THE LAW OF GOD by E. J. Hibbard

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jan 22, 1902

THE LAW OF GOD

By E. J. Hibbard

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT.

“Thou shalt not steal.”

“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” In the light of this fact, would it not be well to take a broader view of this precept than some are in the habit of doing?

Did not the entering sin, the one which opened the flood-gates of iniquity to our fair world, involve a direct violation of the eighth command? Our parents took that which the Lord had reserved. But since the earth is His, and He made it, has not the Creator a right to say what man shall appropriate to himself, and what he shall not?

“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” And the matter was fully understood; for when tempted, “the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”

The whole earth, and especially the garden of Eden, was teeming with fruits in a profusion so overflowing as to beggar description. Man had been lavishly provided for. And yet, to test them; that God might cultivate in the first pair the glorious principle of unselfishness; that they might learn to recognize the rights of others before there were any others of their kind, their loving Father reserved to Himself one tree with the contents thereof.

The command had already been given them that they be “fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” Very soon, therefore, they must begin to teach their descendants to respect the rights of others. (“God is not the author of confusion.”) But how can they teach that in which they have had no experience?

Failing to recognize the rights of the Almighty, will man regard the rights of his fellows? Will the robber of God refrain himself from the possessions of men? How can he? Was it not, therefore, of the utmost importance that the progenitors of our race should be thoroughly tested on the point of recognition of property rights? They failed to stand the test. They did not withhold their hand from the forbidden tree. We have inherited their fallen nature; and must be restrained not only from the things reserved by God, but also from the belongings of our associates. “Thou shalt not steal.”

“The earth is [still] the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” And the same One who, in the beginning, made the reservation of a tree, has reserved to himself a tenth of the whole earth’s increase. “All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy unto the Lord.” Nor is tithing Levitical in its origin; for Abraham and Jacob are expressly cited as adhering to it; also the Lord Jesus gave it His approbation. Said He, when referring to the custom of those who had only a form of godliness, “Ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith; these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”

“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings.” Why do not all men return to the Lord a tenth of all He gives them? Because they do not acknowledge that He has any possessions here. Some even deny His existence.

But the tithe is not all; for when the Maker of heaven and earth tabernacled among men, He commanded: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Christ has also commanded that we “give to every man that asketh,” and from him that would borrow, we should “not turn away.” Also, that we “lend, hoping for nothing again.” Of course these requirements are carefully guarded elsewhere in the Scriptures, that designing persons shall not be able to impoverish the obedient sons of God; and yet the conscientious people of earth, when attending to the needs of the worthy poor, have usually had little surplus remaining. But in case there is a surplus, the Master says, “Lay [it] not up for yourselves.” It is subject to the call of God. Those who obey God are thus enabled to outwit the thieves. Their treasure is beyond their reach—laid up in heaven.

To the selfish man these requirements seem hard and cruel; but to the redeemed man they are the joy of his heart. At one time in the world’s history, a body of men were convicted of sin, led to repentance and confession; were baptized in water, and with the Holy Ghost. “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul; neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own.” The Holy Spirit, once admitted, takes all the selfishness out of a man.

But men have hugged to themselves the gifts of God, until many think they created them. They recognize not His right of ownership; they are not thankful for His bounties. “Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue forever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.” God is wholly supplanted. Self reigns. “Their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression; they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. . . . And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.”

And yet have such as are here described defrauded only God? Have they stolen only from Him? “Behold, the hire of your laborers, . . . 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.” (That is, the Lord of hosts.)

Is not every penny of ill-gotten gain obtained in violation of the eighth precept of Jehovah’s law? Is not every untruthful, deceptive, or overdrawn statement in reference to their goods or wares, meant by advertisers to draw from the pockets of the people more money than these things are worth? Time

and space would fail us in an attempt to mention the thousands of ways in which men obtain from each other money or its equivalent through dishonest or oppressive means. The legal way of stealing is the most lucrative, and the least liable to punishment here below; but those who practise it will not escape the righteous judgment of God. Whether practised through the opportunities presented in government office, in private corporations, or in any other place or manner, we all know in our calmer moments, and in our innermost souls, that every penny gotten through fraud, deception, or violence is gotten through the violation of the eighth commandment. If estimated by the One who can not lie, I fear that a far greater proportion of the earth’s inhabitants than we have been wont to so think of, would be classed as thieves and robbers. Would not many of the respectable people even of the “smart set,” be confounded to have the search-light of God’s Holy Spirit turned upon them on this particular point? The thieves and thugs and robbers who take the money or valuables from our homes or places of business, will not be the only ones to be reckoned with in the great day. Nor will the poor little waifs who steal their “eatin’s” from the hucksters and fruit-dealers be the central figures at the bar of God. What a sight it will be, in that day, to see most of those who have accused the thieves in this world, stand in their company in the next. What a sight to see the lawyers and judges, who through bribery have pleaded wrongfully, or rendered unjust decisions here, stand at the bar of God with the culprits they have released from justice. What a sight to see many who have been condemned unjustly by these same tribunals, seated with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom, while those who have been their persecutors here are thrust out.

But we have seen that no man can steal from men without first becoming a robber of God. Once get the man right with God, and he will not only cease his depredations against men, but will restore, so far as lies within his power, every cent he has taken.

In the days of Christ, the publicans, or those who farmed the taxes from their countrymen, the Jews, were supposed to have oftentimes exacted more than was their due. Now there was one of their number, “Zaccheus, which was chief among the publicans, and he was rich.” Immediately, when this man had received the Lord Jesus, he made this statement: “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house.” Not that a half of a rich man’s estate had ever been asked of the Lord for the poor; but the change of nature made the man liberal, and he voluntarily offered the half of his goods to be distributed to the poor; and if he had taken anything wrongfully from any man, he was willing to restore, not the same amount, but fourfold. No danger of that man stealing now. He could be trusted with a mint of money. Not a penny would be missing.

At this present moment, and for about six years in the past, one of the most notorious thieves that the United States ever held, has been given charge of a large plant as night watchman. He has spent decades of “time” in prisons and penitentiaries, was the very chiefest of safe-crackers and vault-blowers. He now occupies a place where at any time he could get thousands of dollars by theft if he chose, but he does nothing of the kind. He is as harmless as a lamb. With every other precept of our God, the eighth one is written in his heart. He could be safely trusted with a million dollars of any man’s money, to keep or to carry anywhere. “What happened to him?” The same that happened to Zaccheus. The same Christ has entered his life, that entered the chief of the publicans.

Not only do those who are renewed by His grace have no disposition to call that which is another’s their own; but, as we have seen, no man among that class can ever say “that aught of the things which HE possesseth are his own.” Such men do not steal. They have no disposition to violate the eighth commandment.

E. J. HIBBARD.