Day 1219: Hand in the till – Exodus 22 vs 7 – 15

7 “If a man gives to his neighbour money or goods to keep safe, and it is stolen from the man's house, then, if the thief is found, he shall pay double. 8 If the thief is not found, the owner of the house shall come near to God to show whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbour's property. 9 For every breach of trust, whether it is for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for a cloak, or for any kind of lost thing, of which one says, ‘This is it,’ the case of both parties shall come before God. The one whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbour.

10-11 “If a man gives to his neighbour a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep safe, and it dies or is injured or is driven away, without anyone seeing it, an oath by the Lord shall be between them both to see whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbour's property. The owner shall accept the oath, and he shall not make restitution. 12-13 But if it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. If it is torn by beasts, let him bring it as evidence. He shall not make restitution for what has been torn.

14-15 “If a man borrows anything of his neighbour, and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution. If the owner was with it, he shall not make restitution; if it was hired, it came for its hiring fee. (Reckoned in its hiring fee) Exodus 22:7-15 English Standard Version

We come today to the matter of someone asking another person to look after something of value. Those were days before official banks and doggy drop off centres. In the case of a thief, the matter was straight forward and the thief had to pay back double. And it wasn't just a case of 'put the thief in jail', but the man who had his property stolen had to suffer the loss. Thieves were expected to pay for their crime. But if no thief was found, the matter of suspicion could the creep in. Did the owner “put his hand to his neighbour's property”. Was his hand in the till? What were they to do then? (vs 9)

The Bible calls such a situation “a breach of trust”. The one who claims he entrusted his neighbour to safeguard an animal or some other item of value, as well as the man who no longer has what was said to have been entrusted to him, were both to be heard. Whichever party was found be at fault had to pay the other double. This was to guard against people making false claims. God had saved them out of Egypt, but He still knew their hearts!

The same was true in the case of an entrusted animal where some harm came to it whilst in the neighbours care. (vs 10-11). It was easier to see if a large animal had been entrusted, but both parties were required to make an oath by the Lord. This was put strongly in Leviticus 19:11-12 which said:“You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.” Christians shouldn't need oaths, or 'swearing to God' that something is true. James says “But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.”

What about borrowing? Do the same rules apply? Not quite. An Israelite might borrow his neighbours ox to plough his field. If anything happened to it while the owner was not there to oversee it, the borrower had to take full responsibility. (vs 14-15)

That principle is still important today. We may not borrow an ox, but we might borrow something we've run out of, or some garden tools, or a book - even a Christian one! Have we always remembered to return what we borrowed? Have we done that promptly? Psalm 37:21 reminds us that “the wicked borrows, but does not pay back! But the righteous is generous and gives.” And in His 'sermon on the mount' Jesus said “give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you” We need always to be on our guard that possessions don't possess us.

www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus 22%3A7-15&version=ESVUK