Why We Don’t Do What We Should – The Eighth Commandment

Why We Don’t Do What We Should

The eighth commandment

Exodus 20.15; Deuteronomy 5.19

“You shall not steal.”

Exodus 22.6

“If fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution.”

Because we’re all guilty.

The concept of restitution for sin is embedded in the Law of God as a way to discourage thievery and maintain justice in society. A person whose willfulness or carelessness did bodily or economic harm to another was guilty of stealing from that person. Judges would hear the case and determine how the innocent would be recompensed, although certain formulas were established in the civil code to guide their decisions. They were not bound by these but were to be guided in every circumstance to do whatever would right the wrong and re-establish justice in the community. Applied to an economic scandal as vast as our present one, such reasoning seems naïve and unworkable. But the truth is, we all know that if we let the banks fail and the borrowers languish, and if we don’t give the automakers the loans they want – and then who else? – we’re all going to pay, because we’re all way into the basic greed and self-indulgence that fuels this corrupt economy of ours. Because at heart we’re all idolaters. We’re seeking happiness, fulfillment, meaning, and contentment in material circumstances and things rather than in the Lord God. So perhaps the economic hardship and uncertainty we have inflicted on ourselves will suffice to make restitution for our greed and lead us to repentance? If only.

Has this economic crisis led you to reflect on your own economic practices? Have you learned anything?

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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.