I’ll never give you my vineyard.’”

Jezebel said, “Is this any way for a king of Israel to act? Aren’t you the boss? On your feet! Eat! Cheer up! I’ll take care of this; I’ll get the vineyard of this Naboth for you.”

Proverbs 10:2-3 CSB – 

Ill-gotten gains do not profit anyone,
but righteousness rescues from death.

The Lord will not let the righteous go hungry,
but he denies the wicked what they crave.

Luke 12:15 CSB – He then told them, “Watch out…. because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.”

Proverbs 10:2-3 CSB – 

Ill-gotten gains do not profit anyone,
but righteousness rescues from death.

The Lord will not let the righteous go hungry,
but he denies the wicked what they crave.

Assumption of 8th Commandment: The Dignity of Work

Galatians 6:7, 9 CSB – Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap,

Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.

2 Thessalonians 3:10 CSB – when we were with you, this is what we commanded you: “If anyone isn’t willing to work, he should not eat.”

The Village Blacksmith, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Under a spreading chestnut-tree
⁠The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands,
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.

His hair is crisp, and black, and long;
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate’er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.

Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.

And children coming home from school
Look in at the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing-floor.

He goes on Sunday to the church,
And sits among his boys;
He hears the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter’s voice
Singing in the village choir,
And it makes his heart rejoice.

It sounds to him like her mother’s voice
Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies;
And with his hard, rough hand he wipes
A tear out of his eyes.

Toiling,—rejoicing,—sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close;
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night’s repose.

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought.

Q: Is the Village Blacksmith an example to be admired or punished?

Ecclesiastes 5:19-20 CSB –  Furthermore, everyone to whom God has given riches and wealth, he has also allowed him to enjoy them, take his reward, and rejoice in his labor. This is a gift of God,20 for he does not often consider the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.

Do Not Steal—Practical Actions

  1. Repent: Stop Stealing

Ephesians 4:28 CSB – Let the thief no longer steal.

Obvious Theft

Shoplifting

Employer Theft

1 Timothy 5:18 CSB – The worker is worthy of his wages.”

James 5:1-2,4-5 CSB – Come now, you rich people, weep and wail over the miseries that are coming on you. Your wealth has rotted and your clothes are moth-eaten…  Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who mowed your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Armies. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and have indulged yourselves.

Employee Theft

Robbing God

Malachi 3:8, 10 CSB – 

“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me!”

“How do we rob you?” you ask.

“By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions.

Matthew 6:24 CSB – Jesus says… “No one can serve two masters,…. You cannot serve both God and money.

Ephesians 4:28 CSB – Let the thief no longer steal.

Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need.

  1. Practice Generosity

Malachi 3:9 CSB – You are suffering under a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing me.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 CSB – The point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.

Three ways to look at possessions

1) What’s mine is mine (scarcity mentality)

2) What’s yours is mine (Scarcity thinking)

3) What’s Mine is God’s.  (Abundance Thinking)

Proverbs 13:22 CSB – A good man leaves an inheritance to his grandchildren,

Ephesians 4:28 CSB – Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need.

2 Corinthians 8:9 CSB – For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.