Gods Response to Crime
Exodus 22
Today in our country we have an increased prison population and the majority of people who spend time in prison after being released will break the law again and end up back in prison. Statistics tell us that that majority is 75%
Crime rates in the United States have been steadily falling this decade, but the declines have not slowed the growth of the nation’s prison population. Due in part to a wave of get-tough laws, many of them requiring longer sentences, almost 1.8 million Americans are incarcerated, giving the land of the free the second-highest confinement rate in the world behind only Russia.
Some people have the mentality to simply lock up criminals and throw away the key. But is that Gods response, Should that be our response?
Hbr 13:1 Let brotherly love continue.
Hbr 13:2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Hbr 13:3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.
This passage of scripture that we read tonight from Exodus 22 is more detail concerning the commandment “Thou shalt not steal” It gives the nation of Israel the right response to those who break the commandment and the price that they should be required to pay for their crime
This biblical response to the crime of theft is more unique than the way our society treats thieves because it placed the responsibility and accountability back on the person who committed the crime rather than making the rest of society pay for their room and board while they sat in prison
If a man was caught stealing an ox or a sheep he was to repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. There was no going to jail, see how God put the responsibility to repay on the person who stole
oxen were more valuable than sheep because they were used to do work, just like a tractor would be considered more valuable than say a motorcycle as far as its usefulness
Remember what David said to Nathan when he told him the story about a man stealing another mans sheep
Sa 12:6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
Available Commentaries for 2 Samuel 12:6
2Sa 12:7 ΒΆ And Nathan said to David, Thou [art] the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Sa
and what Zacchaeus said to Jesus in the gospel of Luke
Luk 19:8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore [him] fourfold.
Luk 19:9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
a person was also given by God the right to protect their property in verse 2. we talked about this when we went through the ten commandments. If a person killed a theieve breaking into their home there was to be no bloodguilt.
Since the commandment “Thou shalt not steal” and this passage of scripture here tonight goes into depth about stealing I want to talk to you about personal property and why God puts such an emphasis on it here
Keep in mind that this was written to the nation of Israel, before they went into the promise land. The only thing these people had known was slavery in Egypt. When we are accustomed to having nothing it makes it more difficult to manage what God allows us to have
Source of possessions
When we discussed the value that God placed on life it was because life was created in the image of God. When we talk about the value of possessions the value comes from the source who is God.
It is God who is the source of everything that we have
Psa 50:10 For every beast of the forest [is] mine, [and] the cattle upon a thousand hills.
God told David through the prophet Nathan
2Sa 12:8 "'And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more.
Sometimes when we start getting possessions we quickly loose sight of the source. We start taking the credit for everything that we have instead of giving it to God
That was what God did not want Israel to do when they came into the promise land and they started to occupy their own houses and plant their own vineyards. He put into place some very specific guidelines for them to follow so they wouldn't forget God as the source of everything that they owned
The law of the first fruits
the feast of tabernacles
Deut 6:10
When we see our hard work and sweat as the source of our possessions we hold them tighter in our hands, but when we see God as the giver of our possessions we freely give to those who have a need and to the Lords work
Since God is the giver of property than taking it by theft was a lack of trust in God, and a lack of respect that God had given your neighbor what they have
I was speaking to a guy one time about what he did for a living and he was telling me all about it and then I asked him, So you own the company? And he said, “well sort of” “its a partnership between me and the bank
right now they own 90% of it and they just allow me to work for them everyday.
That should be our attitude about our property and our possessions towards God. We are in a partnership he has just trusted us with what we have today to see how we will use it for Him.
We need to be careful to not forget God when times are good and we have a lot of nice things.
Paul warned the church in Corinth about their possessions and boasting about them
1Cr 4:7 For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
You probably remember the parable about the rich farmer that Jesus taught
Luke 12:6
Most of us would say there was nothing wrong with what he was doing, God was blessing him and he needed more room for the crops. But he forgot the source. Look at how many times he uses the word “I” he was not thankful and he forgot that God has the right to cut off the source of our wealth anytime he wishes. While he was going on with life he gave no thought to eternity and for that God called him a fool.
How many times have we made the same foolish mistakes. Trusting in I, never giving thanks for what we have, always wanting more, bigger, better.
The laws that God gave Israel about theft was to remind them that God was the source of possessions not self.
Accountability of our possessions
The Israelites in Egypt after they were made slaves did not have to worry about being responsible for possessions or property now that they were going to there own land God was going to hold them accountable for the stuff that He gave them.
This is one of the reasons that people even still today join cults, that way they don't have to be responsible for being good stewards over what God gives them so they think that they won't have to answer for themselves. Let someone else make the decisions. That's why also in cults you often see strict rules about dress and what to think and do and foods to eat and not eat, because again its easier to not be personally responsible for making those decision. Because with responsibility there comes accountability.
So in this passage tonight the people are responsible for protecting their property verse 2, they are also responsible for other peoples money or goods if it is in their home or if they borrow it from a neighbor.
We are also held accountable for what God has entrusted with us.
Jesus told a parable of some men who were give talents in Matthew chapter 25
We will be held responsible for what the Lord has entrusted us with.
Did we give him the glory for it? Was it used in the right way? Were we stingy like the man who buried his talent as though God was never going to give us any more.
That may be one of the reasons that God has trusted some of us with millions, because he already knows how we would manage it.
God is the owner of everything we have and he lets us manage it but one day we will all be held accountable with how good of managers we were.
Whenever I worked as assistant manager of the Shoneys that use to be in Bloomington the owners lived in Jasper. So for the most part they weren't there. But they trusted us to manage a building that cost them a million dollars, and all the money that came through it. The few times they did show up you could feel your heart beat increase as they walked through and checked everything out because you didn't want to loose your position, you didn't want to be caught mis managing what they had entrusted to you.
Its the same way with our walk with Christ. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, he owns our home, our cars, our health, our time, our resources, its all his.
I couldn't manage the restaurant like it was mine, I managed it like I was accountable to someone else, I couldn't keep the money fore myself, it didn't belong to me, That's the same accountability that we need to have to God for our possessions that he has entrusted us with.
Attitude towards other peoples possessions
verse 14 says that if they borrowed something from a neighbor and it gets injured or dies that they were to make full restitution unless they had paid to rent the item. Also in verse 5 if a persons animals grazed in another persons fields then the owner of the animal was to pay the owner of the field.
This again just shows that God recognizes the right to own property and that we are to treat other peoples property with the same respect that we want them to treat our property.
Mat 7:12 "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
There are some people in the religious world who do not treat other peoples property with the same respect that they treat their own. Instead they take advantage of other people and make merchandise out of them
the bible calls such people false prophets
2Pe 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
2Pe 2:2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.
2Pe 2:3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
The motivation behind much of the prosperity gospel message is greed, you give your personal property under pressure from the leadership and with the motivation that by giving what you have you will get even more but the end result is that it makes the leaders rich and you feeling guilty for not having enough faith to receive the hundred fold they promised
The prosperity gospel does not recognize the boundaries set by God to own and manage property and the trust that God has given each person to make decisions individually on how and where to give
2Cr 9:7 Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
I also believe that just as we respect other peoples property we also respect their time...........
