The eighth commandment pertains to the possessions of our neighbor. The heaven and the earth are the Lord’s. “The world is Mine, and the fulness thereof” (Ps 50:12); “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath He given to the children of men” (Ps 115:16). It is not true that everyone has an equal right to, and would equally enjoy each portion of, this world. However, just as God apportioned Canaan to Israel by lot, He likewise gives everyone his portion in this world, giving the one a greater portion than the other. That portion he will have—no more and no less. “Feed me with food convenient for me” (Prov 30:8). Man must be satisfied with this portion and expect it from the Lord by the means which have been ordained to that end. God has therefore expressly forbidden the acquisition of our portion, or a desire for increase, through unlawful means by saying, “Thou shalt not steal.”
To steal is to take the possessions of our neighbor for ourselves. The perpetrator does this knowingly and without the knowledge of or contrary to the will of the owner.
The Sins Prohibited
The sins prohibited in this commandment can be reduced to the following heads: 1) the object to which these sins relate, 2) the means whereby they are committed, 3) the manner in which they are committed, and 4) the cause from which they proceed.
As far as the object is concerned, there are the following types of theft: 1) ecclesiastical theft, 2) the theft of men, 3) the defrauding of the nation, 4) the theft of cattle, 5) the theft of property, 6) armed robbery, and 7) to be an accomplice of thieves.
First, ecclesiastical theft consists in the following:
(1) Taking to one’s self goods and privileges—for the purpose of either increasing one’s own wealth, or to give it away to others—which have been given either for the maintenance of the church or of the poor. “It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy” (Prov 20:25); “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation” (Mal 3:8-9). Neither does the government have the authority to dispose of these goods, nor is anyone permitted to receive such goods, even if they are given by the government.
(2) Simony also belongs to this. The word “simony” is derived from Simon the Sorcerer, who wanted to buy the gifts of the Spirit from the apostles (Acts 8:18-20). This sin is committed if one purchases the ecclesiastical goods from those who have taken upon them the management of these goods. This sin is committed if one either receives or gives money to award a ministerial position to someone; or to receive it from those who claim to have the authority to either approve or disapprove. The latter is actually church robbery. It is a double offense if one uses that which has been usurped through robbery to either sell this position or to purchase the position from such a usurper—be it that one does so either personally or via friends, and then subsequently gives it back to the perpetrator. Such persons are thieves and murderers who do not enter the sheepfold through the right door (John 10:7-10). This sin is also committed when the elders of the church, who are authorized to elect ministers and elders, do this to gain the favor of men or of friends.
Secondly, there is the theft of human beings.
(1) This sin is committed in those countries where slave trade is practiced. This is stated in Exod 21:16: “And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death” (cf. 1 Tim 1:10).
(2) They who steal children sin, where they are enamored with their charm, or that they are to be used for beggary, in order to move people to pity—all this while abusing them and making them miserable.
(3) Included are monastery thieves—be they male or female—who lure children who anticipate a good inheritance from their parents, to make a vow to live in their monasteries without the knowledge of their parents. Or else they do so to give to the monasteries or the priests that which they have defrauded from their parents. “But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition” (Mark 7:11, 13).
(4) To this also belongs the abduction of young females, the engagement of minors with the promise of marriage (without the knowledge of, or contrary to, the will of the parents), eloping, and engaging young people for sexual purposes. In doing so parents are robbed of their best possession, and of those toward whom they exercise the most love. “Whoso robbeth his father or his mother, and saith, It is no transgression; the same is the companion of a destroyer” (Prov 28:24). Experience teaches that God generally sends a curse upon such people.