The Ten Commandments: A Deeper Dive Commandment 8

Good day to you reading this column on the eighth commandment.

Before I address this column, let’s turn to some humor from https://southcountychurches.com/funnychurchhumorstories.html

On a sunny morning, William’s mother came into her son’s room and said, “William, it’s Sunday. Time to get up! Time to get up and go to church! Get up!”
From under the covers came mumbles: “I don’t want to go!”
“What do you mean?” she said. “That’s silly! Now get up and get dressed and go to church!”
“No!” he shot back. “I’ll give you two reasons. I don’t like them and they don’t like me!”
“Nonsense,” she told him. “I’ll give you two reasons to go. First, you are 42 years old, and second, you are the pastor!”

Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use the large double door at the side entrance.

The associate minister unveiled the church’s new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday: “I Upped My Pledge—Up Yours.”

The Fasting and Prayer Conference includes meals.

The sermon this morning: “Jesus Walks on the Water.” The sermon tonight: “Searching for Jesus.”

Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.

Don’t let worry kill you off—let the church help.

Wow! Those church bloopers will make you laugh, and that’s what we need is a laugh.

So, do you know what the eighth commandment is in the Bible? “You shall not steal” which simply means that you are forbidden by God to steal.

In a person’s mind, he or she justifies taking a pencil or paperclip from the company they work for and they justify it by either thinking the company can afford that or they won’t miss that or it’s not stealing, just borrowing, but stealing is stealing and there is no justification.

Look at Ephesians 4:28 (NIV) 28Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

Yes, we have those who panhandle when then they are very capable of work and the New Testament says that you should work by the sweat of your brow and that those who don’t wish to work will go hungry.

As we think about stealing, then one will see that stealing in all so many cases lead to extreme violence and even murder whether proven or not.

Unfortunately, in our society, we see that stealing is a very commonplace in the financial and modern business platforms. 

People resort to stealing in the forms of ideas and money to promote their personal life not thinking of the consequences when caught.

All too many times our thoughts have led to secure something for nothing especially if we are deeply in debt. If we think we can bargain with God or rationalize, think again for we put our own self in that situation, not God. Stealing or embezzling is not the answer.

Pastors seem to shy away when tackling the subject of the tithe, but this subject should be preached even though it may step on many toes. 

Yes, people will buy their wants and needs and then maybe think about tithing, but this what Malachi 3:8-10 says ⁸ “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. ⁹ You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. ¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

If you withhold the tithe, then you are stealing from God! Do you wish to rob God from withholding your tithe? God created and owns everything, so why would you want to rob God of what is his?

I, for one, do not wish to test God, but I will tell you that God will pour out his floodgates of heaven if you tithe. Think about this, when you awaken, God gave you the breath, the body, the arms, the legs, the eyes, the ears, and the brain to function. 

God has given you all so many more blessings that you couldn’t count them all in a day and you wish to steal from God. Are you crazy?

As I have said in the past, no Brinks truck comes to your funeral as you can’t take a thing with you, but while on earth, tithe and you will see, this thing called faith, that God will open the floodgates with blessings.

I utilize Howard Rand’s book, The Digest of the Divine Law and on page 72 & 73 here are the judgments for stealing. The judgment for stealing varied with the type of goods stolen. It ranged from restoration and other penalties to even death. If oxen and sheep were stolen and found in the hand of the thief, he was to restore double. If, however, the thief had sold or killed them, then he was to restore five oxen and four sheep for the one ox and the one sheep which he had taken. While this law applied to an agricultural community it nevertheless sets forth a principle which can as readily be applied to a highly industrial civilization. The law of the Lord removes all profit from stealing and imposes severe penalties upon those who steal. When money is stolen, the thief must make double restoration.

In the 1800’s, if a thief was caught stealing and or rebranding cattle that was not his, he was hung. Stealing was not tolerated in those days for the sentence was death.

Here’s a question, what shall be done with the thief who can’t make restitution? Exodus 22:3 says “Anyone who steals must certainly make restitution, but if they have nothing, they must be sold to pay for their theft. 

Simply put, when you steal and found guilty, then you must work off your indebtedness.

According to AI, here are three examples of billion-dollar thieves:

The Billion-Dollar Masterminds

While the prompt specifies millions, these infamous individuals orchestrated schemes so vast that their thefts reached into the billions:

• Bernie Madoff: Engineered the largest Ponzi scheme in history, defrauding investors out of an estimated $20 billion in principal losses (and fabricating statements claiming up to $65 billion). He was sentenced to 150 years in prison in 2009. [1, 2]
• Miles Guo: Also known as Ho Wan Kwok, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for leading a billion-dollar fraudulent conspiracy targeting online followers. [1]
• Jeffrey Skilling & Kenneth Lay (Enron): Orchestrated massive corporate accounting fraud that led to $11 billion in direct losses and wiped out $74 billion in shareholder value. [1]

Infamous Multi-Million-Dollar Fraudsters & Embezzlers

These individuals utilized identity theft, digital fraud, and insider access to steal tens of millions of dollars:

• Evaline Hunsicker: The founder of the fashion-tech company CaaStle was sentenced for executing a staggering $283 million investment fraud scheme. [1]
• Malone Lam & Co-conspirators: Charged in a massive RICO cryptocurrency theft ring that successfully stole over $263 million from victims using sophisticated social engineering tactics. [1]
• Abdiaziz Shafii Farah: Along with multiple co-defendants, Farah was convicted for his leading role in a massive $250 million fraud scheme that exploited federal pandemic-era nutrition programs. [1]
• Shan Hanes: The former CEO of Heartland Tri-State Bank who embezzled $47.1 million from his own financial institution within a span of just two months to purchase cryptocurrency.
• Billy McFarland: Infamous organizer of the fraudulent Fyre Festival, who defrauded investors, vendors, and ticket holders out of $27.4 million. [1]
• Arthur Lee Cofield Jr.: A Georgia inmate who pulled off an audacious heist from inside a maximum-security prison. Using contraband cell phones, he impersonated a 94-year-old billionaire mogul, tricked Charles Schwab representatives into wiring $11 million, bought gold coins, and had them flown via private plane to purchase an Atlanta mansion. [1]
• Dartanyon Williams: A master identity thief who began his operation at age 15. By age 23, he recruited older accomplices and built a massive identity theft enterprise that netted $3.1 million.

If God’s laws were enacted today, these convicted persons would spend the rest of their days working to restore double that which they stole from their victims.

Mr. Rand goes on to say in page 73 that under the law of the Lord, with two, four, and even five times increase in restoration over that which was stolen and with double the money taken to be returned by the thief, many would-be thieves would fear to do wrong. Manipulation of finances and reorganizations for the purpose of squeezing out the small investor; in fact, all sharp practices by which much stolen wealth has been accumulated in the past would cease under the righteous administration of such laws. 

As we close, turn to Leviticus 19: 11 (KJV) ¹¹ Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.

For all that man says and thinks, God has an answer, so when one steals, what does he really get away with, for one day he will die and then he must atone for his sins.

Stealing, is it worth it, and is it worth the monetary gain or just a fleeting moment before you are caught?

Stay tuned for the ninth commandment.