Do Not Steal Exodus 20:15

Do Not Steal"Don't take things which aren't yours to take”Am I stealing in ways which are less obvious?

Tough on Crime,Tough on the

Causes of Crime

Comment from G.D.Boardman "Again, the temptation to steal springs from

the love of display; how many of the defalcations which land our citizens in prison or in Canada are owing to their passion for equipage, for furniture, for jewelry, for fashion!“ (spelling is the original)

=?

Tough on Crime

Lev 19:13a "'Do not defraud your neighbour or rob him.”Defrauding involves lies“being economical with

the truth”

Tough on CrimeLev 19:35-36 "'Do not use dishonest

standards when measuring length, weight or quantity. Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin.

Tough on CrimeLuke 6:38 Give, and it

will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Tough on Crime Deut 19:14 Do not

move your neighbour's boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

Tough on CrimeLev 19:13b Do not hold back

the wages of a hired man overnight.

Deut 24:14-15 Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

Tough on CrimeJames 5:1-6 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail

because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.

Tough on CrimeDeut 25:4 Do not

muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.1 Cor 9:10

Tough on CrimeEx 22:25 "If you lend money to one of my

people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest.

Tough on CrimeLuke 6:34-36 And if you lend to those from

whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Tough on the Causes of Crime

Is it ever right to steal?Would it be right to steal food for your starving family?What sort of society forces this choice?

Tough on the Causes of CrimeLev 19:9-10 "'When you reap the harvest of

your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God.

Tough on the Causes of CrimeDeut 15:7-9 If there is a poor man among

your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tight fisted toward your poor brother. Rather be open handed and freely lend him whatever he needs.

Tough on the Causes of CrimeDeut 15:12-15 If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a

woman, sells himself to you and serves you six years, in the seventh year you must let him go free. And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. Supply him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you.

Tough on the Causes of CrimeDeut 15:16-17 But if

your servant says to you, "I do not want to leave you," because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his ear lobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your maidservant.

Tough on the Causes of CrimeMore formally a "bond servant“Obligation on Servant and MasterRom 1:1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus,

(New American Standard Bible)

Causes of Crime QuestionsWhat can we learn from God's way of

ordering society?Does our welfare system disempower people?Do we have a system which allows people to

make a fresh start if they fail?Do we make an idol out of self-reliance?Are there ways which could give the modern

equivalent of the bond servant? Would that be desirable?

Do businesses have a role to play here?