Exodus 20:15: You shall not steal.
Stealing is a violation of one of The Ten Commandments.
Stolen Property
Exodus 22:1: If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
Proverbs 6:30-31: People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving. Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
Luke 19:8: But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
The above Biblical verses that speak of returning stolen property four, five, or sevenfold, are referring to returning stolen goods with interest. This form of interest has nothing to do with the type of ‘interest’ that banks place on loans for profit – it is a form of restitution for the victims of theft. It compensates them for the loss of the use of their property during the time that it was in the possession of the thief.
Greed
Proverbs 22:22: Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court.
Psalm 62:10: Do not trust in extortion or put vain hope in stolen goods; though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them.
Punishment For Theft
Zechariah 5:3-4: And he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished. The Lord Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.’”
The Lord Almighty is Jesus Christ – what he declares is the fate that awaits those who steal (and who swear falsely by his name).
Also from Christ:
John 10:10: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Now that we are in the throes of Judgment Day and The Apocalypse, all stolen property will be returned to its rightful owner(s), or custodian(s) – with interest. If this is not undertaken voluntarily by the thieves, it will be accomplished via force. When I say “force”, I speak of the power wielded by The Forces of Nature.
Helen
