“You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15, NKJV).
Most like to see this commandment as being about the protection of private property. It is, in a way. But none can actually own anything! God alone owns everything and everyone. Most souls think that, if they own someone or something, they bear the right to do anything they want with what one claims to own. But Satan—who rebelled against God, who wants to be a god—is the author of that delusion. So his children think that. However, all elect spirits born of God’s Spirit, created in God’s image, do not think that way. For, in reality, under the almighty God, the most anyone can be is a lowly steward of God’s property, a steward of one’s own body and spirit. We “own” the stewardship of some things, and we “own” a God-given responsibility to serve the children and living creatures God allows us to name, along with a duty to do what is just, good and loving for all God’s creations. We own nothing but God’s authority and command to do what is loving and to nullify all that is evil.
Now we must all realize that God defines “ownership” in a very different way, in the way that many ancient kings defined it. When God revealed His Law, when He demanded that His priesthood fulfill the eighth-order laws and all His other laws, He spoke to them in a way that was familiar to them. So He spoke to them as their High King. And, in those days, a high king would let a “slave” become a subject king, allow a chosen, trusted “slave” to “own” the stewardship of a part of his kingdom. So the high king retained ownership of that subject king, and of the part of his kingdom granted to the subject king. Thus, the high king was the only one who could do whatever he wanted with the whole of the kingdom, with everyone and everything in it. Only the high king held absolute authority to make all laws and command all armies. Then the subject king still called the high king his “lord” and owner, while the high king still called that subject king his “slave.” The subject king had to seek the approval of the high king regarding all the laws he made for his part of the kingdom, and could do nothing without the high king’s approval. A subject king had to be very careful about ruling his part of the high king’s kingdom, ensuring that he administered the high king’s property precisely in the way the high king wanted it to be ruled, as a faithful, trustworthy steward of the people and property that belonged exclusively to the high king. Though that slave was a king, he remained a slave owned by the high king. And, just like all the other people in the land, he was equally denied the right to disobey the king or do whatever he wanted to do. So, if the high king was evil and ruthless, but the subject king was goodhearted, that subject king would constantly remain in far greater danger of being unjustly murdered. A good subject king under an evil high king was always in greater danger that even the most common slave, since a subject king was under constant surveillance, and any good deed he did, if it was against the will of the wicked high king, would be counted as treason. Conversely, if the high king was a loving and godly king, sacrificing his own life to faithfully serve his people and his land, but the subject king was evil, ruthless and rebellious, always opposing and betraying the high king, always working evil, as Satan does, the patient, good high king would come to make war against that rebel subject king, to take back that subject kingdom and cast that wicked subject king in prison. But the good high king would do so wisely, so there would be less collateral damage to the lives of his faithful subjects, and wait until he could first remove all those souls from the land being ruled by the maleficent subject king. Our God is omniscient and omnipotent, the most good and holy, most just and forgiving, most merciful and loving High King, the King of all kings.
God repeatedly and frequently defined human ownership as the stewardship of His property. Only God owns all that exists, and only He can do whatever He chooses with all. At most, a person can be a steward of one’s own body, which God owns, until God decides to remove one’s spirit from that body. Then God may grant certain abilities to one’s spirit and body, so one may serve Him as a steward administering His property with one’s life, with a life that one cannot own outright, for the good of all. But God grants this stewardship only for a brief time, and one is expected to be faithful to God, as His owned slave within His kingdom. If one is not faithful to God, if one chooses to serve oneself instead, then one proves to be faithful to the subject king, Satan, and a rebel citizen of that devil’s subject kingdom, with a malicious motive to usurp the sovereignty of God. Then God will send His faithful stewards of His property to remove His property from those unfaithful stewards, all that they attempted to steal from God. Of course, those truly faithful stewards of God’s property will do so in God’s just ways, primarily through the use of “the weapons of spiritual warfare,” as they do this work of reclaiming that property for God. That is, “the weapons of spiritual warfare” are the tools of God-like love, administered in a just, orderly and wise way, according to His just spiritual laws, in ways that do no harm to the innocent, taking into account the welfare of all God’s creation. Yet, in the end, God has commanded, in His own Word, that all His property stolen from Him, all that is used for selfish purposes by wanna-be gods, must be taken from those unfaithful thieves, to restore true justice and equity in His lands. This is neither the capitalism nor socialism of Satan’s world order, which Satan rules through murderous violence. This is a true worship of the real God.
All “private property” is to be used for God’s purposes alone, either to bring an elect spirit into the spiritual kingdom of God while that one lives on earth, or to nullify the works of a non-elect spirit who does the will of its father, a human spirit living in hell even while it lives on earth. If we are honest and rational about the eight-order laws of God, we will conclude that they actually have more to do with spiritual works than the protection of the physical “possessions” of the temporary body of dying flesh. And literally all who take more than they need are ultimately stealing property from God Himself. Stealing is an attempt to alter God’s will through acts of a human will. Stealing is a sin, because a soul tries to be a god who attempts to usurp God’s sovereignty over His own property. So, if anyone takes away the property that God wanted another human being bear in stewardship, and does this unjustly against God’s commands, rebelling against God’s will for other lives in God’s creation, including the animal lives owned by God alone, then that is stealing from God and is a sin.
In the context of the time and place this commandment was given, and considering the people to whom this commandment was given, since God was to be their only Owner, God’s intent for this commandment could not have been primarily about the protection of private property. God clearly was not saying that His people could “own” other people, creatures, lands and things, in a way where they could do whatever they wanted with those people, creatures, lands and things, even in a way where they had the right to harm anyone who denied their right to do whatever they wanted. For all His people were slaves whom He freed to be His “household slaves,” whom He literally called His “slaves” or His property. For instance, God said, to the people of Israel: “For they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves” (Lev. 25:42, ESV). The Hebrew word, ehbed, is translated here both as “servants” and “slaves.” So God literally said: “For they are My slaves, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.” And there were many other times in His Word, in both the Old and New Covenant Scriptures, that God called His church of Israel His “slaves.” That is, God took personal ownership of this people, as His “household slaves,” as those whom He set apart to personally serve Him as His priesthood on earth.
God claims literal ownership of all human beings, all living creatures, all lands and all else that exists on earth and in heaven. And, when He gave the archetypal command that His people shall not steal, they were His slaves wandering in the desert. So there really was not much of any “private property” owned by anyone. Yes, God would soon bring them into the promised land. But that land belonged to God as well. Thus, when God eternally gave that land to the natural and spiritual heirs of Abraham, it was the act of the High King granting the permanent stewardship of His property to the slaves whom He owned, forever expecting them to do His will with that land and all that existed upon it. For what the High King’s owned slave was given, remained the property of that High King. Also, during those days of extreme hardship in the wilderness, God forced everyone in the church of Israel to take only as much as each one needed, each according to one’s personal need. When God miraculously provided them food, the morning manna bread, a hungry, strong, young man could take as much as he needed to fill his belly and strengthen himself, while a little child took only a fraction of that amount to be full and well fed. Thus, all were equally well fed, and God expected all to share all things in common with this kind of equity, according to God’s will and God’s Law. Otherwise, few would survive to become the priests of God, bound together by the love that comes from God. Likewise, God demands the same of His church and all souls on earth today, especially since the true church is struggling to survive in these desperate times, and the only thing they have to look forward to, in the immediate future, is an extreme, far greater hardship. In reality, all souls are God’s slaves, stewards of His property, not gods that “own” property, to please themselves in any way they desire.
Even in Old Covenant times, God declared that we don't even truly own ourselves, much less our land, homes, and possessions. For His Word proclaims, “The earth is Yahweh's, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell in it” (Psalm 24:1, NKJV). Yes, God gave man “dominion” over the earth, but as His subjects, as a people owned by Him. Therefore, this “dominion” is the authority to serve all God’s creation, all life upon the earth, for its good, according to the will of the High King, the Owner and Creator of all. But God alone maintains final authority over all that is governed by His owned slaves, over literally all the property He gave in stewardship to them. This is especially true of New Covenant believers, for they were all purchased again by Christ. All had been stolen from God by Satan, to be slaves in Satan’s subject kingdom, because all sinned. So God paid the price of ransom, so Satan could have no claim over their souls. To these redeemed elect, His Word states: “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's” (I Cor. 6:19-20, NKJV). Could this be more clear? Most churches hate to proclaim that we are slaves owned by God, since most are humanists, not Christians. Most churches are wanna-be gods who are faithful to the delusions and lies of Satan, who are good citizens of Satan’s world order. However, in this created reality, literally all human beings, and all we “own,” belongs to God alone. Thus, all must be used for God's purposes alone. Anyone who uses their own body, or anything else, for any purposes not condoned by God, is a thief, stealing from God. Any use of our bodies, or anything else, for any purpose other than God’s purpose, proves one to be an unfaithful steward who is pilfering from his or her Owner. The most we can say of our possessions, even our own spirits and bodies, is that we are temporarily entrusted with these things. But, if He trusts us with them, we must use all we “possess” in His name, according to His authority and power, as He sees fit, not as we see fit. All “private property” is for God's private use, not ours.
Therefore, these eighth-order laws forbid theft from God, or theft from anyone to whom God has entrusted something that one might want to steal. Yes, God grants ruling authorities to tax those who are able to pay tax, in order to provide for the needs of the people and life in the land. God even allows authorities to confiscate land and other property, whenever it is His will and for the good of the land. For the sin of stealing is an act of taking something that rightfully belongs to its owner. And who, aside from God Himself, can possibly owns anything? So taking something from another human being, in a way which truly serves God, such as by serving His people and His creation, is not theft. If the rich are heavily taxed, or even if some of their property is confiscated because they have taken too much of the land’s resources for their own self-indulgent pleasures, and because the people need what they have taken, this is not stealing and it is not a sin. It is God’s will and the authorities are merely using God’s property for God’s purposes. But, if a ruling authority taxes a poor man, or confiscates his property, and does so in a way which leaves that one in dire need, that authority is unjust, breaking God’s Law, and cannot be called God’s appointed and lawful authority.
Can the so-called “Christians” in our lands truly comprehend that literally every individual, church, corporate body and government is a steward entrusted with the property of God? This means that, if any individual, body of people or government takes anything from anyone else, and does so in any way that the loving and just heart of our God, our Owner and Master, does not permit, that entity has committed a theft from God—and will be punished by God, either on earth or on the last day. Thus, the distribution of literally all goods and services, through sales or by any other means, must be done justly and according to Gods’ will. And no entity has the right to take anything from anyone if God has entrusted the stewardship of that thing to that other person, not unless that steward proves to be unfaithful in the use of that thing, according to God’s definition of unfaithfulness in His Word, or unless God decrees that the thing is needed by another of His servants, for a greater purpose. When necessary, a slave of God, in the name of God and God’s governing stewards, according to God’s will and by God’s command, may confiscate, either temporarily or permanently, any property from anyone, and even take the life of another one’s body through deadly force. But this must never be done for personal gain, never for the sake of one’s own pride, pleasure or power. All property must be used solely for God, according to God’s just, wise and loving will, by God’s own interpretation of His own words. Nothing can be taken from anyone according to the will of any other human soul.
God does not allow anyone to be a god, where one believes that only oneself has an exclusive right to use or even touch one’s own property. For all we possess is to be employed for God, who wants us to serve Him by doing what is right and good for the rest of His creation. The flesh usually seeks its own good, as its own god. But literally every spirit, every living entity’s inner awareness of self and its environment, the consciousness of self and reality in every life—even the spirits of devils and the non-elect, but certainly the spirits of every elect child of God, every angel, every animal and every plant—bears an awareness of God, either a dread or respect for God, with either an unwilling or a willing compulsion to obey God. All spirits of life know the boundaries set by God regarding what He allows us to take for ourselves and what we must leave for the rest of His creation. Flesh can see, hear, taste, smell and touch; but its senses merely put data into its mind. So that mind of flesh makes no effort to serve anyone or anything else but itself. The mind of flesh is chemical and electrical, so it bears no awareness of anyone else’s needs or feelings, not even its Creator’s will for its existence. In fact, the flesh simply wants its own pleasures and survival, nothing else, and is not even aware of what it actually is. So flesh blindly grasps for whatever its senses perceive. Only a spirit is aware of who and what it truly is, who and what God is, what all life in God’s creation truly is. Only a spirit fully interprets the data brought to the mind of flesh through the senses, as soon as that data reaches the interface of the soul, where the spirit can gain access to it. And it is when a spirit gains access to that data, that either love or sin can occur. As a spirit more deeply interprets data, as it sees the real situation, as it becomes aware of other lives, the spirit then instructs its servant, the body of flesh, to act upon its commands. Then awakened elect spirits will act through love, on the truths that Jesus taught and trained the minds of their spirits to know and apply. But the non-elect will act upon their desire to be gods, then use the data their spirits have interpreted to sin, to manipulate, exploit and rule the other lives they find, while warring against God, because He does not allow them to be gods.
We must be aware of these things. We need to realize that we all have impulsive, irrational, selfish and self-destructive thoughts in our minds of flesh. But the minds of all spirits have far more longterm, rational thoughts, and all elect spirits are being taught, trained, counselled and directed by their God, Jesus. When we, the elect, begin to discern between the thoughts of our two minds, we soon realize how utterly foolish and destructive the ways of Satan’s world truly are. We see how we need to heed our God instead of devils and demonically manipulated human beings. And, after we begin to see, we know that we cannot truly own anything, not even our own bodies or spirits. Our elect spirits realize that we must share all that God grants us, equitably and wisely, according to our God’s wise ways and His counsel to our spirits, for the good of all His creation. For we begin to truly love.
However, when God grants us stewardship over things, He does afford us some rights to determine some of their uses. We do not have a “free” or autonomous will. But the minds of our spirits do have a will, a will that He Himself is shaping through His personal teaching and training. And this will of our spirits is not only allowed to make choices, but commanded to do so, as an aspect of our training, apprenticeship and discipleship under Jesus. For instance, if an elect man is granted the stewardship of a vehicle, which he needs to do God’s works, he can share that vehicle with many others, with those who also use it for God’s purposes. Then, if he drives that vehicle to a mechanic, he also might expect the mechanic to drive that vehicle for testing and diagnostic purposes, then park it after he completes those tasks. However, if the mechanic uses the vehicle to rob a bank that evening, this is not what God’s steward of that vehicle intended or allowed that mechanic to do with that vehicle. So that mechanic will not only have stolen what he took from the bank that evening, but will have also stolen the owner’s vehicle as well, although the steward of that vehicle legally allowed him to drive that vehicle, and even if that mechanic also returned that vehicle. Ultimately, that mechanic will have stolen all from God too, since he stole what God allowed the bank to hold in stewardship and what God allowed the vehicle’s owner to hold in stewardship. But did that mechanic not steal in exactly the same way that almost everyone steals from God? For most exploit and abuse all God’s property, all that God gives them stewardship over—their own bodies, time, skills, intelligence and abilities, as well as all the money, property, or possessions they “earned” with God’s gifts. Then most do the same with what God grants others to bear stewardship over—the bodies, time, skills, intelligence and abilities of others—by taking more than God allows from others, by grasping for wealth at the expense of others. They steal from God and others continuously, for their own selfish purposes, to gratify the lusts and pride of their flesh. All are like the mechanic who stole an entrusted vehicle to rob a bank. Very few use God’s gifts for God’s intended purposes. Most have no intention of fixing lives, letting Christ’s Holy Spirit sanctify their lives and the lives of others, so all can live just and loving lives, which is only reason God grants them stewardship of anything. None use their gifts for God's good purposes, wisely, according to His will. All steal from other human souls and from God.
If we interpret this archetypal eighth commandment rightly and honestly, in the context of all other doctrines taught in God's Word, its core principle forbids us from wrongly using or abusing God's property, which includes our own bodies and spirits. All are expected to go to God, so He, Jesus, might teach us to love. And God’s kind of just love seeks to provide equitably for all. God warned us that it was a sin to refuse to give our excess property to the needy. In Old Covenant times, God’s Law required us to give through tithes and other offerings to the true priests, who did all their works for free, who shared all they received with widows, orphans, immigrants and others in need. Then the more wealthy were commanded to give interest free loans for the needs of anyone who asked, whenever they were able, and also had to forgive all loans at the start of every Sabbath year. This law was designed to eliminate the suffering of all the needy in the land. Then, in the New Covenant church, all were to freely give all their excess to the needy, without being asked, and all were to live physically modest lives. On top of all this, God required most to pay a progressive tax to the secular government, where the rich paid more and the poor paid nothing. For secular rulers needed funds to maintain order, protect the citizens and build the infrastructure. And God considered anyone who did not do all these things to be a thief, one who was stealing from his land and from God (Mal. 3:8-12).
God’s Law even indicated that legal sales, but at inflated prices, was a form of theft. Demanding a higher price when the demand was high and the supply was low, was a form of theft (Lev. 25:35-38; e.g., Neh. 5:3-19). To earn money by charging interest on loans, or by collecting dividends on stocks and bonds is a form of theft (Ex. 22:25-27). If you claim to worship God, but you “take interest and profit and make gain of your neighbours by extortion,” then you have actually forgotten God (Ez. 22:12, ESV), and are not truly worshipping Him. To mistreat or exploit immigrants, single mothers or youths lacking the guidance and protection of a father (Ex. 22:21-23) is theft. No one must forget that all you possess and earn money with actually belongs to God alone, who cares for all equitably. God expects us to give to each according to each one’s need. No one should take more than one will need for a modest physical existence and to do the works that God appointed and destined one to do. In God’s creation, no creature takes more than it needs, and all work together in a perfect ecosystem for the good of all. If anyone takes more, then that one is a thief, stealing from God and His creation.
Of course, the eighth-order laws also include prohibitions against what is normally called theft. God prohibits us from taking anything which does not “belong” to us, if we do so without permission. God does not want us to unlawfully acquire anything that He has granted some other individual or corporate body to “possess,” as stewards of His property. Yet there are very many times when God or His Law demands the transfer of the stewardship of one’s money or property to another, through our obligations to God, through our duty to provide for the poor, our church, our community and the godly works of secular rulers. We must always remember that God allowed authorities to justly take from us for the good of all, and that the fulfilling of God’s Law in Jesus Christ commands a modest, humble life for the body of flesh. Every poor person has a right to have one’s needs met, by any human steward having an excess of God’s property, because God Himself, the only true Owner of all things, demands this in His Law which Jesus fulfills. If we realize the immutable and absolute truth that God owns all people and all things, we also realize that God’s eighth-order laws demand far more than most seem willing to allow. Every mind of flesh rejoices when God forbids others from taking what it greedily grasps. But the flesh hates the true scope of these eighth-order laws, all that prohibits theft from God, all that requires them, as God’s stewards, from denying the poor what they need. He commands us to love our neighbour as ourselves, working toward justice and equity. Now some claim to be Christians or Jews while preaching that paying income taxes, and being forced to provide for the needy, are forms of theft, that the needy and their governments “steal” their money and property. But do they also preach that God owns all and no created entity owns anything, as God has stated in His Word? Whenever one has excess, but does not give that excess to the needy or does not the pay a much higher rate of income taxes, and does not live a modest life, then one is a thief. If one takes more than one needs, while other suffer in want, one steals from God and one’s own equal brothers and sisters. In fact, our Owner, Creator and Father expect us to learn to give spontaneously, to joyfully fulfill His eighth-order laws through the love of our spirits. So all those rich Christians and Jews, who deny their obligations to the needy, who do not pay a much higher tax rate, who live obscenely self-indulgent lives in a delusional bubble, and know nothing of genuine love or life, all prove to be sinners and worthy of hell. Not one of them fulfills God’s eighth-order commandments.
If Christians and Jews do not believe God’s words about relatively simple matters like this, they surely have no real trust, confidence or faith in God Himself. They are not believers, not Christians or Jews. They pagan unbelievers. Of course, all human beings steal. All of us, together, are thieves. We have all stolen from our own brothers and sisters for our own benefit, through either laziness, greed or both. For instance, who has not purchased the less expensive goods manufactured by virtual or actual slave labour, by brothers and sisters taken captive by psychopathic autocrats and exploiters, by souls forced to work for extremely low wages or no wages at all, often in prison camps or places that are virtual prison camps, where all are subjected to dangerous and inhumane conditions as well as physical abuse and daily suffering? This is one of the most terrible forms of theft, since it not only steals the fair wages owing to those workers, but also steals their lives and causes much pain or early death. On top of this, it is mostly the poor who purchase these inexpensive goods, since they cannot afford to buy the more expensive goods made by free and well-paid labours. In the meantime, it is the rich who profit most from this slave labour, and also prevent the poor from having enough to buy more costly products made by free workers. So they cause the poor to purchase the goods produced by slave labourers. In this way, they commit a double theft, by causing people to become so poor that they steal from other poor people. And, by doing and allowing all this, we all become thieves.
If a needy man steals from a self-indulgent rich man to feed his beloved family, who is the worst thief? Of course, in biblical law, both the rich man and the needy man are thieves. But in God’s eyes, according to His Word, the rich man is the worst thief. For, since the rich man did not live modestly in God’s land, since he did not give away all his excess to wisely help the needy and God’s chosen ministers in the true church and government, since he did not learn to live just and loving life, he has sinned far worse than the poor man who stole from him. Since the rich man did not even obey the lesser Old Covenant Law—by giving a tithe of all his profits to the priests so they could distribute it wisely to the poor, then by giving the other offerings to feed the priests and the public, then by freely lent as much as he was able to everyone who asked for money to provide for their needs—that rich man proves to be a lawless hater of God and is in danger of hell. But the poor man committed a sin that was, in part, unintentional, since he committed that theft through coercion, because he did not know what else to do and felt compelled to steal for the sake of his loved ones. And unintentional sins are easily forgiven by God. Intentional sins, like those of the rich man, who not only refuses to repent, but also falsely justifies his sins by twisting and nullifying God’s words, is indeed worthy of hell. And that rich man will indeed be sent to hell, if his spirit does not truly repent, and if he does not bear genuine fruits of repentance worked through real and just love. Because the self-indulgent rich man intentionally disregarded most of God’s laws, God’s Word proves him to be far more guilty than the poor man. Furthermore, if the rich had been obedient to God, as a true Christian or as a true Jew, it is not likely that the poor man would have needed to steal anything from him. Either the poor man would have had enough to feed his loved ones and would not need to steal, or he may have chosen not to steal from a truly beloved and generous rich man who lived modestly—from a rich man who saw that the management of wealth was simply a lowly ministry granted to serve his God.
Now we must begin to see that all excessive and self-indulgent wealth involves theft—either by deriving income from usury (collecting interest from investments or receiving dividends from stocks and bonds), or by paying low wages while withholding a fair share of the profits from the workers who produced the goods and services, or by charging inflated prices, or by withholding what should be given to God and those whom God commands one to give to, or by some other means of Godforbidden theft, anything involving exploitation, extortion, fraud or any other form of theft. Every rich person who does not live modestly, who does not wisely distribute one’s wealth through love for God or love for one’s own brothers and sisters, who takes more than one’s fair share for oneself, has stolen from God. Then the rich also force the poor into situations where they are tempted beyond their strength to resist sin. So the rich ultimately cause many of the poor to steal and to commit many other sins, just to survive or to cope with their poverty. And, since the rich force many of the poor to sin, the rich share the guilt of those sins done by the poor. In fact, in most cases, God considers the rich to be far more guilty for those sins of the poor than the poor who physically committed those sins. Then the rich lie about God’s Word, about themselves, about others and about many other things, in order to justify their sins and maint