Leviticus 19:11 ¶ Ye shall
not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. 12 And ye shall not swear by my name falsely,
neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD. 13 Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither
rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all
night until the morning. 14 Thou shalt
not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear
thy God: I am the LORD. 15 Ye
shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of
the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness
shalt thou judge thy neighbour. 16 Thou
shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt
thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD. 17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine
heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon
him. 18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear
any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
In the Hebrew’s personal and business relations with each other
there are important statements said again.
Exodus 20:15 Thou shalt not
steal.
Verse 11 is more specific, though, in context talking about
stealing in the sense of dealing falsely and defrauding each other. I imagine
thinking of a school offering a worthless degree and the government forking
over money to make a naïve student indebted to a bank today. Think of buying
gasoline that is diluted or prescription meds that are nothing but ground up
drywall dust or some other substance. We are robbed and lied to about it,
unlike the honest thug who sticks a gun in your face and demands your money as
there is no question about what that’s about.
God calls the Hebrews to honest weights and measures and to not
being clever with each other in cheating each other out of something. This is
one of the historical stereotypes of the Jew, as a conniver, Jacob-like, always
trying to be clever and sneaky, cheating some Gentile, what Jews call a goy, out of something treating each
other and non-Jews like gullible marks fit only for a confidence game.
Verse
12 echoes a previous warning.
Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not
take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him
guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Using God’s name as a swear word or declaration or even one of the
dumbed down versions like ‘gosh’ for God or ‘gee whiz’ for Jesus Christ should
be carefully considered.
Verse 13 is interesting as there are conservative Christian
business owners and employers who would follow the Law given to the Hebrews as
their own personal standard in certain situations but have no problem in
defrauding their employees, as per the Law, by not paying them at the end of each
day for their work. We tend to pick and choose which of these standards we will
claim as our own. My point is not that we should expect to be paid at the end
of each day as that would be so difficult in this modern age as to be too great
a burden. Most of us don’t even expect it. My point is simply that you should
be careful when picking and choosing which standard of a Law that does not
justify you as a Christian that you choose to follow as a sign of your piety
and righteousness.
Verse 14 forbids verbal abuse or discriminatory behavior toward
the handicapped. Verse 15 demands equality under the Law. A poor person’s
estate could be considered no more than a rich person’s position in regard to a
legal judgment. The notion that justice should be blind comes to mind.
Verse 16 condemns a talebearer,
one that slanders his brother or sister. This is reinforced elsewhere with a
very lethal intent.
Exodus 23:1 ¶ Thou shalt
not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous
witness.
Psalm 15:3 He that backbiteth not with his
tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his
neighbour.
Ezekiel 22:9a In thee are
men that carry tales to shed blood…
Verse 17 continues this thought commanding not even to hate your
brother, your neighbor, as the two are linked in the context, in your heart. In
verse 18 we find one of what Jesus calls the two greatest commandment of the
Law and around which the Law is wrapped containing the spirit of the Law given
by God to Moses for the Hebrews. The first is found in;
Deuteronomy 6:5 And thou
shalt love the LORD thy God with all
thine heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy might.
Then, as Jesus restates them as the Holy Spirit gave wisdom to the
gospel writers. Don’t make the mistake of reading the Bible like you would the
owner’s manual to your lawn mower. It is not written like that, nor is most of
it given by word-for-word dictation. As I’ve noted previously the Bible says
that the Holy Spirit gave the writers wisdom and understanding. So, there will
be some variance in accounts because God wants us to have all of the words. Put
them together in the following verses to get the complete picture.
Matthew 22:35 Then one of
them, which was a lawyer, asked
him a question, tempting him,
and saying, 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind. 38 This is the first and great
commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Mark 12:28 ¶ And one of the
scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he
had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
29 And Jesus answered him, The first of
all the commandments is, Hear,
O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely
this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment
greater than these. 32 And the scribe
said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God;
and there is none other but he: 33 And
to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all
the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings
and sacrifices. 34 And when Jesus saw
that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the
kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
Luke 10:25 ¶ And, behold, a
certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to
inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto
him, What is written in the law? how readest
thou? 27 And he answering
said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as
thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou
hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
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