The Eighth Commandment: You Shall Not Steal Series

"Thou shall not steal" is God's bill of rights for all property owners. How many of you own property? You have a debt to the Bible and a debt to God Himself. Everything you own is a gift from God. Stop to think about it. James 1:17 says, "Every good and perfect gift comes from God our Father above". Your home, your car, your diamonds, your business, your property belongs to God. He's the original owner of everything on the earth. The Bible says in Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth". David says in Psalms 24:1, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof". Everything that's in the earth, God owns. When you steal another man's property, you have stolen from God. And God places your name in the book of life as a thief. Thieves do not go to heaven. I don't care how good your lawyer is. If you stole it and have not repented for it, when you face God, you're going to hell for it.

Zechariah 5:3, "And this is the curse that covers all the men on the earth: that everyone that steals shall be cut off". That's a broad statement. "Everyone that steals shall be cut off". That means criminals. That means congressmen. That means corrupt clergymen. That's one of the problems of America right now. They are preaching and teaching a counterfeit Christianity. And a counterfeit Christianity teaches you not to confront your sin, but just to adjust to your sin. You don't need to confess you need a counselor. No, you need to confess and forsake your sin, and then get with a counselor. You don't get comfortable with your sin. You get it out of your life. Because when God cuts you off, you will never prosper. You will live in torment on the earth and torment in eternity. This commandment is God's bill of right to every property owner.

Listen. Abraham, David, Solomon, they all owned vast estates. The children of Israel inherited the Promised Land. The boundaries for Israel are in the Bible. And regardless of what the enemies of Israel are saying, the land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people today, tomorrow, and forever! Read your Bible. Every man's land was exactly marked. The ownership of property is the basis of wealth, and that begins in the Bible. God wants you to prosper and to be wealthy. He just wants you doing it honestly. In ancient Rome, a mob pushed through the streets, crying out for more food and better entertainment. The mob that owned nothing was cared for by the state. Just before the gladiators came out to fight for their life, ox carts filled with bread would circle the arena, and they would throw loaves of bread to everyone who came. It was socialism on parade in Rome.

Today in America, mobs are in the streets burning our cities to the ground. They're shooting at firemen who are fighting the fires they start. They're ambushing policemen. They demand the state rebuild what they have burned down. According to biblical ethics, they have destroyed private property, and they should be made to rebuild it brick by brick with their own hands, with their own sweat or go to jail. In the Bible, restitution for destruction of private property is an absolute must. Exodus 22:1-4, "If you stole a sheep or an ox, you had to replace it with four sheep or four oxen", or what? Or they had a rock concert in your honor, and they buried you. Stoned you to death. That would be with rocks, young people. The Bible is a fourfold replacement policy.

You say, "Well, that's the Old Testament". Not really. It was Jesus' policy, too. I'll get there in just a minute. Numbers 5:7, "Fraud required full restoration of 20% of the full value of what was taken". You gave the full value of what you stole, and then another 20%. The story of Jesus and Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10. Zacchaeus was a Roman tax collector. Jesus ran around with some low-class people. Zacchaeus is in the tree. He's in the tree because he's short of stature and he's trying to follow Jesus in the mob. And when Jesus saw him, Jesus said, "Come down. I'm coming to your house for lunch today".

Jesus had a little chat with him about how he was stealing from people. And Zacchaeus said at the end in Luke 19:8, "The half of my goods, give I to the poor. And what I have taken from others, I will restore", listen, "Fourfold". "Thou should not steal" repudiates communism and socialism. The right of citizens to own private property is God's plan. It's a good plan. It's a plan that America was built on. Whenever political people start talking about how to rob you of your own personal property, you better stand up and speak up with a loud voice or they'll take it! For government to control private property and private enterprise is a socialist pipe dream. Socialism leads to communism. And America is walking down that road as fast as they can. Wake up, America! Wake up! Wake up! We're going in the wrong direction!