The Command to Trust


Exodus 20:15 (ESV) “You shall not steal.

 You could be tempted to think this Commandment is boring and simple. It is not. It is a glorious reminder to those who hear it: "GOD WILL PROVIDE." If there is one act of obedience that strikes at the very heart of trusting God in our lives - it is not taking things that do not belong to you. As God's people, we are believe the source our all our lives is our Father in heaven who loves us and provides for us. Israel was to be a people who earned their own living by the grace of God and respected the boundaries of other people's property.

 Stealing says to God, "I don't trust you and I don't know you." 

 What have we learned about God since Genesis more than the fact that all things come graciously and generously from Him? He is the giving God, not a taker. He is the one who will "supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19.

Here in Exodus 20, this commandment rang true that they could trust God based on His actions for them. Their God had tremendously blessed them as they left Egypt. Remember how God instructed the Israelites to "ASK" their Egyptian neighbors for silver, gold and precious goods on the night of Passover:
Exodus 12:36 (ESV) the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

God did not simply give them stuff, He gave them favor in the sight of those who abused them for centuries! Only God can give that kind of thing. Israel experience in a moment that with their God can turn a taxing environment into a blessing environment.

He can do the same for you.

The New Testament takes this command further.
Ephesians 4:28 (ESV) Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

We are not just to avoid taking things that are not ours. That is simplistic and shallow. Anyone can avoid stealing. Paul doesn't just say "stop that" to the thieves in the church. He calls them to move into a place in life where you can work, earn, deal honestly, and give freely.

Now think of this. All of these instructions from Paul are activities of God. God works, produces, is completely honest and gives. Herein the 8th commandment is a call to become like our Father in heaven: working, producing, giving and sharing. Conversely, we are also to be nothing like our enemy satan who is a thief and a liar.

Finally, this Commandment leads us to the cross. Jesus was crucified between two thieves. Interestingly, the great giver of life was put to death, giving His life between two takers who represent the natural sinful tendency of us all. Yet in the midst of all that self-centered humanism, was the Son of God given for the sake of us all. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God’s View of You

Sometimes I think we imagine that God is mostly disappointed with us. That He puts up with us and bears with us because He has to (after all He is love), but most of the time our glaring weaknesses weary Him and make His day miserable. Of course, this is the devil’s doing in our minds. The truth of scripture bears out that the world has to get staunch-raving evil before God is totally weary of us. And the stories in the Old Testament remind us with each passing character that God is patient, loving and kind to His very flawed inconsistent servants. Saul is a case study of this. His lineage will not hold the kingdom, that has already been stated from the mishap of offering the sacrifice instead of waiting for Samuel to arrive in 1 Samuel 13. His next great gaff will happen in the chapter to come in 1 Samuel 15 where his own kingship will be taken from him and the anointing placed on one soon to come. Yes, God will regret making Saul king and we’ll talk about that next. But for now...
Read more

The Stain of Slavery

One of the greatest pains in my heart over the history of the church is the fact that many "Bible-believing" Christians used the Bible to promote, continue, and enable slavery in America's past. It may have happened elsewhere, but I'm an American, and I know it happened here. Then, some repeatedly make the claim because of a tiny amount of verses where God informs Israel on how to take slaves, it means the Bible is a pro-slavery document. How absurd. The overarching narrative of the Bible is that God sets the slaves free. The second book testifies to this part of God's character.  Getting to Jeremiah's day, one of the reasons Israel's nation was handed over to exile was because they enslaved each other. This attitude was so engrained into the culture of Israel that they had a hard time giving up slavery even in the face of national catastrophe.  In Jeremiah 34, the king is promised that he will die in Babylon, but he will die in peace. Jeremiah 34:3–5 (ESV...
Read more

Leaders Who Later Fail

Remember Johanan from Jeremiah 41? The man who saved many others from the threats of the murderous coup? He seemed like a noble leader. But time reveals a lot.  Jeremiah 42:5–6 (ESV)  Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to us. 6 Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.” These are the words of the presumptive leaders of Israel in the land while the nation is in exile. The previous chapter saw a hero arise to protect a few remaining survivors. His name was Johanan. On the surface, he seems like a good man, seeking the will of the Lord in his leadership position. Jeremiah returns with directives from the Lord: Jeremiah 42:10 (ESV) If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant y...
Read more