The 10 Commandments: “Do Not Steal”

The commands reflect God’s character. God gave us His commands to show us who He is.

The commands reveal our condition. When we’ve been changed by the love grace and mercy of Christ Jesus we will desire to obey them. If we don’t desire to obey the commands of God, then we have a heart or sin issue that needs to be addressed. In that way the commands show us who we are.

God’s commands are relational as well. They are about our relationship with God and our relationships with others. That’s why loving God and loving others are the two greatest commands. If we love God, we will show it by obeying His commands. If we love others, we will show it by treating them in a way that aligns with the commands of God.

Exodus 20:1–17 (NASB)

1 Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. 8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

The Eighth Commandment: “Do Not Steal”

15 “You shall not steal.

Ephesians 4:28 (NASB)

28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.

When you steal…

It Robs Others of Their Belongings.

God is Robbed of His Belongings

Psalm 24:1 (NASB)

1 The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.

Worship:

Matthew 21:12–13 (NASB)

12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.”

Tithes and Offerings:

Malachi 3:8–9 (NASB)

8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!

Haggai 2:8 (NASB)

8 ‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the Lord of hosts.

Salvation:

Psalm 3:8 (NASB)

8 Salvation belongs to the Lord…

Righteousness:

Daniel 9:7 (NASB)

7 “Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord…

Success:

Proverbs 21:31 (NASB)

31 The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.

If you don’t give God what belongs to Him or if you don’t give God credit for that which belongs to Him, you are stealing from God!

An Example:

Acts 12:21–23 (NASB)

21 On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. 22 The people kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” 23 And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.

People are robbed of what belongs to them.

Taking what belongs to someone else:

2 Samuel 12:1–10 (NASB)

1 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said, “There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 “The rich man had a great many flocks and herds. 3 “But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb Which he bought and nourished; And it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom, And was like a daughter to him. 4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, And he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd, To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him; Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. 6 “He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.” 7 Nathan then said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 ‘I also gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! 9 ‘Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 ‘Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’

Not giving people what they are owed:

Leviticus 19:11–13 (NASB)

11 ‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. 12 ‘You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the Lord. 13 ‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning.

Proverbs 3:27 (NASB)

27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in your power to do it.

Mark 12:17 (NASB)

17 And Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” …

Romans 13:7–8 (NASB)

7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. 8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

Cheating:

Proverbs 11:1 (NASB)

1 A false balance is an abomination to the Lord…

The Consequences:

James 1:17 (NASB)

17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father…

Proverbs 22:22–23 (NASB)

22 Do not rob the poor because he is poor, Or crush the afflicted at the gate; 23 For the Lord will plead their case and take the life of those who rob them.

Proverbs 23:10–11 (NASB)

10 Do not move the ancient boundary Or go into the fields of the fatherless, 11 For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their case against you.

Proverbs 6:31 (NASB)

31 But when he is found, he must repay sevenfold; He must give all the substance of his house.

An Example:

1 Kings 21:17–19 (NASB)

17 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 18 “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth where he has gone down to take possession of it. 19 “You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Have you murdered and also taken possession?” ’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth the dogs will lick up your blood, even yours.” ’ ”

It robs you of you own blessings.

Ephesians 4:28 (NASB)

28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good…

Psalm 128:1–2 (ESV)

1 Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! 2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands…

Proverbs 13:11 (NASB)

11 Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles, but the one who gathers by labor increases it.

When we steal we don’t work with out hands and received a return for our labor. Rather stealing takes what someone else has worked for we rob ourselves of blessing the Lord has for us.

Proverbs 10:2 (ESV)

2 Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit…

Proverbs 10:4 (NASB)

4 Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.

Galatians 6:7 (NASB)

7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

Jeremiah 5:25 (NASB)

25 …your sins have withheld good from you.

Malachi 3:10 (NASB)

10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.

2 Thessalonians 3:10 (NASB)

10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.

Colossians 3:23–24 (NASB)

23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance…

When you steal, you rob God, you rob others and you rob yourself of blessings.

It robs you of the opportunity to bless.

Ephesians 4:28 (NASB)

28 …so that he will have something to share with one who has need.

Genesis 12:2 (NASB)

2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing…

1 Timothy 6:17–18 (NASB)

17 Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share…

Deuteronomy 15:7–8 (NASB)

7 “If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; 8 but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks.

Proverbs 3:27 (NASB)

27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.

Matthew 5:42 (NASB)

42 “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

1 John 3:17 (NASB)

17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

God blessings us so that we can be a blessing!

In closing:

Don’t miss out on the blessings God has for you and don’t miss the opportunity to be used by God to be a blessing!

Ephesians 4:28 (NASB)

28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.

There might be people you need to reconcile with and make things right.

Luke 19:1–10 (NASB)

1 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. 3 Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. 7 When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Maybe you have been stealing from God…

1 Chronicles 16:28–29 (NKJV)

28 Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples, Give to the Lord glory and strength. 29 Give to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come before Him…

Romans 12:1 (NASB)

1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Memory Verse of the Week:

Ephesians 4:28 (NASB)

28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.