Robin Hood
You shall not steal Deuteronomy 5:19
Steal – My interactions with young men in the jail always revealed the cultural destruction of morality. The many times I heard the excuse, “But I gave some of what I stole to people who needed it,” only served to highlight our Robin Hood syndrome. Stealing is justifiable if I don’t take it all for myself. You might think that such justification is ridiculous. The law agrees. Men go to prison for such insanity – and they should. But does your moral outrage cover the full scope of the Hebrew word ganabh, or do you also spend a little time in Sherwood Forest?
There are two fundamental assumptions operating behind this commandment. The first is that my possessions are a gift from God. In the Hebrew world, I do not earn what I own by prying it loose from the clutches of a miserly universe. No, I am the recipient of God’s gracious gifts, given not on the basis of my worthiness but on the basis of His benevolence. God determines the distribution of His property, placing some of His vast treasure in my hands for His purposes. Therefore, theft is a crime not only against God’s steward (the one who cares for the possession) but against God Himself (the One Who determines ownership).
The second assumption is the Hebrew view of recompense: measure for measure. In order to restore God’s proper distribution, the thief is required to restore what was taken plus recompense. In the cases involving property, this varies from double to four- or five-fold. God understands the necessity of punitive damages, but He also tightly controls the application. Deuteronomy describes in detail how these punitive damages are to be assessed. However, when it comes to stealing people (kidnapping), God requires a life for a life. The death penalty applies even if the person is returned unharmed. Why? Because God owns life and the man who would dare to snatch it from God’s authority denies the fundamental principle of all life – it is not mine to control.
Is that the end of the story? Does ganabh cover only kidnapping and stealing property? Well, not quite. If the first assumption is taken seriously, all that I have is God’s gift to me. That includes my time, my talent and my treasure. Any one of these can be the subject of theft. Not stealing means not usurping God’s distribution decisions. So, it means not stealing time from my employer (that extra half hour here and there that the company is paying for). It means not stealing goods and services (taking advantage of my position or influence to get something of value without compensating for it). It means not cheating or secretly removing. It covers words, deeds and thoughts. I can even steal from my loved ones by secretly removing my affection and care. Now Robin Hood doesn’t seem quite so heroic, does he?
God gives. We receive. Anything else is dangerous. Is that how you look at what you have?
Topical Index: Commandments, Steal
