King of kings and Lord of lords: The Ten Commandments (Part 4).

Do Not Steal!

“You must not steal” (Exodus 20:15).

         No one likes it when someone takes something of theirs that does not belong to them. Many of us may have been on the receiving end of being stolen from, and a few of us may have been the one doing the stealing. Regardless of which side of the fence you have found yourself on, God does not like thievery. The first thing that God did after creating Adam was to give him a job. Adam’s job was to name all the animals, and he was to be the keeper of the Garden. This set the precedent that God wanted man to use his hands to work. The Bible says, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need” (Ephesians 4:28). If you have hands to steal – you have hands to work. Simply put!


        When Jesus came to earth, He had a job prior to doing His ministry. We know this because of the questions that His scoffers asked regarding who He was. The Bible says, “’Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?’ And they took offense at him” (Mark 6:3). Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph, had been a carpenter by trade. Men during biblical times were known to pass their trade down to their sons. Therefore, Jesus set the example of being a manually hard worker prior to Him being a diligent worker spiritually. Most people steal because they are too lazy to find gainful employment, or they are greedy and want more than what they have rightfully earned. They somehow feel entitled to what does not belong to them, but they are wrong.

         Now there are those who may say, “I do not rob anyone.” Well, if this does not apply to you then wonderful. However, the devil may catch you up in other ways. Have you ever been given too much change by a cashier at the store and did not return it? Has something fallen in the cracks of your cart and you did not go return it to the service counter? Have you itemized more deductions on your taxes that you were not entitled to? Did you not give funds to a cause that God nudged at your heart to plant into? Have you taken someone else’s wife or husband to make them your own even if only for one night? Have you purchased stolen items from someone you knew did not get them honestly? Have you plagerized a paper that was not yours? If you have done any of the above, you are thereby guilty of taking what does not belong to you; therefore, you are stealing. The Bible says, “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another” (Leviticus 19:11).

         When someone steals, they are actually playing into the enemy’s hands. He will tempt anyone to do what is contrary to the will of God. The Bible lets us know that it is his mission to totally destroy us. The Bible says, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). The devil aims to steal our souls, but Jesus came to give us eternal life. Therefore, we are not to allow the enemy to cause us to lose out on Heaven because we are bowing down to his temptations. The only stealing that we should ever do is to steal back what the enemy stole from us in Jesus’ name. The Bible says, "…I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts. It was I who sent this great destroying army against you” (Joel 2:25). We cannot expect the blessings of God when we take what does not belong to us. If you have taken something that is not yours, return it so that you may find favor with the Lord.

Do Not Lie!

“You must not testify falsely against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16).

        Most people would not put politician and honesty in the same sentence. Nevertheless, Abraham Lincoln was one politician where few at that time had that same sentiment. He had the nickname of Honest Abe because he had a reputation that preceded him for his honesty. One of the first acts of deception, after God created the universe and apart from what took place in Heaven when Lucifer convinced 1/3 of the angels to turn against God, was the twisted lie that he told Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Bible says, “’You will not certainly die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’” (Genesis 3:4-5). Satan failed to mention that once Eve disobeyed God, her whole universe would be flipped upside down. He fed her the same lie that he used to convince himself that he could be like God. The Bible says, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit” (Isaiah 14:12-15). It is one thing to lie to others, but it is another thing to lie to one’s self. Lucifer believed his own lies when he convinced himself that he was somehow smarter, wiser, and better than his Creator. He believed that he could do a better job in ruling than God. As a result, his obvious delusions got him kicked out of Heaven where he has caused havoc on the earth ever since.

         Lies contributed to man’s downfall that led us into the state of sin that we are living in right now. Therefore, it is understandable that God would have this important command as part of the Ten Commandments to let us know to stay as far away from deception as possible. The Bible says, “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight” (Proverbs 12:22). Lies do not help anyone, but they can affect everyone.

         Jesus, when rebuking the religious leaders, told the Jews that whenever the devil talks, he is speaking his native language which we’ll call – Lie-bonics. The Bibles says, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). The religious leaders refused to accept Jesus as the Son of God because they chose to be deceived by the enemy. Those who refuse to accept Jesus into their hearts are being won over by the devil’s lies, for he is still the master of deception and aims to destroy all of mankind. God, however, is a God of truth, and those who seek to follow Him will put aside their deceptive ways. The Bible says, “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:9-10). When we become like Christ, we put away the tools of deception and put on our buckle of truth as part of our Christian armor. The Bible says, “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place” (Ephesians 6:14).