When somebody breaks into our house and ransacks the place, taking all that they want, we call that theft, and it is a theft of tangible assets. However, the eighth commandment, which states, "thou shalt not steal," refers to more than just tangible or physical property -- it also refers to intangible things.

[Let] me give you just one example. If you were arrested by a policeman and incarcerated in jail without just cause, that is referred to as unlawful imprisonment. Most arrests in conjunction with traffic stops fall into this category as, in most states, the policeman only has authority to take you before a magistrate -- not to jail.

But what, then, is unlawful imprisonment? It is stealing your liberty or your freedom. It is kidnapping and imprisonment by officers of the state. But freedom is something a Freeman enjoys and something that slaves do not enjoy, for slaves are not free. Any dictionary will tell you that freedom is defined as: "A state of exemption from the power or control of another..."

But what was the purpose of freedom? We know, from Genesis 1:26, that man's mission was to subdue and have dominion over the earth. Now if you steal a man, thus robbing him of his freedom, then that man comes under the control of another, and when that happens, how can he fulfill the prime directive given by God? Obviously he cannot.

I should point out that some men, perhaps even most men, are slaves by nature. They prefer to be controlled to some degree by man or state, rather than being in absolute 100% control of themselves under God. In fact, these man will tell you that we need to be controlled for the good of society. However, in Scripture slavery was voluntary, and a dissatisfied slave could leave, and he could not be compelled to return, and other men were forbidden to deliver him to his master. We find this law in Deuteronomy 23:15-16:

15 Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee:
16 He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou shalt not oppress him.

However, in Scripture, a man who abuses his freedom can be sold into slavery in order to work out his restitution. We know this from Exodus 22:3:

"If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft."

But masters were required to be fair in their dealing with their slaves and this was confirmed by Paul in Colossians 4:1 where he stated:

"Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven."

"For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews:..." Genesis 40:15.

"And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death."

Likewise we read in Deuteronomy 24:7: "If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you."

• First, they forbad the kidnapping of any man, whether Israelite or foreigner.
• Second, the selling of slaves was forbidden, and so a slave-market could not exist in Israel. Since Israelites were voluntary slaves, and since not even a foreign slave could be compelled to return to his master (Deut. 23:15-16), slavery was on a different basis under the laws of God than in non-Biblical cultures. Scripturally, the slave was a member of the household, having certain rights in that family.
• The slave who was working out a restitution for theft had no incentive to escape, for to do so would make him an incorrigible criminal and subject to death. We have already seen that the death penalty is mandatory for kidnapping. No discretion is allowed the court, and so, to rob a man of his freedom requires death.
• Fourth, Deuteronomy 24:7 forbids stealing a man by anyone who "maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him." Likewise in 2 Peter 2:3, Peter tells us that we will be as merchandise: "And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you:"

The best way to entice a man into slavery is to control his assets, for if we cannot use our property without permission, then we are slaves to those who control the conditions under which we can use our property. So, property is basic to man's freedom and a tyrannical state always limits a man's use of his property. For example, the state taxes it, or confiscates it, which is a highly effective means of enslaving a man without putting him in shackles. The control or theft of personal property must be viewed as more than the lawless seizure or destruction of property: it is an assault on a man's freedom, and even his very life.

Neither the state nor any individual has any right to transgress this law. However, the state transgress this law all the time, not only by acts of confiscation, manipulation of money, and by taxation, but also by any and every undercutting of Biblical faith and education. For example, State supported and controlled education is theft, not only in its taxation plan, but also by virtue of its destruction of public character, so that a godly society is turned into a thieves' market.

During the law-abiding time of Israel's history, houses lacked doors. A curtain was hung in place of a door. Pagan dwellings in surrounding areas had heavy doors, sometimes of stone, carefully fitted into the stone wall, as a necessary protection against other men.

This difference, discovered by archeological work, is a striking one. When morality was the norm, when men were at peace with their neighbors, and when the law was obeyed and enforced, then the purpose of a door was merely to insure privacy, and a curtain, in a moderate climate, was sufficient. In lawless neighboring countries, stone doors were required, and men lived as prisoners within their own homes, in effect besieged by a lawless world.

This same lawless siege-living condition again prevails in our society. By their destruction of godly education and of Biblical law, the nations have robbed their people of freedom, and the people, by their apostasy, have denied themselves freedom. But to return again to the definition of theft as the stealing of freedom, the implication is clearly that property is freedom.

A man is free if his person and his possessions are under his control. But if the state can prohibit you from using your property or if the state can take it away from you if you fail to perform, such as by paying real or personal property taxes, -- then you are not free -- they may not have you in shackles but they don't need to shackle you because you are a willing slave.

The psalmist long ago observed of those who attempt to build up a city and to safeguard it without God, that,

"Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." Psalm 127:1