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Theft.

From: The New Topical Textbook By: Reuben Archer Torrey

• 1 min. read • grade level: 11

Is an abomination. Jer. 7:9, 10⁹Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; ¹⁰And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? (Jeremiah 7:9‑10).

Forbidden. Ex. 20:15¹⁵Thou shalt not steal. (Exodus 20:15), with Mar. 10:19. Rom. 13:9⁹For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. (Romans 13:9).

From the poor specially forbidden. Prov. 22:22²²Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate: (Proverbs 22:22).

Includes fraud in general. Lev. 19:13¹³Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. (Leviticus 19:13).

Includes fraud concerning wages. Lev. 19:13¹³Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. (Leviticus 19:13). Mal. 3:5⁵And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:5). James 5:4⁴Behold, the hire of the laborers 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).

Proceeds from the heart. Matt. 15:19¹⁹For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: (Matthew 15:19).

Defiles a man. Matt. 15:20²⁰These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. (Matthew 15:20).

THE WICKED

Addicted to. Psa. 119:61⁶¹The bands of the wicked have robbed me: but I have not forgotten thy law. (Psalm 119:61).

Store up the fruits of. Amos 3:10¹⁰For they know not to do right, saith the Lord, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces. (Amos 3:10).

Lie in wait to commit. Hos. 6:9⁹And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness. (Hosea 6:9).

Commit, under shelter of the night. Job 24:14¹⁴The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief. (Job 24:14). Oba. 5.

Consent to those who commit. Psa. 50:18¹⁸When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. (Psalm 50:18).

Associate with those who commit. Isa. 1:23²³Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. (Isaiah 1:23).

May, for a season, prosper in. Job 12:6⁶The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly. (Job 12:6).

Plead excuses for. Jer. 7:9, 10⁹Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; ¹⁰And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? (Jeremiah 7:9‑10).

Repent not of. Rev. 9:21²¹Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. (Revelation 9:21).

Destroy themselves by. Prov. 21:7⁷The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them; because they refuse to do judgment. (Proverbs 21:7).

Connected with murder. Jer. 7:9⁹Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; (Jeremiah 7:9). Hos. 4:2²By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. (Hosea 4:2).

Shame follows the detection of. Jer. 2:26²⁶As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, (Jeremiah 2:26).

Brings a curse on those who commit it. Hos. 4:2, 3²By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. ³Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. (Hosea 4:2‑3). Zech. 5:3, 4³Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it. ⁴I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof. (Zechariah 5:3‑4). Mal. 3:5⁵And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:5).

Brings the wrath of God upon those who commit it. Ezek. 22:29, 31²⁹The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. (Ezekiel 22:29)
³¹Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 22:31).

Excludes from heaven. 1 Cor. 6:10¹⁰Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:10).

THEY WHO CONNIVE AT,

Hate their own souls. Prov. 29:24²⁴Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul: he heareth cursing, and bewrayeth it not. (Proverbs 29:24).

Shall be reproved of God. Psa. 50:18, 21¹⁸When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. (Psalm 50:18)
²¹These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. (Psalm 50:21).

Mosaic law respecting. Ex. 22:18¹⁸Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. (Exodus 22:18).

SAINTS

Warned against. Eph. 4:28²⁸Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. (Ephesians 4:28). 1 Peter 4:15¹⁵But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. (1 Peter 4:15).

All earthly treasure exposed to. Matt. 6:19¹⁹Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: (Matthew 6:19).

Heavenly treasure secure from. Matt. 6:20²⁰But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: (Matthew 6:20). Luke 12:33³³Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. (Luke 12:33).

Woe denounced against. Isa. 10:2²To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! (Isaiah 10:2). Nah. 3:1¹Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not; (Nahum 3:1).

Illustrates the guilt of false teachers. Jer. 23:30³⁰Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his neighbor. (Jeremiah 23:30). John 10:1, 8, 10¹Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1)
⁸All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. (John 10:8)
¹⁰The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10).

Exemplified. Rachel, Gen. 31:19¹⁹And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's. (Genesis 31:19). Achan, Josh. 7:21²¹When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. (Joshua 7:21). Shechemites, Judg. 9:25²⁵And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech. (Judges 9:25). Micah, Judg. 17:2²And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son. (Judges 17:2).

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The New Topical Textbook

• Sin-Offering.

• Sins, National.

• Spear, the.

• Stars, the.

• Steadfastness.

• Strangers in Israel.

• Swearing Falsely.

• Swearing, Profane.

• Sword, the.

• Synagogues.

• Tabernacle, the.

• Temple, the First.

• Temple, the Second.

• Temptation.

• Thanksgiving.

• Theft.

• Theocracy, the, or Immediate Government by God.