“The eighth commandment condemns manstealing and slave dealing, and forbids wars of conquest. It condemns theft and robbery. It demands strict integrity in the minutest details of the affairs of life. It forbids overreaching in trade, and requires the payment of just debts or wages. It declares that every attempt to advantage oneself by the ignorance, weakness, or misfortune of another is registered as fraud in the books of heaven.”2

Transgression of the eighth commandment is preceded by the sin of covetousness. Those who have a heart inclined to “covetous practices” (2 Peter 2:14) will resort to stealing sooner or later.

“Covetousness is an evil of gradual development. Achan had cherished greed of gain until it became a habit, binding him in fetters well-nigh impossible to break. While fostering this evil, he would have been filled with horror at the thought of bringing disaster upon Israel; but his perceptions were deadened by sin, and when temptation came, he fell an easy prey.

“Are not similar sins still committed, in the face of warnings as solemn and explicit? We are as directly forbidden to indulge covetousness as was Achan to appropriate the spoils of Jericho. God has declared it to be idolatry. We are warned, ‘Ye cannot serve God and mammon’ (Matthew 6:24). ‘Take heed, and beware of covetousness’ (Luke 12:15). ‘Let it not be once named among you’ (Ephesians 5:3). We have before us the fearful doom of Achan, of Judas, of Ananias and Sapphira. Back of all these we have that of Lucifer, the ‘son of the morning,’ who, coveting a higher state, forfeited forever the brightness and bliss of heaven. And yet, notwithstanding all these warnings, covetousness abounds.

“Everywhere its slimy track is seen. It creates discontent and dissension in families; it excites envy and hatred in the poor against the rich; it prompts the grinding oppression of the rich toward the poor. And this evil exists not in the world alone, but in the church. How common even here to find selfishness, avarice, overreaching, neglect of charities, and robbery of God ‘in tithes and offerings.’ Among church members ‘in good and regular standing’ there are, alas! many Achans.”3

“Achan had fostered covetousness and deception in his heart, until his perceptions of sin had become blunted, and he fell an easy prey to temptation. Those who venture to indulge in a known sin will be more readily overcome the second time. The first transgression opens the door to the tempter, and he gradually breaks down all resistance and takes full possession of the citadel of the soul. Achan had listened to oft-repeated warnings against the sin of covetousness. The law of God, pointed and positive, had forbidden stealing and all deception, but he continued to cherish sin. As he was not detected and openly rebuked, he grew bolder; warnings had less and less effect upon him, until his soul was bound in chains of darkness.”4

On one occasion, a man who revealed a narrow-minded character came up to the Master and asked Jesus to intervene in the solution of a problem he had with his brother concerning the division of the property inherited from their father. Thinking that his brother had defrauded him, he pleaded with Christ: “Speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me” (Luke 12:13). These two brothers were quarreling because both were covetous, selfish, and inclined to defraud one another. Christ refused to intervene. He had already laid down a rule pointing out the best way to solve a dispute where two individuals claim to be the legal owner of something. Instead of going to court, this is what a follower of Christ will do:

“And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also” (Matthew 5:40).

An ancient parable criticizes going to court for justice. Two cats could not agree between themselves how to divide a piece of cheese. So, they asked a cunning monkey to be their judge. He cut the cheese in half and put each piece on opposite sides of a balancing scale. Looking at the two cats, he told them that one piece of cheese outweighed the other. He immediately bit off a piece from it, in order, as he told them, to make the shares equal. But then the second piece became too heavy. For the same reason, the monkey also bit off a mouthful from the second piece. Stop! Stop! Cried the two cats, when they saw that they were about to lose all of the cheese by going to law for a problem that they should have been thoughtful enough to settle between themselves. I see that you are not content, but I must meet my own needs in order to be just, my friends, the monkey said. And then he ate the rest of the cheese.

This is never to suggest that we should take the law into our own hands. Only that we should avoid conflict whenever we reasonably can.

In South Africa, two brothers went to the law with the same problem that Christ was asked to resolve (Luke 12:13). The judge, Paul Kruger, listened to both and gave them the following advice: One of you will divide the inheritance into two parts and the other will choose the part that he prefers. With this decision, the judge made sure that justice was done to both and that neither one of them would be defrauded.

Two farmers in the U.S. quarreled over the fence between their farms. One farmer argued that the fence gave one foot of his farm to the neighbor. The other farmer argued that the fence was where it should be. Finally, the neighbor that did not want to move the fence sold his farm rather than fight over the matter in court. The new owner was approached by the same neighbor with the same complaint. He listened carefully and asked: “How many feet of this property belong to you? I would like to know that before the fence can be moved.” The neighbor said: “One foot.” “Only one foot? Then take two.” The neighbor said: “I am claiming only one.” The new owner insisted on giving two feet of land. Finally the complaining neighbor suggested that the fence should remain where it already stood. In this way the principle taught by Jesus in Matthew 5:40 prevailed successfully as it was applied by the new owner.

The Jews looked at the publicans with hatred because, when these men got into their position, they became rich in a short time. Everybody knew that they collected taxes not only for Caesar but also for themselves. In this sense they were thieves. Some of them were not beyond the reach of the Holy Spirit, however. Zacchaeus was one of them.

“Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham” (Luke 19:8, 9).

True Christians will remember what is written in Romans 13:7, 8 also when filling out their income tax forms.

I once spoke with a man who was well acquainted with the problems connected with the work in the gold mines in South Africa, and he told me an unforgettable story. A foreman had to leave his workers without supervision for some time. And he knew what would happen with those men. They would stop working as soon as he would leave. Some would take a nap, some would lounge over the tiny cafe table, and some would probably get together in a small group to tell stories, make wisecracks, and laugh. So, what did the foreman do? He warned the employees: “You will not idle away your time during my absence. My eye will be watching you.” He immediately pulled out his glass eye and put it in a corner while the bewildered and ignorant workers were watching him. This was the way he tried to prevent them from stealing the time for which they got paid.

We ought to be careful when we bargain, not to cheat the seller. Sometimes the seller will sell his product at a loss, or below the cost price, because he must have the money to meet an urgent need. I must confess that, before my conversion, I had a covetous tendency to bargain harshly. Henry W. Beecher had something to say about those who have a morbid custom to bargain too much when they want to buy something. Beecher writes:

“If you attempt to beat a man down and so get his goods for less than a fair price, you are attempting to commit burglary as much as though you broke into his shop to take the things without paying for them.”

The devil may tempt us also in the domain of salaries. Demanding excessive payment by covetous skillful workers has something to do with violating the eighth commandment. So does paying poor wages to common farm laborers by covetous farmers who want to become rich.

“Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth” (James 5:4).

The Lord speaks to us through the ministry of Malachi:

“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:8).

The idea that tithe paying is not a biblical requirement devolving upon Christians because we are not living under the levitical priesthood is not a concept that is supported by the New Testament.

We read that “Jesus [was] made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec” (Hebrews 6:20). But we read that the priesthood after the order of Melchisedec is also sustained by tithes. Read Hebrew 7:1, 2. For this reason, you may ask: Through whom and how do we pay our tithes to our High Priest? The Bible answers:

“And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth” (Hebrews 7:8; see also Revelation 2:8).

May God help us to be honest in our relationship and dealing with others. May He help us to return a faithful tithe, to offer or ask for fair wages, and to bargain with an interest in being fair to both sides. Don’t use the law and the courts to take advantage of others. Don’t take the eighth commandment superficially. R