2. Deuteronomy 5:19, You shall not steal.
Many
Bible scholars think that this commandment (against stealing) refers primarily
to kidnapping. It is probably more accurate, however, to view the command as a
general prohibition against stealing, which would include kidnapping.
3. Memorizing Ten Commandments Didn’t Help
In a certain Sunday school the superintendent
of the Junior Department was surprised to find that the offering which was
placed outside the door of the department room had not been reaching the
treasurer. A little checking revealed that one member of the department had
been slipping out of the door and pocketing the offerings.
The same boy just a few months before had won
the award for learning the greatest number of Bible verses, including the Ten
Commandments. When confronted with his wrongdoing, he saw no relationship
between taking the offerings and the Commandments he had memorized. He had not
really learned them.
4. King Ahab & Naboth: 1 Kings 21:1-4, Some time later there was an
incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard
was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have
your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In
exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you
whatever it is worth.” 3
But Naboth replied, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the
inheritance of my fathers.” 4
So Ahab went home, sullen and angry
because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of
my fathers.” He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat.
Naboth
was Ahab’s near neighbor in
Jezreel; they apparently owned adjoining property. Ahab offered to
buy Naboth’s vineyard because it was a suitable piece of ground for a
vegetable garden he wished to plant. Ahab offered to pay for it with
a better vineyard elsewhere or with cash, whichever Naboth might prefer.
Naboth was a God-fearing Israelite. In obedience to the
Mosaic Law he refused to sell his inheritance (Numbers 36:7, No inheritance in Israel is to pass from tribe
to tribe, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal land inherited from his
forefathers.). Ahab returned home
sullen and angry. Ahab behaved in a childish manner. Rather than accepting
Naboth’s decision, Ahab lay on his bed sulking and even refused to
eat.
5. Jezebel’s Plot: 1 Kings 21:5-10, His wife Jezebel came in and
asked him, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?” 6 He
answered her, “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Sell me your vineyard;
or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I
will not give you my vineyard.’” 7
Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how
you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the
vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” 8 So she
wrote letters in Ahab’s name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the
elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city with him. 9 In those letters she wrote: “Proclaim
a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. 10 But seat two scoundrels opposite
him and have them testify that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take
him out and stone him to death.”
When his wife asked Ahab why he was behaving strangely, he told her about Naboth’s refusal. She had grown up in a culture where the rights of individuals were not honored as they were in Israel. It seemed incredible to her that Ahab would not just take what he wanted. That was how a king should act, according to her way of thinking. If he would not do what was necessary she would do so and without hesitation.
Knowing
how to use the laws of Israel to gain her ends, Jezebel sent letters to
leaders in Naboth’s town, asking them to declare a fast and to have two
scoundrels accuse Naboth of cursing God and Ahab so that the
people would stone Naboth. At least two witnesses were required to
condemn a person in Israel (Deuteronomy 17:6, On
the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but no one
shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.). Cursing God was a
crime punishable by stoning (Leviticus 24:16, anyone
who blasphemes the name of the Lord
must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him.). Cursing the king
was not punishable in that way. Jezebel may have added that part of her orders
because she may have thought it was also punishable by death.
6. Naboth’s Murder: 1 Kings 11-14, So the elders and nobles who
lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written
to them. 12 They proclaimed
a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. 13 Then two scoundrels came and sat
opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth
has cursed both God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned
him to death. 14 Then they
sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”
The
leading men of Jezreel obviously feared Jezebel more than they feared
the Lord because they carried out her orders exactly. When Naboth (and
his sons were also killed) were dead the scoundrels dutifully
reported that the job was done.
7. Ahab Steals from Naboth: 1 Kings 21:15-16, As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been
stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard
of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive,
but dead.” 16 When Ahab
heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of
Naboth’s vineyard.
Jezebel
then announced to Ahab that he
could take possession of Naboth’s vineyard because its former
owner was now dead. The king got up from his bed and went down
to take possession of this property he coveted.
8. God’s Judgment on Ahab: 1 Kings 21:17-20, Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: 18 “Go down to meet Ahab king of
Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is now in Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone
to take possession of it. 19 Say
to him, ‘This is what the Lord
says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?’ Then say to him, ‘This
is what the Lord says: In the
place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your blood—yes,
yours!’” 20
Ahab said to Elijah, “So you have
found me, my enemy!”
God
chose Elijah to bear a message of judgment to Ahab, who was then in
Naboth’s vineyard. God told Elijah just what to say. Jezebel was directly
responsible for Naboth’s death but Ahab was ultimately responsible since
Jezebel’s letter to the elders ordering Naboth’s murder had been sent out over
Ahab’s name. Elijah said Ahab had committed the crime of seizing property not
his own as well as killing Naboth. The place where dogs licked up Naboth’s
blood was in Jezreel. Dogs licking up one’s blood was a disgraceful death,
especially for a king whose body would normally be carefully guarded and buried
with great respect. Elijah left no doubt in Ahab’s mind concerning whose blood
he referred to: when he said, “yes, yours!”
When
Elijah approached Ahab in the stolen vineyard, the king greeted
him with the words, So you have found me, my enemy. This suggests that
Ahab may have concluded that it would be only a matter of time till Elijah or
some other man of God hunted him down. Elijah was not now the ”troubler of
Israel,” but the king’s ”enemy.“ Ahab had made himself the enemy of the Lord
and His people by doing evil in the eyes of the Lord.
Those that live a life of evil will ultimately be
judged by God.
9. What does
Jesus say? Matthew 6:19-21, Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth
and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store
up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and
where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
One’s
attitude toward wealth is another barometer of righteousness. The Pharisees
believed the Lord materially blessed all He loved. They were intent on building
great treasures on earth. But treasures built here are subject to decay
or theft, whereas treasures deposited in heaven can never be
lost.
The
Pharisees had this problem because their spiritual eyes were diseased.
With their eyes they were coveting money and wealth. Thus they were in
spiritual darkness. They were slaves to the master of greed, and their
desire for money was so great they were failing in their service to their true
Master, God. Money is the translation of the Aramaic word for “wealth or
property.”
When
we are more concerned with gain wealth here on earth, we begin to find ways of
stealing. It can come in many
forms. Taking advantage of the people we
work with and work for. Cutting corners
to get ahead. Stealing time away from
our family in pursuit of the all might dollar.
Stealing from God, but not giving back to Him what is rightfully
His.
10. Taking the small stuff is stealing too.
Thefts
from hotels and motels reached 500 million dollars a year. Hotel managers count
on 1 of every 3 guests stealing something. In a recent year, 4,600 Bibles were
lifted from New York City hotel rooms. A magazine reports that during the first
ten months’ operation of a New York hotel, these items were stolen: 38,000
spoons, 18,000 towels, 355 silver coffee pots, 1,500 silver finger bowls, and
100 Bibles.
Book
thieves take from 200 to 500 books a year from the average library—a national
loss of $25 million a year.
11. Do not steal from society: Ephesians 4:28, He who has been stealing must
steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that
he may have something to share with those in need.
Christians
are not to steal, but are to work in order to give to the needy.
A thief takes from others for his own benefit, whereas a believer is to work, doing
something useful with his own hands for the purpose of sharing with
those in need. This is true Christian charity. Work has many benefits: it
provides for a person’s material needs, it gives him something useful to do
(something that is beneficial to himself and others), and it enables him to
help others materially.
12. Nagging At Bank Robbery
All the guy was trying to do was rob a bank.
And all the little, old lady was trying to do was a good deed.
She saw this young man park his car in the lot
of the Crocker- Citizens National Bank branch in Whittier, Calif., and noticed
that he had left his keys in the ignition switch. So she grabbed the keys and
trailed him into the bank, where she found him talking to a teller. “Young man,”
she scolded, “somebody’s going to get his car stolen if he doesn’t stop leaving
the keys.”
The young man,
who had just told the teller he had a gun and wanted a lot of money, stared at
her—and gave up. Snatching the keys, he dashed out of the bank, got in his car
and drove away.
