The Stronghold of Theft
Robert Wurtz II
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And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. (Revelation 9:20-21)
“And if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?” (Romans 2:19-21 ESV)
Teach Yourself
The book of Romans is the theological explanation of Paul’s Gospel. The first two chapters agree with Acts 26:17-21, which says that Paul always began with repentance. Romans 1 addresses the Gentiles, and Romans 2 addresses the Jews. The Jews knew the law of Moses and taught others, but did not teach themselves. It was an ancient version of “Do as I say and not as I do.” To prove this, Paul begins with “THOU SHALT NOT STEAL,” the eighth commandment.
It doesn’t seem possible that people wouldn’t know when they are stealing, especially those who claim to know God. How could a person preach against it and turn around and do it? Clearly, their conscience was seared, or they had a stronghold in their mind that excused the behavior as something other than stealing. A stronghold is a fortress of lies that convinces a person that they are right when they are wrong. In this article, my aim is to pull down any such stronghold (2 Corinthians 10:4).
They Repented Not
The great unrepentant sins in the last days, despite God’s judgment being poured out, are murder, fornication, sorcery (pharmakia), and theft (Revelation 9:21). Why would people remain unrepentant in the face of God’s wrath? Clearly, it is a stronghold in the mind. Theft is a sin of the heart (Matthew 15:19, Mark 7:22). It carries severe consequences in the Old Testament (Exodus 22:1-15). Jesus said that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). Stealing is the purpose of the thief, but he will kill and destroy if necessary, just like the modern bandit or gangster. (A.T. Robertson)
Imagine being caught stealing and having to restore double the amount? That was the Old Testament penalty. Zacchaeus, the Tax Collector, in the presence of Jesus, all but confessed to stealing from people, pledging to double the restitution command of the Law and to return four times what he had falsely taken (Luke 19:1-10). He got by with it until his conscience rose up and condemned him when Jesus preached. Understand that God’s law reflects His eternal attitude towards theft, while the world’s attitude towards it grows lax by the day. It’s common in modern times for thieves to ransack stores and go unpunished.
High-Handed Theft
Theft or stealing takes on many forms, especially in modern times, with phishing, soliciting financial or bank information over the phone, or buying products from Amazon and engaging in return fraud. I once attended a reverse logistics seminar with an Amazon representative as the keynote speaker. I was shocked to learn terms like “return fraud” and “wardrobing.” Sadly, many people return online orders for a refund after wearing them to their event, or they send their expensive item back after stripping the valuable part from the box. It is stealing. Who would want that done to them?
In the same sense that you don’t have to carve an image to make an idol and commit sacrilege, you can steal without shoplifting. There is no end to the ways humankind has devised to steal. From John the Baptist to Paul, the first aspect of repentance is our attitude towards possessions. You cannot serve God and Mammon. Those who try end up destroying relationships, the churches, and finally their own souls. As we will see, the love of Mammon often manifests as stealing, as it quenches the person’s love and their sense of right and wrong, justice, fairness, and equity. A person moving in covetousness is liable to literally steal candy from a baby and swear the baby gave it to them.
Subtle Stealing
Notice the first question Paul asks, “Do you steal?” Maybe we could ask, “Are you a party to theft, or are you in violation of the spirit of this law?” He’s pointing at anyone who practices such behavior. Are you in possession of stolen goods? Time doesn’t legitimize something acquired illegitimately. Have you taken things from people unfairly? Do you take goods, services, or properties underhandedly? Are you the type of person who would mislead or entice a person in order to take from them or their company?
After I had been born again for a while, the Holy Spirit pulled down a stronghold in my mind by reminding me that I had several items in my possession that did not belong to me. They belonged to my former employer. No matter how I twisted and distorted the facts to justify having them, the Holy Spirit convicted me. What was it? As an auto mechanic, I would let workers borrow my tools, and they would lose them, so I justified keeping the shop’s tools that “showed up” in my toolbox and other valuable items after I left the company. They owed me, I thought. The Spirit wasn’t tolerating that attitude in my life, nor does he accept it in anyone else’s. I got the message after someone broke in and stole about $ 1,000 worth of expensive tools from the car and took it as a sign and brought a small box of stuff to the front desk of my old job and gave it to the receptionist. I made restitution.
Clever Kleptomania
Humankind is never more creative and clever than when it plots to steal. People deceive themselves easily when money and possessions are involved. Judas was a thief and the most deceived man who ever lived. He was casting out devils one minute and stealing from the bag the next (Matthew 10:5-8, John 12:6, John 13:29).
I recall in sixth grade, my teacher, Mr. Cowans, a moral gentleman, telling the class that if we take something without permission because we believe someone owes it to us, it is still stealing. The person has to know they are giving you what you received. There can’t be any confusion as to what’s happening when the thing changes hands. If the person is dead, you can’t arbitrarily take stuff from them or their estate. Imagine walking into some deceased person’s home and saying, “I think they intended to leave me this Fabergé vase that’s worth thousands,” and taking it. Thieves love to speak for the dead. It’s why we have wills and probate courts.
Moving in what the world calls “The illusory truth effect,” some believe that if they say something often enough and long enough, it will become true in people’s minds. They might repeat something like, “Grandma said I could have her Fabergé collection” for years. Moreover, they gaslight people, saying things like, “Everyone knows that or this has always been true.” If they can get a person questioning themselves, the battle is half won. Moreover, hoping everyone is ignorant, they have Maxwell Scott’s outlook in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, “This is the west, sir; and when the legend becomes fact, print the legend!”
Thieves in the Midst
If Paul’s words mean anything, he suggests that people among us may tend to steal. The saints are vulnerable because they trust other believers, especially leaders. Judas was trusted, but he betrayed the trust. After all, if a man would steal from Jesus and the disciples, a man will steal from anyone. Keep that clear. Otherwise, why would Paul ask the question if not to induce conviction?
You who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?” (Romans 2:21 ESV)
Consider some scenarios:
Would you infringe on a person’s benevolence by pretending not to have money so they would feel sorry for you and pay for your food at a restaurant or the items you are buying at the counter? Call it what you will, but that’s lying and stealing.
Would you flirt with the girl or guy behind the counter to get a discount or free items? If so, not only are you stealing, but you are also undermining the person who is collecting the money by enticing them to steal from their employer. Some people are brazen enough to make a game out of such sordid behavior.
Would you use complex jargon to confuse a friend who trusts you to hand over their savings for “better” investment opportunities while secretly plotting to use those funds for personal profit? That is stealing and lying.
While you preach against stealing, do you steal?” (Romans 2:21)
Some might say, “They shouldn’t be gullible enough to trust me!” Well, what kind of person takes advantage of people who trust them? Answer, people who preach “thou shalt not steal” and then do these and other similar types of things.
Inveigling Widows
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses …(Matthew 23:14a)
The late great Greek scholar, A.T. Robertson, commented on this text, “Terrible pictures of civil wrong by graft-grabbing the homes of helpless widows. They inveigled widows into giving their homes to the temple, then took them for themselves.” (Robertson’s Word Pictures)
in·vei·gle (/inˈvāɡ(ə)l/) verb
persuade (someone) to do something by means of deception or flattery.
Graft (not to be confused with gift) refers to the dirty and unfair acquisition of money, power, possessions, or other advantages through dishonest, questionable, or illegal means, particularly through the abuse of one’s position or influence. You cannot willingly give something if you don’t understand that what you are doing is “giving” it. Phone scammers who claim to be helping or solving a problem may obtain a widow’s bank information and then claim it was a “gift,” but common sense and the judge know it was a graft because she had no intention of giving her money away.
Temple Money
People often left their whole fortune to the temple, and a good deal of the temple money went, in the end, to the Scribes and Pharisees. The Scribes were universally employed in making wills and conveyances of property. (Marvin Vincent)
The WBC comments, “They devour the estates of widows.” With the charge of devouring the estates (lit. “houses”) of widows, the descriptive litany takes a decidedly nasty turn. Hypocrisy and vanity were one thing, but the ruin and impoverishment of those most vulnerable in ancient society was quite another.
J. A. Fitzmyer (Luke, 2:13-18) identifies six different explanations of what is meant by devouring the houses of widows:
(a) Scribes accepted payment for legal assistance, though such payment was forbidden.
(b) Acting in the capacity of lawyers, perhaps appointed to such office in the wills of the deceased husbands, the scribes cheated widows out of their estates.
(c) Scribes freeloaded on the hospitality of widows.
(d) Scribes mismanaged the estates entrusted to them.
(e) Scribes took money from credulous women in return for the supposed benefit of intercessory prayer (as perhaps implied by the next clause in v 40).
(f) Scribes took houses as pledges for debts that could not realistically be expected to be repaid.
It is difficult to choose among these options, for Jesus’ brief complaint supplies insufficient details. Fitzmyer appears to lean toward the second option. (WBCNT)
Deceptive Piety
On Derrett’s view, the long prayers (cf. Mt. 6:7) were said publicly in order to give an impression of piety and trustworthiness and so to induce people to appoint them as trustees. πρόφασις can mean ‘actual motive’ (Jn. 15:22) or ‘pretext’ (Acts 27:30; Phil. 1:18; 1 Thes. 2:5). While most scholars prefer the latter meaning (‘for appearance sake’), Derrett prefers the former (‘with such an end in view’). Persons guilty of such conduct will receive all the greater judgment (κρίμα,23:40; 24:20*; Acts 24:25*), i.e. those who abuse positions of trust (cf. 12:47). For similar accusations cf. Ass. Moses 7:6f; Ps. Sol. 4:11–13. (NIGTC)
Notice the NIGTC interprets the greater judgment as being caused by “the abuse of trust.” The widow, without her husband to give her proper advice, is beguiled by the religious leaders into giving her property to the Temple, unaware that it would ultimately be converted to cash and passed to them.
“Devour” is the Greek word katesthio: To eat, swallow, devour. Metaphorically, of things such as fire, to consume (Rev 11:5; Sept.: Isa 29:6); of persons (Gal 5:15, meaning to consume or destroy one another; Sept.: Isa 9:12); to plunder or obtain by extortion (2Co 11:20), of the houses of widows (Mat 23:14; Mrk 12:40; Luk 20:47).
New Testament Warnings
Why would humankind in general and the saints in particular be warned about such behaviors that went on in the first century? The Holy Spirit knew this detestable and destructive behavior would continue and increase until Jesus returned. No matter what God does, some people will not repent of their thefts. They are ripe for judgment.
We live in an age of inveigling, which is the most destructive trait because it underscores a breach of trust. Thieves prey on people’s naivety, especially older and less educated folks. The world identifies them as scammers, con artists, and fraudsters. Even if the act appears legal, when people are inveigled into giving up their resources, it is a form of theft rooted in deceit and betrayal. It is a sin on several grounds, no matter how “legal” the inveigling may have been.
While you preach against stealing, do you steal?” (Romans 2:21)
Related Articles:
Theft: A Clear Sign of the Times
The spirit of Judas Iscariot
The god of Materialism
