Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20100307.htm
THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION Exodus: God's Forming The Nation Israel For His Abrahamic Covenant Part II: God's Forming Israel To Heed Him, Exodus 15:22-40:38 H. God's Clarifications Of The Ten Commandments In His Exodus 20:22-23:33 "Book Of The Covenant" 3. Clarifications Regarding The Respect For Personal Property (Exodus 22:1-17) Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

The eighth command of the Ten Commandments, God's charge, "Thou shalt not steal", needs clarification in today's complex world:

(1) Harvard economics professor, Robert J. Barro, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece (2/26/2010), crunched the numbers on the job "stimulus package in 2010" to show by 2013 it "will extract $900 billion from the private sector to gain an additional $600 billion to be spent on public projects." ( Rep.-Am., "Bad Deal", 3/1/2010, p. 4A)

The $300 billion difference will be "frittered away in waste, fraud and preservation of unionized government jobs."

One may ask, "Is the government stealing from taxpayers?"

(2) On the same page, Mark W. Hendrickson's article, "No mercy for debtors" reported: "Only 40 percent of the $730 billion of outstanding student loans actively are being repaid."

One may ask, "Are many lenders and many who take out student loans joining the government in stealing from taxpayers?"

(3) At times the question of stealing deals with intangibles, but nevertheless very important intangibles at that!

Representative Bart Stupak, Democrat from Michigan, last Thursday said "he and 11 other House members will not vote for the health care bill unless it includes more stringent language to prevent federal funding from going toward abortion . . ." (abcnews.com, Huma Khan, "Could Issue of Abortion Derail Health Care Bill?, 3/4/2010)

The Obama administration's Kathleen Sebelius stated, "'There will be no federal funding for abortions'" (Ibid.), but Stupak asserted "'the bill that they [White House] are using as a vehicle is the Senate bill . . . You would find in there the federal government would directly subsidize abortions, plus every enrollee in the Office of Personnel management plan, every enrollee has to pay a minimum of $1 per month toward reproductive rights which includes abortion.'" (Ibid.)

ABC News added: "The ongoing abortion debate . . . reflects the deep divide among Democrats." (Ibid., emphases ours)

Well, if 11 House Democrats of the President's own party differ so sharply with his administration on what its health care bill states on such a key issue as abortion, the public is not being told all of the facts!

One may ask, "Are officials stealing the truth from voters?"

Thus, we ask, "If God calls us not to steal, does this refer to something more than seizing another person's goods? Why?!"

Need: "If God calls us not to steal, does He mean we are not just to seize items others own, or does He mean something more? Why?!"

1. In giving Israel His Ten Commandments, God CLARIFIED the REASONS behind these commands in the "Book of the Covenant" supplied in Exodus 20:22-23:33, Bible Knowledge Com., O. T. , p. 140; www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org, "Book of the Covenant."
2. Exodus 22:1-17 explains God's INTENT in His ban on STEALING was to lead us to RESPECT the PROPERTY of OTHERS, be it TANGIBLE or INTANGIBLE, and that in EVERY WAY as follows:
1. Ancient Near Eastern peoples often executed thieves, for what one owned was seen as an extension of himself (T. W. O. T., v. I, p. 168). [Thus, when Laban in Genesis 31:30-32 pursued Jacob to retrieve his stolen items, Jacob offered to slay the one in his party who had them!]
2. Though the death penalty was too severe because what one owned was of less value than human life in God's eyes, personal property was still sacred to God [in vast contrast to marxism!], so God gave directions in Exodus 22:1-17 to teach man that by His command not to steal, He meant man was to respect the personal property of others, be it tangible or intangible, and that in every way:
1. First, stealing tangible items was to be punished, Exodus 22:1-4:
1. When a thief used an object he stole for gain, he was to be heavily fined in line with the value of what he stole, Ex. 22:1.
2. If he was found breaking into another man's home at night when it was unclear if he intended just to steal or to kill, the homeowner could kill him in self defense, Exodus 22:2.
3. Yet, if he slew the thief if he came at daylight when the thief's intent only to steal was clear, the owner was guilty of murder, for even a thief existed in God's image, Ex. 22:3a; Genesis 9:6.
4. If the thief was caught stealing, he had to make restitution, but if he had no possessions from which to make payment, he was to serve the owner as his slave to pay off his debt, Exodus 22:3b.
5. If a thief was caught with what he stole, but he had not used it for gain, he was to pay double for what he stole, Exodus 22:4.
2. Yet, stealing intangibles, and that in even circuitous ways, was also punishable as theft as Exodus 22:5-17 reveals (as follows):
1. If a man let his animals graze in another man's field, this was stealing, and was punishable by the thief's having to let his victim pasture his animals on the thief's best land, Exodus 22:5!
2. If a man lit a fire that burned down another man's crops, he had pay for the lost crop yield or be guilty of theft, Exodus 22:6.
3. If a man was entrusted with another man's goods, and they were stolen from him, the thief would pay double, Exodus 22:7.
4. However, if the thief was not found, the trustee and owner were to have the issue settled before judges, Ex. 22:8-9 NIV, NASB.
5. If an animal was injured or killed by an undetermined source while under a trustee's care, the owner and trustee would make an oath to God for Him to judge who was guilty, Ex. 22:10-11.
6. However, if the animal was stolen from the trustee, and the thief was not known or found, the trustee was responsible to make restitution since he was liable to protect the animal, Ex. 22:12.
7. If a wild animal killed the animal under a trustee's watch, he was to provide evidence of that fact to be found innocent since he had no ability to control a wild animal's behavior, Ex. 22:13.
8. Were one to borrow an animal from another, and the animal was injured or slain while in his care, the borrower had to reimburse the owner, for the borrower was responsible to guard the other man's animal when it was under his care, Exodus 22:14.
9. However, if the owner still had possession of the item before entrusting it to the trustee, or if he had taken it back from the trustee, the owner was responsible for any loss that occurred as a protection of the trustee's personal property rights, Ex. 22:15.
10. Since a maiden's intangible virginity was worth a high dowry price to her father, Exodus 22:16 directed if she were seduced by a man into losing her virginity, he had to pay her father the dowry, and she would be his wife. If the father refused to give her to him in marriage, the seducer still had to pay the dowry as his seduction had reduced the maiden's dowry value, Ex. 22:17.

Application: (1) May we believe in Christ as Savior to be given eternal life and forgiveness of sins, John 3:16; Colossians 1:14. (2) Then, as a believer, (a) may we rely on the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:16) for the power to (b) respect all tangible and intangible assets of other people, and (c) may we do so in every way!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

This sermon and recent events direct me to act as your trustee:

(1) Last week, I received an e-mail from a Church member with Ken Ham's March 1, 2010 Answers In Genesis blog attached, and it told of recent efforts by two groups of Christian scientists to agree on their views of creation. One group claims God made the universe in six literal days ("young-earthers") while the other holds God used evolution over long ages of time in six figurative days ("old-earthers")!

The meetings over a 4-5 year period proved to be unproductive!

Well, I was DEEPLY bothered that these groups had even met at two seminaries in Dallas, Texas to try to agree! If parties try to agree when they differ on how to READ the Bible, the upright only leave themselves open to compromise the truth away (cf. 1 Timothy 1:4; 4:1-2, 16), so I sense an increased tendency toward compromise at the highest institutional levels of even conservative Christianity!

(2) I then received another e-mail from another Church member asking me about the doctrinal accuracy of a certain Christian web site. When I examined the site, I realized it promoted the "old-earth" view!

(3) So, as trustee of God's truth in your behalf in accord with 2 Timothy 1:13-14, as your Pastor, I must respond to all of this by AGAIN COUNTERING the tendency to compromise on God's truth on the TRUTHS of CREATION as follows:

(a) Genesis 1:1-31 teaches EACH of the "days" of creation consisted of an "evening" and a "morning," so EACH day "cannot be construed to mean an age" for evolution to occur! (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., ftn. to Genesis 1:5) (b) Also, Christ's death gives victory over sin and its effect, death, 1 Cor. 15:21-22. Yet, the "old-earth" view requires death to exist before Adam's sin so that evolution might occur with its "survival of the fittest" process. However, if that were true, Christ's atonement for sin would not be able to defeat death since death would not be caused by sin, and that in turn would sabotage the resurrection and the whole Christian faith, 1 Cor. 15:13-19!

(c) Thus, in defense of the whole Christian faith, we uphold the "young-earth" view and reject the "old-earth" stance!

May we all RESPECT the TANGIBLE and INTANGIBLE ASSETS of OTHERS, and that in EVERY WAY, especially if God makes us a trustee of assets that belong to other people!