We have covered divorce quite extensively. The next thing Moses comes to here is one of the rules of warfare (I'm quite sure there is no connection, divorce- warfare). He is covering family law, 1-4, and now he adds another point to it. We have already observed this under warfare in chps. 12 and 20. V. 6 has been covered in lesson 23-4 as has all the rest of these passages deal­ing with the pledge and loans.

1. Now we come to 24:7. This falls under, "Thou shalt not steal." Here a person is being taken, yet what is actually being taken from this person, Gal. 5:1?
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(We have talked about this in lesson 23-2.)

a. God was and is absolutely against kidnaping with the harshest of all penalties against it. What was to be done to the kidnaper?______________________________________________

b. What was to be done to the one the kidnaped person was sold to, Ex. 21:16?
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Let us be reminded once again, this godly society did not have prisons. Either the guilty made restitution, worked it off, or was put to death. Very simple, yet quite effective.

V. 8 talks about leprosy. Lev. 13 talks extensively about this law. As we read in Lev. 13, we see that this Bible leprosy is not what we know of as leprosy today, yet there is much in the law here which could apply for us. He puts the statement of Deut. 24:9 along with this to show the importance of following what he told them in v. 8. God does not lightly regard His word.

Verses 14, 15 cover a couple of principle worth looking at as he continues on here under, "Thou shalt not steal."

2. What is prohibited in Deut. 24:15? ________________________________________________

a. This law is stated in Lev. 19:13. What is this action called there? Really two names.
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and

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As we can see, this opens up at least two interesting principles worth looking at a little here. The first one we want to examine is thief or fraud in Lev. 19:11- 13. There are at least three ways this can be carried out. (Pulpit Commentary, Lev. pg. 300). "--(1) deliberately ap­propriate what he knew was not his own, or (2) rob his neighbor in the act of trading, or (3) deal falsely or unrighteously in any transaction or in any relation." Any and all of these are con­trary to the law and bring the displeasure of Jehovah God. This covers all seizure of the goods of another without just compensation and without their knowledge.

3. Notice the implication here in Deut. 24:14-15 and Lev. 19:13. Where does this employee fit on the economic scale? ___________________________________________________________________

a. With this in mind, we see that the employee would be forced to take this job. Economic cir­cumstances left him no choice. Now, when the employer has this type of an employee, what would the employer be tempted to do, especially if the employer is not a godly man?
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b. This is touching on our next point, but what is the recourse given to the employee who is facing a crooked employer, Deut. 24:15? _______________________________________________

Before we move on to the next point, let's look at something else.

4. Failure to pay wages when promised is called what in the NT, Ja. 5:4? _____________

Now, this involves much more than just wages. This would include anytime value promised is not delivered. It would include food, drugs, and purchased goods of all kinds. Biblical law sees to it that the person receives what he is promised. This would include food which is promised to be beneficial to a person, yet it has chemicals contained in it which will harm the body. Also in­cluded would be just weights and measures. From what I understand, canned goods will sometimes contain extra liquid and less solids so their weight will remain the same and the customer will think he is getting a bargain. This would include substituting "fillers" without telling the cus­tomer. And if we get right down to it, it includes raising the price without raising the value or quality. We hear in our day that if sales are down, rather than increasing the value or quality of a product, they spend more on advertising. They promise more, yet deliver the same value, less value or maybe even raise the price to make people think the "value" is increased. This is one result of inflation. In order to meet the competition, the company must reduce the quality so it won't cost as much to make. We are caught in this trap like a squirrel on a wheel in a cage. This all falls into what God defines as fraud.

We know a young man who worked as an appliance salesman. As a Christian, he tried to be honest in all matters. The result was his boss told him that he would never make it in sales. He was too honest. Far too much of our sales are built upon misleadings and half truth's, plain old fraud.

I used to work in the warehouse of a large chain store in Indianapolis. They would schedule a sale, say on lawnmowers, and they would order in the mowers early and sell them for $125.00. (1960s) Then they would mark them down to $99.99 to make it look like a good sale when, actually, they were ordered with the $99.99 "sale" in mind. This would fit under this scriptural principle, and the law of God identifies this as a criminal act, fraud and theft.

Our patent and copyright laws also fall under this protecting a man's ideas from the evil desires of others.

5. Of course, the very worst offender of this scriptural principle is a civil government who in­flates it's monetary supply. It promises investors a just return upon their investment, yet infla­tion will not even allow the investor to get his investment back. We see from Lev. 19:11-13; Deut. 24:14, 15; and Ja. 5:4, who is against those who do this kind of thing?
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6. Also included under this would be any and all attempts to "equalize society", make all men of one class. What is prohibited in Prov. 22:22? ____________________________________________

Anytime the law is twisted in any way to prevent either a rich man or a poor man from keep­ing what is his, or to give him what is not his, we have a violation of this principle as well as the judgment of God upon those who do it or permit it to be done. Communism, socialism claims to have this goal of making a "classless" society, yet we see it doesn't work.

7. What is the promise to those who use any means to obtain what is not rightfully theirs, Is. 17:14, Prov. 22:23? _______________________________________________________________

a. The NT is even stronger on this. What is the result of fraud in I Thess. 4:6, 7? __________
b. What is the means we are given to gain, II Thess. 3:10? ______________________________

As society moves farther away from God, we see more and more of this wickedness taking place -- everyone trying to defraud everyone else. "Do unto them before they do unto you". Our only hope in this time of crisis is to learn God's Word and apply it by His grace to every situation. Just keeping covetousness under control by His grace will help more than anything.