Apr 21
25
Baptist Catechism 80
Q. 80. What is forbidden in the eighth commandment?
A. The eighth commandment forbideth whatsoever does or may unjustly hinder our own or our neighbor’s wealth or outward state. (1 Tim. 5:8; Prov. 28:19; 23:20,21; Eph. 4:28)
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 6:6–11
“Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.” (Proverbs 6:6–11, ESV)
*****
Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
*****
The eighth commandment is, “you shall not steal”. It is rather obvious what that means. Don’t take what is not yours. But that very simple principle is just begging to be fleshed out. For example, we should ask, how then should I provide for myself? How should I increase my wealth and my possessions?
Stealing is forbidden.
Yes, it is true that someone may give you a gift. That is fine.
And making wise investments is also encouraged in the scriptures.
But in general, we must confess that the way to provide for yourself and your family and to increase your wealth and possessions, is to work. You are to provide a service for someone else and be compensated for it, or you must work the land with the hopes of reaping a harvest. Either way, the principle is the same. We must provide for ourselves by working. As Paul says, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” (Ephesians 4:28, ESV)
There are so many questions associated with this topic. I’ll name a few to show you that I am not oblivious to them. Must a person work with his hand? No, some work involves the mind more than the hands. And what about the wife and mother who does not go to work but remains at home? That is a great blessing, but the scriptures do warn against idleness at home. The wife and mother should be diligent to manage the home, and she is also free to engage in industry on top of that (see Proverb 31, for example). And what about retirement? Is there a place for that? Of course, there is. Hard work in the younger years does sometimes lead to retirement. But even in retirement men and women should serve the Lord. They should be diligent in prayer in their old age. And what about those who are independently wealthy, who come into great wealth by way of inheritance? That is a great blessing. But the scriptures do warn the rich not to trust in the riches, but to trust in God. And those who are rich should use what they have been given for the furtherance of God’s kingdom, and the relief of the poor. They should be generous. Again, idleness is forbidden.
In general, I wish to say this: Christians should be diligent and hard-working. That takes so many different forms. I am aware of that. Yes, things will look different from person to person, and the circumstances will change as the seasons of life come and go. But in general, Christians should be hard-working. Stated negatively, Christians are not to be sluggards. No, we are to use our time and energies for the glory of God, for our good, and for the good of others.
*****
Proverbs 6
The Proverbs have a lot to say about this. They constantly urge men and women to be diligent in hard work and wise with their money. They show how men and women generally come to be both rich and poor. And the text that we read from Proverbs 6 is most instructive.
“Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise”, the text says.
Have you ever watched ants? And no, we are not talking about your Aunt — your mother or father’s sister — but ants — the little bugs that crawl on the ground. Have you ever watched them? They are very hard-working and diligent little creatures. They never stop. They just move and move along, working constantly to provide for themselves and others. Proverbs 6 tells us that we are to “go to the ant” and “consider her ways…”
And no, the point is not that we are to never rest. That would contradict other scriptures, wouldn’t it? The scriptures teach that sleep is a gift from God. The scriptures warn against the vanity and folly of overworking. And the scriptures command that we cease from our labor one day out of seven to worship to God. That day is called the Sabbath Day, or the Lord’s Day. So we are not to imitate ants by working tirelessly and unceasingly seven days a week (in fact, ants do sleep. Worker ants take about 250 little power naps a day, totaling about 4 ½ hours of sleep a day. The Proverbs do not speak scientifically, but from the appearance of things).
But what are we to learn from the ants who seem to work so diligently? Well, notice that the lesson is for the sluggard. “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise” A “sluggard is a lazy person. It is the lazy person who is encouraged to go to the ant and to consider her ways to become wise.
And what exactly is the sluggard to notice? Two things:
One, the ant works very diligently “without having any chief, officer, or ruler”. Yes, scientifically we know that in an ant colony there is a queen. And there are even other kinds of ants so that there is a kind of hierarchy in the ant world. But the point is this: when you watch ants you see that they work very hard and very diligently and no one is cracking a whip, as it were. Ants seem to be self-motivated. It seems to be a part of their nature to work hard and consistently. The sluggard should learn from this. The sluggard may work hard for a time…. if someone forces him to, and then back to the couch he goes.
Two, this proverb urges us to notice this about ants: they seem to understand the seasons. “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.” The ant is diligent to work and to save in times of plenty knowing that times of want or lack may soon come. The sluggard needs to learn this lesson too. The lazy person may have adequate provisions at the moment and so they lounge on the couch and sleep in their bed, but they forget that those provisions will soon run out! What then? That ant works diligently even when her storehouse is full for she knows that the time will come when provisions will be lacking.
And that is what the Proverb warns against so directly, saying, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.”
Christians are to be hard-working and diligent people. The eighth commandment requires it. Yes, it forbids stealing. But that means on the flip side that we are required to “labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need” (Ephesians 4:28).
*****
Baptist Catechism 80
To state the matter negatively, “The eighth commandment forbideth whatsoever does or may unjustly hinder our own or our neighbor’s wealth or outward state.”
As with all of God’s commandments, we must reflect deeply on these things. What sorts of things may “hinder our own or our neighbor’s wealth or outward state”?
Well, concerning our neighbor. stealing is obviously out of the question. That would hinder our neighbor’s wealth, wouldn’t it? Dishonest work is also out of the question. Though we may provide some good or service to our neighbor, if it is dishonest work, or a good of poor quality, then we are not helping our neighbor, but hindering them.
But what about the responsibility we have to earn a living for ourselves to provide for ourselves and to help others who may be in need? It seems to me that we need to think about our own work ethic, the management of our finances, the wisdom of our investments and business ventures. Brothers and sisters, we must think carefully about these things.
A Christians we must not love money. We must pursue contentment and be generous with what we have. But at the same time, we cannot be foolish with our money or unconcerned about the question, how will I make an honest living? And will I have enough for the future when my ability to earn an income has diminished? These are important questions.
And perhaps I should move to a conclusion by saying, I understand that life does not always go as planned. Sometimes we wish to work, but cannot. I don’t mean for any of this to burden those who are a in situation like that. Rather, I am setting forth the scriptural ideal. Remember, the scriptures do speak of the importance of caring for those in need. Ideally, no one would ever be in need. But in reality, sometimes people are. And the reasons for this are varied.
*****
Conclusion
Q. 80. What is forbidden in the eighth commandment?
A. The eighth commandment forbideth whatsoever does or may unjustly hinder our own or our neighbor’s wealth or outward state. (1 Tim. 5:8; Prov. 28:19; 23:20,21; Eph. 4:28)
Lord, help us to keep your law in thought, word, and deed. And forgive us when we do not. We thank you for Christ who kept this law perfectly on our behalf and died for our sin. In him we have placed our trust. Amen.
