The eighth commandment also deals with relationships between humans, and of which they own as property, whether of their own identity or other things outside their immediate being.
It is point-blank, straight forward, and simple.
“You shall not steal” (Ex 20:15; Dt 5:19).
Theft ranks right along with dealing falsely with someone, as well as lying to them (Lev 19:11).
Both Jesus and the Apostle Paul listed theft along with adultery, murder, and coveting (Mt 19:18; Rom 13:9), probably because they were citing what Moses had written in the Ten Commandments.
Hence, while some legal restrictions were eased or simply done away with, to steal something that was rightfully owned by another person remains in effect to encourage civility; its emphasis came with loving one’s neighbor.
Although theft was not necessarily a capital offense, like say, murder, there was little mercy for the thief if he was caught or something happened to him while in the act.
Exodus 22:1-ff reads,
If a man steal an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. 2 If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him, 3 but if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He shall surely pay. If he has nothing then he shall be sold for his theft. 4 If the stolen beast is found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he shall pay double.
Penal restitution for theft was greater, therefore, than merely an eye-for-an-eye, and was not to be taken lightly.
It also included the failure to take care of a neighbor’s property and goods (Ex 22:5-15), when put in a person’s trust.
Perverting justice by taking bribes was also considered a kind of theft (Ex 23:6-8).
In one instance where theft took place during a kidnapping and the sale of someone into slavery, the penalty for such “evil” was death (Dt 24:7).
The problem we have today is that too many people are stealing too many things that do not belong to them.
It is has become so rampant that seemingly only the most valued physical items are prosecuted, while all the rest are passed over as irredeemable losses or something insurance might take care of.
Yet, in God’s eyes, theft is a serious sin against humanity and God himself.
It literally tears society apart and thumbs its nose at God, as if to tell God, “You don’t the cattle on a thousands hills; I do” (Ps 50:10).
Left unchecked, the thief may even assume that he can steal his way into God’s family, to which Jesus taught, “he who does not enter by sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and robber…The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy” (Jn 10:1, 10).
The thief, however, may rest assured that he, along with the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, the greedy, the drunks, the verbally abusive, and the rapists “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor 6:9-10).
Instead, their part, along with the cowardly, faithless, detestable, sorcerers, and all liars “will be in the lake the burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (Rev 21:9).
That is the company a thief keeps in God’s judicial estimation.
And unless a person’s conscience is so seared beyond reach, that ought to give anyone pause the next time he or she attempts the pilfer something from his/her neighbor, friend, acquaintance or family member, regardless of how menial the object might be.
