8th Commandment: Do Not Steal

Summary

BibleProject Podcast
Episode: 8th Commandment: Do Not Steal
Date: June 1, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Jonathan Collins and Tim Mackey dive deep into the eighth commandment, “Do Not Steal,” exploring its meanings in the context of ancient Israel, its theological depth, implications beyond property rights, and its invitation to abundance, gratitude, and communal responsibility. By unpacking biblical texts and case laws, they argue that the commandment encompasses much more than the prohibition on theft—it is a call to embrace trust in God’s provision and proactive stewardship for the flourishing of others.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Root Motivation Behind Stealing

• Desire for Unearned Benefit:
  “The sole purpose for stealing is you want to benefit from something that you are not currently benefiting from. You take something of value that you didn't earn or work for.”
  – Tim Mackey, 00:13
• Stealing often arises from a sense of lack, envy, or entitlement—not trusting that what God has given is enough.

2. The Eighth Commandment as an Opportunity for Gratitude

• Gratitude and Contentment:
  The hosts highlight how “do not steal” isn’t just about what not to do, but is an invitation to gratitude for what God has given to us, and trust that God provides.
  “The eighth command is a call for contentment, which is cool. But as we're gonna see... Flip over do not steal into the positive. And this command becomes profound. It's a call to not take people's stuff, but to help people steward their stuff.”
  – Jonathan Collins, 01:06

3. The Commandment in Hebrew and Its Context

• The Hebrew for “steal” is ganav. The sixth, seventh, and eighth commandments (not murder, not commit adultery, not steal) are each only two words in Hebrew, forming a meaningful triad (04:11).
• These commands descend in scope: from life, to family, to possessions – each reflecting what is most valuable to one’s neighbor (04:43–05:20).

4. Biblical Case Law: Theft Versus Other Crimes

• Different Consequences:
  Murder and adultery are capital crimes. Theft leads to restitution—return plus compensation (Exodus 22). E.g., if you steal an ox, you pay back five oxen (06:23).
  • Stealing a person (kidnapping) equates with murder and merits death (Exodus 21) (09:57).
• Communal Impact:
  Theft isn’t just personal—“you're actually harming your whole community, and you're compensating for that” (08:20).

5. Beyond Property Rights: Theological Foundations

• All Belongings as a Gift:
  “Everything that my neighbor has is God's gift to them... stealing stems from this probably unconscious belief that I think that God should have given that gift to me; that should be mine.”
  – Tim Mackey, 00:30, 19:54
• God gives abundantly; not trusting that provision often leads to rationalizations for theft or envy (20:50, 21:33).

6. Restitution, Responsibility, and Community

• The laws distinguish between loss by negligence and unavoidable loss:
  • If entrusted property is stolen due to negligence, restitution is required (34:02).
  • If lost to violence or disaster (wild animals, raiding parties), no restitution is demanded (36:18–36:26).
  • The expectation: “I didn't treat what belongs to my neighbor like I would treat my own.”
    – Jonathan Collins, 37:15

7. Positive Framing: Stewarding Others’ Good

• The wisdom in Torah moves beyond “don’t steal” to positive action: return lost property, help when things go wrong, and take care of what belongs to your neighbor as if it was your own (Deut. 22) (39:23–41:08).
• Memorable moment: Tim’s honest struggle upon finding a lost jacket illustrates the subtlety of temptation and the call to active stewardship (41:40–42:38).

8. Reframing Do Not Steal: Generosity and Abundance Mindset

• “Instead of asking myself, can I be content with what God's given me, I can actually ask myself, can I help be a steward of other people's stuff with them?”
  – Jonathan Collins, 44:11
• Living out the eighth commandment means cultivating an abundance mindset: “You really have to believe that God has given me what I need and more. And that God has given my neighbor what they need and more. And I'm going to help them be good stewards of what God's given to them.”
  – Tim Mackey, 44:30

9. Jesus’ Radical Reinterpretation

• The method of “flipping over” the commandment into a positive—echoed in Jesus’ teaching (Sermon on the Mount)—deepens the call from avoiding harm to actively loving one’s neighbor (49:09).
• “You have heard that it was said, do not steal... And I say to you, look after your neighbor's stuff... Give thanks to God for what he's given to you.”
  – Tim Mackey, 48:44–49:10

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Motivation for Stealing:
  “One way of thinking about stealing, then, it actually stems from this probably unconscious belief that I think that God should have given that gift to me. That should be mine.”
  – Tim Mackey, 20:21
• On Neighborly Responsibility:
  “There's wisdom here... maybe that's how we should be thinking about our neighbor's stuff all the time.”
  – Jonathan Collins, 38:41
• On True Generosity:
  “That's like the just extra generous mindset.”
  – Jonathan Collins, 44:26
• On Restitution and Social Fabric:
  “When you steal something, you're also beginning to shape an environment, aren't you? ...you're compensating for that.”
  – Tim Mackey, 08:20
• On Encounter with a Lost Jacket:
  “As I was coming up, I was like, does it fit me? And then I'm like, what am I thinking?... I had to tell myself a story about why that's not mine.”
  – Tim Mackey, 42:08

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Important Timestamps

• 00:05 – Opening scenario: Why do we steal?
• 01:06 – Eighth commandment reframed as opportunity for gratitude
• 04:11 – The Hebrew language and the “triad” of commands
• 06:23–09:57 – Differentiation of punishments in biblical law
• 16:34–21:33 – Exploring deeper value: all things as God’s gift
• 34:02–38:41 – Case laws about negligence and responsibility
• 39:23–41:08 – Laws about returning lost property and active stewardship
• 42:38 – Tim’s “lost jacket” example
• 44:10–49:10 – “Flipping” the commandment and linking to Jesus’ teaching
• 49:10–50:09 – Teaser for the next commandment (“Do not bear false witness”)

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Summary Takeaways

• The eighth commandment, “Do not steal,” invites us to see all possessions as gifts from God, challenging us to adopt an abundance mindset and cultivate gratitude.
• Obedience is not just refraining from theft, but actively helping others steward and flourish with what God has given them.
• The Torah’s wisdom literature moves from prohibitions into a call for communal well-being, generosity, and deep trust in divine provision.
• Practically, this means asking, not merely “how do I respect property rights,” but “how can I help my neighbor thrive with what God’s given them?”
• The hosts encourage listeners to reflect: do I truly believe God has given me what I need? Can I celebrate and guard my neighbor’s gifts as actively as my own?

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Next Episode Teaser

The following episode will focus on the ninth commandment: “Do not bear false witness,” examining its focus on justice and truth in the community (50:02–50:28).

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For more resources and discussions, visit bibleproject.com.

Transcript

[Jonathan Collins]

Think of a time that you took something that wasn't yours. Maybe it was small, maybe it was something big. But why did you take it?

[Tim Mackey]

The sole purpose for stealing is you want to benefit from something that you are not currently benefiting from. You take something of value that you didn't earn or work for. I want that. I'm going to take it.

[Jonathan Collins]

Dig even deeper. How did you justify taking it?

[Tim Mackey]

Everything that my neighbor has is God's gift to them. And one way of thinking about stealing stems from this probably unconscious belief that I think that God should have given that gift to me that should be mine.

[Jonathan Collins]

Today we're going to talk about the eighth command, do not steal. And how actually, this command is an opportunity for gratitude.

[Tim Mackey]

Deuteronomy 6 says, he will give to you large and fine cities that you didn't build or. And houses full of all sorts of things that you didn't fill.

[Jonathan Collins]

Everything that we have is a gift to us. And so the eighth command is a call for contentment, which is cool. But as we're gonna see in today's episode, the wisdom of the eighth command goes even deeper. Flip over. Do not steal into the positive. And this command becomes profound. It's a call to not take people's stuff, but to help people steward their stuff.

[Tim Mackey]

You really have to believe that God has given me what I need and more, and that God has given my neighbor what they need and more. And I'm going to help them be good stewards of what God's given to them.

[Jonathan Collins]

Today Tim Mackey and I dig into the 8th Commandment, do not steal. Thanks for joining us. Here we go. Hey, Tim.

[Tim Mackey]

Hello. Jonathan Collins.

[Jonathan Collins]

We're talking about ten commandments.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, we are.

[Jonathan Collins]

And we're cruising. Yeah, we're moving. We're getting to the final few.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, yeah. We're going to talk about the eighth Commandment.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah. First, we had this conversation about that these are the 10 words. And by calling them words, we are allowing ourselves to think of these more as mere instructions. These are instructions. These are commands. But there's something even broader going on, which is that these are like a reorientation to a way of relating to God and others.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, that's right. Underneath each command is a value, is a deeper commitment or a view of God and other people and how I relate to them. Another big thing has been how the 10 commands are the first 10 words of a larger covenant commitment that God invites Israel into on Mount Sinai. That's the story they're found in. And there's 42 more commands given right after the 10. And those 42 actually pick up the language and often the values and ideas underneath the 10, and will fill them out. And we're going to see this with do not steal. Actually, the laws themselves within the context. Flip over the eighth command in a way that's really cool. It forced me to think about a great many things.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

That I'm going to now force you to think about. But, yeah, don't steal. First, let's do something real basic. Let's learn the Hebrew word underneath here. The Hebrew word here, translated as steel. It's the Hebrew word ganav or gimel, nun, beit. It's the letter B that last bait. The last letter is B, but in Hebrew, if there's a vowel before beit, you soften the B into a V.

[Jonathan Collins]

So you turn the B into a

[Tim Mackey]

V. Yeah, it's actually. Yeah. So there's actually lots of words that are spelled with this letter bait, but they're often transliterated in English letters with a. With a V. Okay, that makes sense. Yeah. So that's what's going on here.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay.

[Tim Mackey]

These three little commands, six, seven, and eight, are the three commands that are just two words in Hebrew. The word lo, not, and then the verb. So you get lo means not, lo means not, and then you get the verb. So you will not kill, you will not commit adultery. You will not steal. All three of those are two words in Hebrew. Lo, tir, tsach, loth. Those are the only three in all the 10 that are like that. And they've been put next to each other, so that's meaningful.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay.

[Tim Mackey]

They're like a little triad.

[Jonathan Collins]

It's a little package.

[Tim Mackey]

Little package. We noted this earlier, but these three relate in kind of like a descending scale. All three of these are about you and another person in your community. You don't have the right to take their life. You don't have the right to take their spouse or have sex with their spouse. You don't have a right to their stuff. Yeah. So all of them are about things that are valuable or belong to my neighbor. One is their life, one is their spouse, one is their stuff. So it kind of feels like there's a bit of a descending scale.

[Jonathan Collins]

Oh, right.

[Tim Mackey]

But what's interesting is if you look at other laws elsewhere in the Torah and you look at the consequences, like, what if you break command six, seven, and eight, what's. Like, what's the result? So we talked about this murder. Killing, especially with intent, is a capital crime.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

So in Exodus 21, whoever strikes someone so that they die, will be put to death. Murder is capital crime. Adultery is a capital crime. In the Torah. A theft is not a capital crime. Okay, so Exodus 22. If a guy gnives an ox or a sheep, and then let's say he slaughters it. That is like, makes it for dinner. Yeah. Or maybe he sells it. Then it doesn't say he will be put to death. It says he will pay five oxen for the ox and four sheep for the sheep.

[Jonathan Collins]

That's some weird math. Yeah, that's interesting.

[Tim Mackey]

Five times the value.

[Jonathan Collins]

Five times the value of an ox. Four times. For a sheep.

[Tim Mackey]

For a sheep. Yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

It's not one to one. And then ox are different than sheep.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, I guess, you know, sheep are valuable.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

But, yeah, clearly there's in this cultural context, which is like farming. Yeah. Hilly region, farming context. So sheep are what you graze with. You have herds, so they're out munching grass, and you get wool and meat. But oxen, yeah, you could maybe slaughter one for a big feast. But mostly they're workhorses. You're plowing your farm fields with them. So let's say this. If you take someone's life, you are. I guess one reason you might is to benefit from it in some way. Like, there's stories about murdering someone because you want their stuff.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay.

[Tim Mackey]

Like there's a story about King Ahab where he wants this guy, Navot's Nice vineyard. He arranges false witnesses and then he takes his stuff. So one reason you might kill somebody is for economic benefit, for yourself.

[Jonathan Collins]

To take their stuff.

[Tim Mackey]

To take their stuff. But sometimes people murder each other because they're mad or they lose their temper or they hate them, or they want to get revenge. There's not, like, economic benefit involved. So I guess maybe what's different about stealing is the sole purpose for stealing is. We'll get into this a little more. But you want to benefit from something that you are not currently benefiting from, and my neighbor has that benefit. So I want that. I'm going to take it. You take something of value that you didn't earn or work for. So it makes sense then that the consequence is about restoring value, but, like, even more so to compensate for the wrong.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah. Why are they even more so?

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah. Okay, let's meditate on that. So you are restoring the thing that you took. I stole one ox, I have to pay back one ox, but then I gotta give you four more. I guess what you're saying is that the relational damage and the Damage to, like, our social fabric also has a value, and that's been ruptured too, by that act. Yeah, because when you steal something, you're also beginning to shape an environment, aren't you? Because my other neighbors looking on will all of a sudden be like, what? Oh, what? My stuff's not safe? And so you're actually harming your whole community, and you're compensating for that. Mm, let's keep a pin in that one. Okay. There is actually one act of stealing, though, that is a capital crime in the laws of the Torah, and that is stealing a person. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. There's no word for kidnapping as such in the Hebrew Bible, but the act of kidnapping is referred to in. In the Hebrew Bible, but it's called gone ish. Stealing a human, stealing a person. So in Exodus 21, there's a law, whoever steals a human and sells him or he's found in his possession, he shall be put to death. So that's interesting. You steal an ox, you gotta pay five back. Steal a human, your life is forfeit.

[Jonathan Collins]

It's intense.

[Tim Mackey]

The. Super intense. Yeah. So the first kidnapping in the Bible is actually among God's chosen chosen family.

[Jonathan Collins]

His family.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, the story of Joseph and his brothers. And you know, Joseph got that special coat from his dad. He had these dreams about how he was going to become the ruler of the family, and so his brothers already don't like him. And then his brothers start telling on them, like, about mistakes that they make, and they're just like, this punk, he's gotta go. So in Genesis 37, Joseph is sent by his dad with a bunch of food because his brothers are out shepherding a bunch of sheep in the fields, and they want to murder him. That's what a bunch of brothers say, like, let's kill him. And then Judah, fourth born of Jacob, says, what profit is there if we kill him?

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah. There's no economic gain in killing him.

[Tim Mackey]

No. Yeah, then he's going to be dead. But we've got an opportunity here. He says, come, let's sell him. Here's some Ishmaelite traders coming. So kidnapping is in the framework of the Bible, like the assumption is the only reason you would steal a person is to sell them and make a lot of money.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah, I think that's still today the reason why people kidnap.

[Tim Mackey]

Yes. Yeah, boy.

[Jonathan Collins]

Well, sell or ransom.

[Tim Mackey]

That's right. Yeah, that's right. So taking someone's stuff, taking someone's person, they're viewed as equal acts, but on a scale of value. Clearly stealing a person, it's equivalent to murder.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

In terms of the consequence. Whereas stealing the rocks is not that itself. I think maybe that's worth its own just moment to pause and reflect. Reflect on that. That the value of a human self determination, their ability to be an image of God and have freedom and responsibility to realize their potential and do what God's made them to do.

[Jonathan Collins]

Like that take. That is like taking their life.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah. Yeah. Murdering them is one way to take away their freedom, but stealing and selling them is an equivalent way. And both of those are put on the same level in the value set of these laws. Let's notice that the ox and the sheep are not just like possessions that my neighbor has. Like maybe like a pot or a chair, those are possessions. So why didn't it give those examples too?

[Jonathan Collins]

Or like his tent.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah. Or his tent. Yeah. So the ox and the sheep are the means by which my neighbor like generates income and value in the community.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

So it's interesting, those work tools. Yeah. That those are the things that are focused on. So I suppose for me this equivalent would be like my library or my computer.

[Jonathan Collins]

Those are your work tools?

[Tim Mackey]

These are my work tools, the things that I regularly use to generate something of value.

[Jonathan Collins]

You know, I have. I think I've stolen a book from you and that I haven't. I've had it at my house for a while and I clearly have forgotten. And if I keep forgetting, I will never give it back. So I owe you four or five books. What are we going to settle on here? Is it a sheep or is it an ox? I think your books are your ox.

[Tim Mackey]

Wow. Okay. It seems like you stole it without fully knowing it. Yeah, I don't know. We'll work that out over lunch. Yeah, you can buy me lunch or something. I don't. But the point is that why the ox and the sheep, These are the things that my neighbor uses to sustain a livelihood, to provide for those who are dependent on them to produce something of value in my community. So it's not just stealing their stuff, but it's about threatening their ability to be an image of God flourishing and adding value to my community. There's a communal orientation to this.

[Jonathan Collins]

Hmm.

[Tim Mackey]

It's not just me and my neighbor, because what my neighbor does with their ox and their sheep is actually something that fits into the web of support for the whole community. Yeah, that seems significant.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah. Are there other times where other examples are used other than the work tools or the work animals?

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, we'll see.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay.

[Tim Mackey]

We'll see. And that leads to an interesting observation. Go to an analogy to understand something that I thought was interesting here. So if we're going to like 26 year olds, fraternal twins.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay.

[Tim Mackey]

Brother and sister.

[Jonathan Collins]

All right.

[Tim Mackey]

Hey, Johnny, don't steal your sister's stuff.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah, those are her crayons.

[Tim Mackey]

Those are her crayons. But are they, are they actually her crayons?

[Jonathan Collins]

Uh huh, yeah. Did she buy them?

[Tim Mackey]

Does your sister have a job yet? No, she's six. Her parents, that is, your parents gave her those crayons. So also there's this added layer to. This isn't just about inalienable rights of private property. That's at work, I think in these laws when you name ox and sheep, you're naming something that was actually given to them. Like they didn't make the ox or the sheep.

[Jonathan Collins]

So wait, say that again.

[Tim Mackey]

My neighbor didn't make the ox or the sheep. They acquired it at some point. But it does raise this larger question of like, well, how does my neighbor have any of this stuff in the first place? How do I have any of the stuff that I have? So it's fundamental to the story of Israel that everything that they have in the land is given to them as a gift of God.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay, so wait, I just want to follow your analogy. So you're saying if you think about how a brother and sister, they can steal from each other, but in some way it's all the family stuff.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

Now you're stepping back from that and saying, if we're all a human family and God owns everything, then what does it mean for you to have stuff and I to have stuff?

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, I'm trying to. If it's all God's stuff, I'm trying to identify the deeper value underneath the command, don't steal. Yeah, do not steal. Why? Well, on the first level, it doesn't belong to you, it belongs to your neighbor. That's their stuff. Like one level. But now let's go a deeper level under that.

[Jonathan Collins]

It's all God's stuff.

[Tim Mackey]

Is it really my neighbor's stuff? Well, that's interesting, because let me just sample a couple things that Moses said to us in the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 6, 10. And it will happen when Yahweh, your Elohim brings you all into the land that he swore to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, he will give to you large and fine cities that you didn't build and houses full of all sorts of things that you didn't Fill and hewn cisterns that you didn't dig out and vineyards and olive groves that you didn't plant. And you will eat and you'll be satisfied. Or Deuteronomy 8, Yahweh, your Elohim is bringing you into a good land full of streams of water and springs and even underground water, and a land of wheat and barley and olive trees and honey, a land where nothing will be lacking. And you will eat and be satisfied, and you will bless Yahweh, your God because of the good land that he's given to you.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay?

[Tim Mackey]

Even your herds and flocks and your silver and gold and so on and so on. So kind of the ground floor underneath Israel being in the land and having any of the stuff that they have, their animals, their crops, their houses and their families, the baseline is that all of it is a gift of God. And when that struck me, that led to almost a more meaningful meditation on why it is that I wouldn't steal from my neighbor, then.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah, okay, so what you're saying is a simple logic to do not steal is you have stuff, I have stuff. We have rights to our own stuff, and let's respect those rights that we have. I own things, you own things. And what you're saying is you're pressing on it, going, actually, that's not really how the Bible thinks about stuff like, God owns everything. It's all a gift to us. So if that's the case, then what is the logic behind do not steal? Because we wouldn't then say, hey, Tim, all your stuff is a gift from God, so I'm just gonna borrow your car this weekend, Right?

[Tim Mackey]

Like, yeah, well, maybe. I mean, I could ask you.

[Jonathan Collins]

You could ask me, but I couldn't just take it.

[Tim Mackey]

I can't just take it.

[Jonathan Collins]

Can't just take it.

[Tim Mackey]

That's right.

[Jonathan Collins]

So what is the logic behind then, respecting someone else's possessions if it isn't as simple as you own stuff? I own stuff.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, that's right. Yeah. So everything that my neighbor has is God's gift to them. That's a gift that God gave to them. And one way of thinking about stealing, then it actually stems from this probably unconscious belief that I think that God should have given that gift to me.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

That should be mine.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay.

[Tim Mackey]

That God gave you that gift.

[Jonathan Collins]

Maybe God made a mistake.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, clearly God made a mistake because, well, I think that that should be mine. Yeah, that should be my gift. God hasn't given me that gift, but he ought to have. And he gave you that gift. It's just an interesting way to think it through. If the baseline of Israel having anything in the land, including their ox and sheep, is that God gave it to them. Well, God didn't give me enough ox.

[Jonathan Collins]

He didn't give me what I need.

[Tim Mackey]

Didn't give me what I need or what I want or what I want. And it's often hard to tell the difference given human psychology. Yeah. So it's a failure to recognize that God gave my neighbor something that, I don't know, they may not deserve. They may deserve it, they may have earned it, who knows? But the point is that they have it and God gave it to them.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah. It changes the focus from my relationship to my neighbor to my relationship with God in that do not steal, because respect property rights of your neighbor. That's gonna help my relationship with you, my relationship with my neighbor.

[Tim Mackey]

And that's good. Like, that's a good reason.

[Jonathan Collins]

What you're drawing attention to, though, then, is how this affects my relationship with God and my psyche for how I think God is relating to me, which is, do I believe that God is generous enough? It's interesting behind this, too, is like, can I trust that when God gives things to people, he has a plan for that, he has a purpose for that. Because sometimes it just doesn't feel like that. It doesn't.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, sure.

[Jonathan Collins]

Right. It feels like people have stuff for all sorts of reasons, and sometimes it's. Maybe God is out of the picture completely.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, totally. And in one sense, you can observe somebody and they have more stuff than you think they deserve. But even notice, like, all the mental energy then we put into thinking about whether somebody deserves the stuff that they have.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

I think occupies a lot of our time.

[Jonathan Collins]

Instead, you could use that energy to thinking about, what has God given me? And what am I supposed to do with what God's given me?

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah. Yeah. Now, there is another twist here, because all Israelites, speaking of ox and sheep, were to give regularly a tenth or a tithe of their crops, of their animals. And then the firstborn, like, anytime you're breeding from a new animal, the firstborn, like, of a new cow, you dedicate to God by giving it to the temple. So that's also a layer here where if I take someone's ox, I'm actually not just taking from what belongs to them. I'm not just taking what God's given to them as a gift. I'm actually taking from what they have to give thanks back to God as well, which is also another Like, I might think my neighbor has, like, too many nice cars, more cars than they need, and probably wouldn't ever occur to me to say, well, I want to take one of their cars. Well, I probably shouldn't, because I would be taking away their opportunity to give thanks to God for the cars that they have. That's not something that would occur to me, but I think it was supposed to. To an ancient Israelite. There's almost three layers here. I'm taking. It's what belongs to them because they're an image of God. And so it's about their dignity. It's what God gave as a gift to them. And so who am I to say what God should or should not give to them or to me? And then third, if I'm taking from my neighbors, especially here, from the ox or their sheep, then I'm actually taking away their ability, part of their ability to give thanks to God. In this case, by giving it back to God.

[Jonathan Collins]

Well, just to play devil's advocate.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

Let's say there's someone who's clearly not living a life in gratitude to God. They're clearly just not living that way. And they have a lot of stuff.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

And then let's say I can kind of manufacture some sort of almost victimless crime because their stuff's insured. So if I take it, they're gonna get it back.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, totally.

[Jonathan Collins]

And the insurance company, you know, their business model will work and, you know, maybe some shareholders somewhere are gonna lose a fraction of a penny, but, I mean. Yeah, what big deal is that?

[Tim Mackey]

Is this the Robin Hood type of thing? Are you gonna give it to the poor? Take from the rich and give. Or is it more?

[Jonathan Collins]

I wasn't gonna give it to the poor in this situation.

[Tim Mackey]

Okay, so it wasn't.

[Jonathan Collins]

That further complicates it, I suppose.

[Tim Mackey]

Got it.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah. The redistribution on your own terms. Interesting.

[Tim Mackey]

Well, so maybe, you know, when Jesus talked about wealth, he talked about it as a potential tyrant that can enslave us.

[Jonathan Collins]

Mammon.

[Tim Mackey]

Yep. So, yeah, I suppose you could even distort the narrative even more and you'd be like, I'm liberating my neighbor from their enslavement of mammon. But then I guess you could also flip it to, say, one of the ways that my neighbor is going on their journey through the test before God, probably their stuff. And I'm not in the equation between them and God and their stuff. And God has given them what he's given them, and that is a test of their trust. And that's not mine to interfere with. I'm not God. How can I mature and grow an inner reflex for noticing when I'm beginning to make a value judgment about what God has given to my neighbor or what a group of people is doing with their stuff? And it's interesting, the mental gymnastics we can begin to do about whether that should belong to me or some of that should belong to me.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah. There's something about not being satisfied with what I have and feeling kind of the right to take more when I can. Even if it wasn't right, maybe there's a noble purpose to take something. And so there's all those mental gymnastics is what you're saying. And you're saying there's a simplicity and a beauty of just saying I have what I have. God has a purpose for that.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah. Just the baseline is the Israel's existence in the land and all of their sheep and all of their oxen, which was like, one of the primary ways that the Israelites generated their livelihoods. All of that is first and foremost described as a gift of God. And so if that's the main framework I have, when I think about stuff, the gift of God really, I guess it's rooted in a scarcity or like an abundance mindset. It takes it back there. But that's such an interesting way to think about why you wouldn't steal.

[Jonathan Collins]

It's different than property rights.

[Tim Mackey]

It's different than property rights. Yes. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And then, not only that, but then oxen or sheep are. One of the ways that me and my neighbor say thank you to God is to take what God's given to me and to give it back to God in case of dedicating it to the temple. And that taking my neighbor's oxen and sheep actually affects their ability to thank God.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

Okay. So from property rights to the gift of God, my neighbor, to their ability to say thank you back to God. And that's rooted in, like, an abundance versus scarcity mindset. Let's pull our next move, which has typically been to try and invert or reverse the law from a negative into a positive.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay.

[Tim Mackey]

With don't murder, we flipped it over and we were, like, trying to. What would be the positive statement? It's being your brother's keeper, to put it in the language of Genesis 4. Not just how do I prevent my neighbor from dying, but how do I help create conditions for their life to be protected and flourish? And that opens up like, whoa, yeah. So many different ways to think about,

[Jonathan Collins]

don't Take their stuff, let them keep it. That's a positive way to say it.

[Tim Mackey]

Don't take it away. Do let them keep it.

[Jonathan Collins]

But why let them keep it? Because we're going beyond property rights.

[Tim Mackey]

Let's ask a question. So what are the different ways my neighbor can lose their stuff? One way might be because I take it. But is that the only way that my neighbor can lose their stuff? If their stuff is God's gift to them and part of the way that they can say thank you back to God, I have a responsibility that I not be a person who takes it. But is that the end of the responsibility? Is there something deeper about a responsibility I have towards my neighbor and their stuff?

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay, so if you have a perspective that we all have stuff because it's a gift from God, and from our perspective, it might not make any sense.

[Tim Mackey]

Totally. Yeah. It might often seem unfair or arbitrary. Yeah, yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

But I can trust that God has a plan. And so when I look at someone in their stuff, I'm not looking at merely their accumulation of wealth or their possessions. What I'm looking at is they have a story in which God is working something out with them, and it's a journey for them. And I don't know exactly what it is. It could be that God's working on them to detach more from their stuff. It could be that God wants them to enjoy the abundance of their stuff in some way at this moment. I don't know.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

And so in the same way that I'm supposed to help the thriving of a human life instead of do not murder, or the thriving of a family life instead of do not commit adultery, there's something about supporting kind of just the thriving of other people and whatever their journey is.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah. We're seeing their relationship to their stuff as part of my responsibility as a neighbor.

[Jonathan Collins]

Say more about that.

[Tim Mackey]

What do you mean? Well, so. And maybe here, before we get to the result, let me say why this even came to my mind in the first place. So remember, we have the 10 commandments, and then we have the 42 that come right after.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay.

[Tim Mackey]

So what's interesting is in the 42 commands, you only get one more repetition, and that's if a guy steals his neighbor's oxen or sheep, he has to pay back five oxen.

[Jonathan Collins]

Oh, this is from the 42?

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, that's from the 42. So you're like, okay, all right, that spells it out. But then right after and around that are a whole bunch of other laws that use the word steal. But that in a really interesting way. So. And they're like little case studies. They're almost like little parables. This is from Exodus 21:10. So let's say a guy gives his neighbor a donkey, an ox, or a sheep, any animal for keeping, for guarding.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay. He'd look after my stuff.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah. Yep. And let's say the animal dies, or let's say it gets injured, or let's say it's taken captive. It's like bandits, but no one saw.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay.

[Tim Mackey]

So it dies, it gets injured, or it's taken captive, but nobody was around. Then they're going to have to make an oath before Yahweh between the two of them that he that is the one entrusted didn't send out his hand towards his neighbor's property. And so the owner will take back, like, the dead or injured animal, but the guy entrusted with it will not have to restore anything.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay. You lent me something. You lent me your sheep. Sheep got sick and died. I am like, hey, I didn't do anything.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, he was probably sick before.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah. He had a runny nose when he got here.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, sorry, sorry.

[Jonathan Collins]

And then the owner can't demand that he restores the sheep.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah. You don't owe me four more sheep back. Yeah, okay, okay. But let's say that that sheep was stolen from the guy who it was entrusted to.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay. Didn't get sick and die. He got stolen.

[Tim Mackey]

He got stolen. Then you got to restore, pay back the owner according to the measure of fortune.

[Jonathan Collins]

Oh, interesting.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay. Huh.

[Tim Mackey]

So what's the difference between dying, getting injured, or taken captive?

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah, what's taken captive mean? Like kidnapped?

[Tim Mackey]

No, like a bunch of bandits come out of the hills with swords and clubs.

[Jonathan Collins]

Well, isn't that stealing?

[Tim Mackey]

Apparently there's a difference.

[Jonathan Collins]

What's the difference?

[Tim Mackey]

Well, okay, let's think about what is the difference if a bunch of guys come with swords and clubs.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay.

[Tim Mackey]

And it says here no one's around.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay.

[Tim Mackey]

So I guess that makes it seem like stealing. But like, let's say you're having dinner.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

And like, you see some raiding party. You see a raiding. Like Vikings.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

I'm changing cultural locations here. But like a bunch of. A Viking raiding. Ship comes up, you know, and they put a sword to your throat and like, you know, take your sheep, but then one of them belongs to your neighbor.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

And it's like, well, what are you gonna do? So there's some difference of responsibility.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay, hold on.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yes. What's the difference between then. So what am I supposed to Think of about the story of being stolen.

[Tim Mackey]

Exactly.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yes. Is that so?

[Tim Mackey]

Apparently, it being stolen, there's a difference of levels of responsibility. The assumption. I think.

[Jonathan Collins]

I'm sorry, I was just getting hung up on. How is the Viking thing not being stolen? That's where I'm getting hung up.

[Tim Mackey]

It is being stolen. Okay. So there's no difference between it being taken captive and stolen on the level of, like, it takes place.

[Jonathan Collins]

Someone else took it that didn't belong to them.

[Tim Mackey]

So apparently there is some difference in levels of responsibility. If my life was at stake.

[Jonathan Collins]

Oh, okay. That's the subtext of the raiding party.

[Tim Mackey]

Taken captive, like, in your life, your life's at stake. Yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay.

[Tim Mackey]

You're in danger. If you had prevented it from being taken, you could have died.

[Jonathan Collins]

I see.

[Tim Mackey]

Versus if it was stolen, that means

[Jonathan Collins]

you were just being negligent.

[Tim Mackey]

It's about negligence. Okay. I think that's what's underneath it here. Now, it's very kind of dense. Let's look at the next little variation. Let's say it's torn to pieces, that it's got attacked by a lion. Bring it as a witness. So bring the mangled body. Be like, look, it didn't.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah. Obviously a wolf got this.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, totally. Then he does not have to restore for what was torn to pieces.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay.

[Tim Mackey]

So if it dies, it's injured or taken captive or attacked by a wild animal, you don't have to restore it.

[Jonathan Collins]

You don't want on the hook.

[Tim Mackey]

But if it was just nabbed from the sheep pen, you do have to.

[Jonathan Collins]

Huh.

[Tim Mackey]

So there's some value underneath this here that is relevant to flipping over the. Do not. Because if you steal it, you have to pay back.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

If it was.

[Jonathan Collins]

If you let it be stolen.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah. If it was entrusted to you.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah. And you let it be stolen.

[Tim Mackey]

Stolen, you have to pay back.

[Jonathan Collins]

There's something different with it being stolen from under your care that's different than, well, it was sick and it died or it fell and it got injured, or a raiding party came or a wolf came. In fact, thinking of a wolf in, like, a raiding party to, like, kind of in symmetry is helpful.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, that. Exactly.

[Jonathan Collins]

Something different than just, hey, you were negligent. You didn't watch over your neighbor's property like you would have watched over your property. That's it. It's got pointed at me.

[Tim Mackey]

It's got. That's got to be.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay. I didn't watch over my neighbor's property, like, I would have watched over my property.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

Because I wouldn't have done anything with the wolf. I wouldn't. Done anything with the raiding party. I couldn't have prevented.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

An injury, and I couldn't have prevented, like, a sickness.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

But I could have cared enough to make sure someone wouldn't come and steal it.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah. Yeah. So I probably do spend a lot of mental energy if I'm an Israelite sheep herder, taking whatever, precautions to make sure my sheep don't get stolen. So I think the presumption here is about a carelessness or negligence or. I didn't treat what belongs to my neighbor like I would treat my own. Because the difference between being stolen and getting taken captive is about being able to prevent it.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

That's just. Interesting little case study here.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah. Now, in this case study, it was entrusted to you, so it's like, hey, yeah, yeah. For a while. Treat this like it's yours for me, on my behalf.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

And so kind of sounds like what you're saying is there's wisdom here.

[Tim Mackey]

Yes. Yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

For maybe that's how we should be thinking about our neighbor's stuff all the time.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah. Apparently, when my neighbor. We're gonna take it one more step. But when my neighbor gives me something that belongs to them for guarding, I have a responsibility to treat it like I would my own. Which then makes you think, like, well, but it's not my own. But now it is. But it's become my own because they gave it to me. Yeah. Okay. Let's look at another case study. This one's from Deuteronomy 22. You will not watch the ox of your neighbor or his sheep or his goat going astray.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah. You're watching an ox just, like, wander off into the.

[Tim Mackey]

Your neighbors.

[Jonathan Collins]

Your neighbor's oxygen wander off into the wilderness.

[Tim Mackey]

Yep.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah. You will certainly return it to your neighbor. Don't ignore it. Now, let's say your brother, that is your neighbor. Brother and neighbor are interchangeable here. Let's say your brother, that is your neighbor, doesn't live near you. Or let's say you don't know who he is. Isn't that a good use of brother?

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay.

[Tim Mackey]

You don't know who your brother is, but he's an Israelite. That's the point.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

So let's say you're like, I don't

[Jonathan Collins]

know who Zoxus is.

[Tim Mackey]

Yes. Okay.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay.

[Tim Mackey]

So if I know, I recognize, like, oh, that's that red heifer.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah, I've seen that one, neighbor.

[Tim Mackey]

I know that one obviously belongs to someone. Yeah, yeah. That's Daisy.

[Jonathan Collins]

That's Daisy.

[Tim Mackey]

I know Daisy.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

She wanders away all the time. So, okay, that's Bob's or whatever. That's Moshe's. But let's say I don't know who that belongs to.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah, yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

You should bring it into your house.

[Jonathan Collins]

Oh, okay.

[Tim Mackey]

And keep it with you until your brother comes looking for it. Then give it back to him. This is also what you should do with his donkey. And this is also what you should do with his garment. And this is also what you should do with any of the lost property of your brother that you find. You are not allowed to withhold your help.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

And then one last flip. You will not see the donkey of your neighbor or his ox fallen on the road and ignore it. You must help them and get up along with them. So this kind of takes it even further.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

Right.

[Jonathan Collins]

Because in the last example, it was a special scenario where I said, hey, would you please take care of my stuff? We have this little agreement. Yeah, okay.

[Tim Mackey]

I'll take care of stuff. Yeah. I'll treat it like my own.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah. In this situation, it's just saying, actually just think that way all the time.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah. Yeah, that's right.

[Jonathan Collins]

If you see your neighbor's stuff wandering away, treat it like your own. You would go get it. Yeah, go get it.

[Tim Mackey]

Mm.

[Jonathan Collins]

Even if you don't know whose it hits.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, totally. Which is great.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

Even if it's just a garment.

[Tim Mackey]

Mm.

[Jonathan Collins]

And you're just like, well, yeah, obviously they don't care.

[Tim Mackey]

Totally.

[Jonathan Collins]

You can tell a story in your mind of, like. Well, they don't care nothing about their stuff.

[Tim Mackey]

Totally. Oh, dude. This happened to me not very long ago on a morning run up at a park. And there's this park bench that I run by every Sunday morning. And there was a really nice Patagonia jacket on it.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

And nobody was around.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah. Right.

[Tim Mackey]

And it was so funny. I did all this, like, mental work.

[Jonathan Collins]

Someone's gonna take it.

[Tim Mackey]

I was like, that's a nice jacket. And, you know, of course, we're so subtle in our minds because, like, as I was coming up, I was like, could that fit? Like, does it fit me? And then I'm like, what am I thinking? They're gonna be right back. Or they forgot or they walked away and they're gonna remember. But I had to, like, tell myself a story about why that's not mine. I had to tell myself. So maybe I'm just revealing that I'm a really screwed up person.

[Jonathan Collins]

I think that's normal.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

And how Wonderful. Is it when someone returns your stuff?

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

You know. Yes, it's happened to me a number of times. One time in particular, I left my backpack at, like, a coffee shop and some wonderful woman took it. I didn't have a password on it, so she, like, logged in.

[Tim Mackey]

Whoa. Really?

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah. And then she figured out who I was.

[Tim Mackey]

Wow.

[Jonathan Collins]

And she emailed me in order to return your. Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

Whoa.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

That's amazing.

[Jonathan Collins]

That's amazing.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah. Okay, let's think about that. Why do we.

[Jonathan Collins]

But it was wonderful.

[Tim Mackey]

Yes. Okay.

[Jonathan Collins]

Right. Why she didn't have to do that.

[Tim Mackey]

Why is that so striking to us? That feels like, whoa. Somebody went above and beyond. What that woman was doing was living by the Wisdom of Deuteronomy 22.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

So let's think back. Do not steal. Do not take what belongs to your neighbor. Why? Well, they have a right to. Is also God's gift to my neighbor. And it's not mine to interfere with. And God didn't give me that gift. And I might have an issue with that. That's a part of my journey with God. Why involve my neighbor or deprive them of what God has given to them? Also, I'm depriving them of their ability to give thanks to God for that thing that they have that God gave to them. Also, their responsibility for their stuff is my responsibility. I have a responsibility. That's where we're going with this.

[Jonathan Collins]

That's the wild leap. So you're saying, flip it over.

[Tim Mackey]

Flip it over.

[Jonathan Collins]

And there's. Instead of asking myself, can I be content with what God's given me, I can actually ask myself, can I help be a steward of other people's stuff with them?

[Tim Mackey]

Well, yeah. Help them steward their stuff. Yeah, that's right.

[Jonathan Collins]

That's like the just extra generous mindset.

[Tim Mackey]

Totally. Yes. You really have to believe that God has given me what I need and more. And that God has given my neighbor what they need and more.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

And I'm going to help them be good stewards of what God's given to them. So much so that even if it falls into my possession accidentally, or I

[Jonathan Collins]

see it in danger, I see it in danger. And I can tell myself a little story of like, well, I guess they were neglectful. Guess they don't deserve their stuff. I would never say that to myself.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah. Yeah, that's right.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay.

[Tim Mackey]

So I think this is a part of the method of meditating on the laws of Torah's wisdom literature. I mean, look where we ended. That's really profound. What is my obligation to my neighbor about their relationship to their stuff.

[Jonathan Collins]

It's not just about respecting property rights. I mean, it could start there.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, it is about that. But it's about more.

[Jonathan Collins]

But it's about more. It's about, do I believe that everything is a gift? Do I believe that I have what God has designed for me? And even more, can I start to view other people's stuff? Like, I view my stuff in terms of how I would treat it and look after it and care for it, and would I help other people steward their stuff? Well, because everyone's on a journey with how they relate to God and they relate to their stuff.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

Jesus had a lot to say about that. Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, he did.

[Jonathan Collins]

And it's a complicated journey. It's a really complicated journey.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah. It gets to the core of our values and our desires.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Collins]

And so I can say, well, you know, I know how you should deal with your stuff, and I let me have it. Yeah. And you obviously don't care about it enough. Maybe I should have it. Or, why do you deserve. I can make myself God in that situation instead of make myself a true brother and say, this is cool. God gave you this thing. I want to help you steward what God gave you. It's a very generous mindset.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah. Yes, it is. You know, I have one friend, he's been a friend a long time, who I would say when I think of this value, somebody who helps other people with their stuff, someone comes to my mind. Oh, really? Yeah. One of the most generous people I've ever met, like, all the way back in college. But one of the ways he shows that generosity is he loves to help people do stuff if they own any

[Jonathan Collins]

property or home, like, work projects.

[Tim Mackey]

Yes. With their.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah, he loves it thinking about that.

[Tim Mackey]

He loves to, like, rent stuff or he works in. He works in proximity to a lot of, like, machinery and outdoor machinery, and so it's easy for him to get tools and excavators. He loves that. Like, let me come help you cultivate your, like, vegetable garden. Like, help dig out that hillside to make a patio or whatever. And he helps other people steward and enjoy their property. And he just loves that. I just have never met anybody like that.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah. Because such a free spirit. Because you could instead just be like, why do they. They don't deserve that big deck, that nice garden. Like, what? Yeah, I don't have something like that. Instead, it's God's working with them, and they have that for a reason. I don't need to get entwined in like, do they need to give that away? Do they have too much? Is it taking over their. Like, let me just come and just help them steward it. And that's a really beautiful place to start a relationship with someone.

[Tim Mackey]

You have heard that it was said, do not steal.

[Jonathan Collins]

Do not steal. And I say to you.

[Tim Mackey]

And I say to you, look after your neighbor's stuff. Go to their house and give them suggestions about how to enjoy their stuff even more. Look after it as if you would your own, and give thanks to God for what he's given to you. That was a little presumptuous, or maybe. No, I'm imitating. I'm imitating Rabbi Jesus.

[Jonathan Collins]

Oh, presumptuous to say what Jesus might have said.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, totally. But no, I'm trying to do my own meditation. And I think what was remarkable to me was by just doing these keyword searches, I found my mind doing that, and I was like, this surely was how Jesus did it. Like, how did he get to these right insights that he did in the Sermon on the Mount? By quoting the Ten Commandments. You've heard that it was said, don't commit adultery. And I say to you. And then he inverts it and deepens it.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah. So maybe you would say instead of. And I say to you. And God says to us.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, that's right. And God.

[Jonathan Collins]

Because Jesus can pull that. And I say to you.

[Tim Mackey]

That's right.

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah, that's the presumptuous.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeah, there you go.

[Jonathan Collins]

That's cool.

[Tim Mackey]

Okay, well, there's a lot there to go. Ponder. Yeah, let's do another one. Number nine, shall we?

[Jonathan Collins]

Yeah, the next one.

[Tim Mackey]

Next one is you will not bear false witness.

[Jonathan Collins]

Okay.

[Tim Mackey]

Do not lie.

[Jonathan Collins]

Do not lie is next.

[Tim Mackey]

Yep.

[Jonathan Collins]

Next week we'll look at the ninth command, which we often say as do not lie, but actually it is do not bear false witness, focusing specifically on a communal type of lying in a legal setting.

[Tim Mackey]

If Israel is meant to be the light shining in the darkness in the city on the hill, God really wants to have even their communal justice systems stand apart from the typical types of corruption and distortion that they're liable to. That is what's at stake in the ninth command.

[Jonathan Collins]

Bibleproject is a crowdfunded nonprofit, and we exist to experience the Bible as a unified story that leads to Jesus. And everything that we make is free because of the generous support of thousands of people just like you. Thank you so much for being a part of this with us.

[Melanie]

Hi, my name is Melanie and I'm from Chicago.

[Michael]

Hey, my name is Michael and I'm from San Francisco Bay Area. I first heard about bibleproject when Tim gave a lecture series at our church.

[Melanie]

I first heard about bibleproject for my brother and I use it for preparing for my small group.

[Michael]

I use bibleproject to deepen my relationship with God. My favorite thing about the bibleproject are the podcasts.

[Melanie]

My favorite thing about bibleproject is the cultural, linguistic and historical depth that just brings new perspective and understanding to the Word in new ways for me and for people in my small group.

[Michael]

We believe the Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus.

[Melanie]

Bible Project is a non profit funded by people like me.

[Michael]

Find free videos, articles, podcasts, classes and

[Melanie]

more on the Bibleproject app and at Bibleproject.com I'm MacKenzie.

[MacKenzie]

I'm on the finance team and I get to work with different department leads stewarding gifts, whether that's paying expenses or making sure that payroll goes out and contractors get paid. So I get to come into the office about three times a year for team building or strategy moments. Dial is my favorite office dog for sure. I think it's Goldendoodle Mix, but she is the sweetest personality and there's these chicken like jerky kind of dog sticks and she loves those and then the other dogs rally around that. It's great. There's a whole team that work to bring the podcast to life every week. For a full list of everyone involved in this episode, check out the show notes wherever you stream the podcast and on our app. Blessings.

[Tim Mackey]

Sam.