Preventive Justice – The Eighth Commandment

Preventive Justice

Exodus 20:15; Deuteronomy 5:19

“You shall not steal.”

Exodus 22:5

“If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over, or lets his beast loose and it feeds in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best in his own field and in his own vineyard.”

Take steps to safeguard the property of others.

Love for our neighbors requires respect for their property, which was given to them by God and for which they must exercise stewardship before Him. We must not allow any carelessness on our part to be a cause of our neighbor’s property being damaged or destroyed. The people of Israel were expected to take preventive measures in order to ensure that their cattle or herds did not wander into the fields or vineyards of their neighbors. They could put up hedges, make sure their cattle were not unattended as they grazed, or by other means guard against infringing the property rights of their neighbors. To fail to do so and to allow one’s beast to graze in the fields of your neighbor was to steal from your neighbor, and thus upset the balance of justice. The way to avoid this was to take preventive steps, to use good planning and proven means to ensure that your neighbor’s wealth would not be jeopardized by your lack of consideration and love. Preventive justice attempts to anticipate actions that might bring harm to others or their property and to prescribe means to avoid that happening, to ensure that the scales of justice remain in balance. Traffic laws are an excellent contemporary example. In order to protect the lives and property of our neighbors, all drivers are expected to conform to the rules of the road, thus preventing accidents by reasonable means adhered to by all.

Can you think of any other examples of preventive justice?

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.