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Church of God Message 

MODERN ROMANS: A WARNING TO AMERICA, BRITAIN AND ISRAEL


Chapter 8


Loving Neighbor - Fifth to Tenth Commandments



The Fifth Commandment 

God spoke the fifth commandment thus in Exodus 20:12, “HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER: that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God gives you.”

In the last six commandments that define our relationship with our fellow human beings, this commandment is the most important. It is a bridge between the first four and the last 5 commandments, because it leads to deeply positive relationships with our Heavenly Father, and fellow human beings. The importance of this commandment lies in the fact that obedience to this commandment teaches children how to honor and respect authority. Once they have learnt to honor their parents, they will learn to honor God, and honor and respect authority outside the home, and live with other human beings with mutual respect. This makes them obedient to God’s laws and human laws, avoiding crime, which automatically leads to a long life, as promised in this commandment.

In the commandment, honoring the father is listed ahead of honoring the mother. In obeying this commandment, Children learn that the father is the head of the family, and that the mother is next in-charge, as they see their mother respects their father, and the father backing up the mother’s decisions concerning the children. Children learn that honoring their parents means obeying them. As they grow up, they are then introduced to God, and because of the habit of obedience ingrained in them they will find it easy to transition to obeying God’s commandments and laws, and man’s laws enacted by their government. 

After giving the Ten Commandments, God specifically issued a warning to the Israelites in Exodus 21:15, 17, “And he that SMITES his father, or his mother, shall be surely PUT TO DEATH…And he that CURSES his father, or his mother, shall surely be PUT TO DEATH.” That warning is repeated in Leviticus 20:9.

How are Americans doing in obeying the Fifth Commandment. Unfortunately, America is not doing at all well in this regard. Honoring father and mother presupposes most children living in families with a father and mother. The real situation is far different. According to recent Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, the share of U.S. children living with an unmarried parent has more than doubled since 1968, jumping from 13% to 32% in 2017. Some 3% of children are not living with any parents.

All told, 24 million U.S. children younger than 18 are living with an unmarried parent. Most (15 million) are living with a solo mother. Five million live with cohabiting parents and 3 million live with a solo father.

The reasons for these increases are long-term declines in marriage, as well as increases in births outside of marriage. There are consequences for our nations for violating God’s laws on marriage and family. Pew analysis found that 30% of solo mothers and their families are living in poverty compared with 17% of solo father families and 16% of families headed by a cohabiting couple. In comparison, 8% of married couple families are living below the poverty line.

The proportion of births that occur to unmarried women has increased greatly in recent decades, rising from 5 percent in 1960 to 40 percent in 2016. The long-term trend toward non-marital births may be attributed, in part, to increases in cohabiting unions and births within such relationships.

How did this deterioration in the American family situation from the close-knit families of the late 1950s to the broken families of 2019 take place? The student revolt of the 1960s, reaction against the Vietnam war, use of illegal drugs (such as marijuana and LSD), plunging morals, the hippie movement, perverse influence of hard rock music and idolization of musicians who had plumbed the depths of promiscuity and morality with constant messages of opposing the values of ‘the establishment’ in universities and government promoted anarchy. All this was occurring in the backdrop of the cold war and the threat of nuclear annihilation of the world. The message was being conveyed that those in authority were responsible for bringing the world to this stage. Defying parental authority became part of the counterculture of opposing the establishment. Opposing the establishment, whether at home, college, or protesting against government meant rejecting the principles behind the Fifth Commandment. 

TV, movies, music and the entertainment industry, in general, exacerbated the trend. Father began to be ridiculed in TV shows and movies. Imitating punch lines in popular shows and copying their screen idols, children began to behave insolently against their parents. That resulted in the explosion of children living in single-parent families. The root cause was that obedience to the Fifth Commandment was no longer ingrained among the new generations, and the situation continually got worse. How can a child learn to honor his father AND mother when either the father or mother is missing from the home? The stability and confidence for a child provided by a two-parent home is no longer available. And we must remember, it’s not only the children of such homes, and later as they grow up into adults that suffer. They interact with other members of society in their lives. They inflict suffering on those they interact with, such as when they commit mass shootings, robberies, murder, deal in drugs and other criminal acts. And because of their problems, they impose additional costs to society.

No one is going to do surveys or studies to show whether children in America and Britain are honoring their parents or not, even in two-parent families. It is even doubtful if an honest survey can be done to get data on this issue. But social media is one indicator. Children are the first to jump to new social media platforms so that their parents can’t get to know what they are doing with their time. Another indicator is the number of young adults who are murdering their parents, or being involved in mass shootings. Such people obviously did not have proper parental guidance. Today, some even call their parents or their spouse’s parents by first name, dishonoring the high office of a parent. But since virtually all of society is impacted by the actions of those coming from single-parent families, it is important to understand how such children are affected by their family situation. Here are some statistics for America.

*  Children from fatherless homes are more likely to be poor, become involved in drug and alcohol abuse, drop out of school, and suffer from health and emotional problems. Boys are more likely to become involved in crime, and girls are more likely to become pregnant as teens.
*  Children living in female headed families with no spouse present had a poverty rate of 47.6 percent, over 4 times the rate in married-couple families. 
*  Children of single-parent homes are more than twice as likely to commit suicide.
*  Children born to single mothers show higher levels of aggressive behavior than children born to married mothers. 
*  Children in grades 7-12 who have lived with at least one biological parent, youth that experienced divorce, separation, or nonunion birth reported lower grade point averages than those who have always lived with both biological parents. 71% of high school dropouts are fatherless.
*  Children age 10 to 17 living with two biological or adoptive parents were significantly less likely to experience sexual assault, child maltreatment, other types of major violence, compared to peers living in single-parent families and stepfamilies.
*  Adolescents in father-absence homes were more likely to report being sexually active compared to adolescents living with their fathers.
*  Being raised by a single mother raises the risk of teen pregnancy, marrying with less than a high school degree, and forming a marriage where both partners have less than a high school degree.

All these negative consequences impose a huge cost to society in increased costs for social services, education, law enforcement and other government services. 

Another serious violation of the Fifth Commandment is neglect of elderly parents, especially when their adult children who have their own example of the effort it takes to care for their own children, forget what their parents went through to raise them. They violate the fifth commandments when their generally healthy elderly parents are shut up in stifling nursing homes simply because their children are unwilling to take the responsibility of caring for them. Some elderly are reduced to relying solely on meager government financial support, when their children are able to help financially.

Jesus Christ personally dealt with this problem in His day, when men reasoned around the Fifth Commandment by saying whatever help they could render to their elderly parents was dedicated to the alter to gain favor with God. But Jesus Christ upbraided these hypocrites by saying: “Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition.” (Mark 7:9-10).

Here is what God has to say through the prophets about how Americans and the British deal with parents:

Ezekiel 22:6-7, 10-11, 15 (NLT), “6 “Every leader in Israel who lives within your walls is bent on murder. 7 FATHERS AND MOTHERS ARE TREATED WITH CONTEMPT…10 MEN SLEEP WITH THEIR FATHERS’ WIVES and force themselves on women who are menstruating. 11 Within your walls live men who commit adultery with their neighbors’ wives, who defile their daughters-in-law, or who rape their own sisters…15 I will scatter you among the nations and purge you of your wickedness.”

Amos 2:7 (NLT): “…BOTH FATHER AND SON SLEEP WITH THE SAME WOMAN, CORRUPTING MY HOLY NAME.”

Micah 7:4-6, “4 Even the best of them is like a brier; the most honest is as dangerous as a hedge of thorns. But your judgment day is coming swiftly now. Your time of punishment is here, a time of confusion. 5 Don’t trust anyone—not your best friend or even your wife! 6 FOR THE SON DESPISES HIS FATHER. THE DAUGHTER DEFIES HER MOTHER. THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW DEFIES HER MOTHER-IN-LAW. Your enemies are right in your own household!”

Thus America and British Commonwealth nations are doing a very poor job of obeying God’s Fifth Commandment.

Sixth Commandment

God’s SIXTH COMMANDMENT to humanity is recorded in Exodus 20:13, “YOU SHALL NOT KILL.” Actually, “murder” is a more accurate translation of the Hebrew word, and means a willful, deliberate, pre-meditated and malicious act, as opposed to an action resulting in accidental death. 

Just after speaking the Ten Commandments, for emphasis God added in Exodus 21:12, “He that smites a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.”

Since God is the giver of life, man has no right to take it, including his own in suicide. And abortion is certainly murder. If a sparrow does not fall without God’s knowledge, then God certainly has full knowledge of life as soon as it is conceived. God created mankind in His own image and likeness to have the potential of eventually becoming immortal sons and daughters in His own family. That’s why the sanctity of human life must be respected as God intended it in the Sixth Commandment.

Jesus Christ came to magnify the law. Here is how He magnified the Sixth Commandment in Matthew 5:21-23, “You have heard that it was said by them of old time, YOU SHALL NOT KILL; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca,[meaning worthless fellow] shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, You fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”

Jesus Christ emphasized that even unjustified anger can be a violation of the Sixth Commandment, because anger leads to murder and violent crimes. 

In addition to violating the Sixth Commandment individually, people can violate it as nations or ethnic or racial groups within nations by killing in war, or inciting racial or ethnic hatred and even lynching or murdering innocent people.

How are America and Britain doing in keeping the Sixth Commandment? The first mass murders committed by Americans and Britons are the more than 60 million abortions in America since Roe vs Wade legalized abortion in 1973 and 9 million abortions in Britain since 1970. That is as many potential human beings murdered as those killed in both the First and Second World wars combined. God will hold our people accountable for these murders. Virtually all three branches of government are complicit in these murders for legalizing it, and continuing to keep it legal through the decades.

Americans are generally getting angrier than previous years. One of the major culprits is TV and our entertainment industry. Kids growing up are fed a steady diet of violence, murders, displays of anger for little cause on TV and movies. Here are some quotes. 

“American children watch an average of three to four hours of television daily.  

“Extensive viewing of television violence by children causes greater aggressiveness…

"The impact of TV violence may be immediately evident in the child’s behavior or may surface years later, and young people can even be affected when the family atmosphere shows no tendency toward violence” (American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, “Children and TV Violence,” No. 13, April 1999).

“The concern is that in later life, those conditioned to violence will intuitively continue to regard it as exciting, charismatic and effective. Consider how pervasive it is. By the age of 18, according to one estimate, a youngster will have seen 200,000 acts of violence on TV, including 40,000 murders.  

“The youthful world has become dramatically more violent. Consider this piece of anecdotal evidence turned up by CBS News: The seven top problems in public schools in 1940 were identified by teachers as talking out of turn, chewing gum, making noise, running in the halls, cutting in line, dress-code infractions and littering. By 1980, the seven top problems had been identified as suicide, assault, robbery, rape, drug abuse, alcohol abuse and pregnancy” (U.S. News & World Report, “The Victims of TV Violence,” Aug. 2, 1993, Vol. 115, Issue 5, p. 64)

In a 2018 survey, still the top problem teachers identified in school is students with bad behavior. Other problems that can now be added to the list include student bullying, including cyberbullying, verbal and non-verbal abuse and assault on teachers.

When school students are fed this steady diet of violence, it gets reflected in crime and violence statistics. After a steady decline in violent crimes due to huge sums of money being pumped into law enforcement, since 2014 there has been a steady increase. In 2017, the FBI reported an estimated 1,247,321 violent crimes nationwide. These crimes included murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. The U.S. has the highest violent crime rate in the developed world.

Another way anger manifests itself is in domestic violence. Every year, more than 10 million men and women in the US are subjected to domestic violence. Approximately 5 million children are exposed to domestic violence every year. Children exposed are more likely to attempt suicide, abuse drugs and alcohol, run away from home, engage in teenage prostitution, and commit sexual assault crimes.

God addressed our violence and bloodshed through the prophets.

Isaiah 1:15, 21 “15 And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear: YOUR HANDS ARE FULL OF BLOOD…21 How is the faithful city become a harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.”

Isaiah 59:3-11, “2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 3 FOR YOUR HANDS ARE DEFILED WITH BLOOD, AND YOUR FINGERS WITH INIQUITY; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perverseness. 4 None calls for justice, nor any pleads for truth:…6…their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. 7 THEIR FEET RUN TO EVIL, AND THEY MAKE HASTE TO SHED INNOCENT BLOOD: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. 8 The way of peace they know not…”   

Jeremiah 2:34, “34 Also in your skirts is found the BLOOD OF THE SOULS OF THE POOR INNOCENTS:”

Jeremiah 4:31, “the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewails herself, that spreads her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for MY SOUL IS WEARIED BECAUSE OF MURDERERS.”

Jeremiah 7:8-10, 15-16 “8 Behold, you trust in lying words, that cannot profit. 9 Will you steal, MURDER, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom you know not; 10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?…15…I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim. 16 Therefore pray not for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear you.”

Ezekiel 7:11, 23-27: “11 VIOLENCE is risen up into a rod of wickedness…23 Make a chain: for THE LAND IS FULL OF BLOODY CRIMES, AND THE CITY IS FULL OF VIOLENCE. 24 Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled. 25 Destruction comes; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. 26 Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients. 27 The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.”

Ezekiel 12:19-20, “19 And say unto the people of the land, Thus says the Lord God of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, BECAUSE OF THE VIOLENCE OF ALL THEM THAT DWELL THEREIN. 20 And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

God addressed our violation of the Sixth Commandment through Ezekiel the prophet in chapters 21-22. He states in 21:2-3, “2 Son of man…3…say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord; Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.” Then God cites our shedding of blood as one of the major causes in Ezekiel 22:2-15, “2 Now, son of man, will you judge the bloody city [Talking about Jerusalem. But since it was the capital of undivided ancient Israel, the prophecy applies to America, British Commonwealth nations and Israel]? 3 Thus says the Lord God, THE CITY SHEDS BLOOD IN THE MIDST OF IT, THAT HER TIME MAY COME…4 YOU HAVE BECOME GUILTY IN YOUR BLOOD THAT YOU HAVE SHED; and have defiled yourself in your idols which you have made: therefore have I made you a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries. 5 Those that be near, and those that be far from you, shall mock you. 6 BEHOLD, THE PRINCES OF ISRAEL, EVERY ONE HAS USED HIS POWER TO SHED BLOOD IN YOU…9 IN YOU ARE MEN THAT CARRY TALES TO SHED BLOOD…14 I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it. 15 And I will scatter you among the heathen [meaning non-Israelite nations], and disperse you in the countries, and will consume your filthiness out of you.” 

Hosea 4:2-3, “2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and BLOOD TOUCHES BLOOD. 3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwells therein shall languish…”

Hosea 6:8-9, “8 Gilead [one of the cities of ancient Israel which was a city of refuge where priests dwelt, but had become a city known for murders] is a city of them that work iniquity, and is POLLUTED WITH BLOOD. 9 And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so THE COMPANY OF PRIESTS MURDER IN THE WAY BY CONSENT: for they commit lewdness.”

Micah 6:12, “12 For the rich men thereof are full of VIOLENCE…”

MICAH 7:2, “…they all LIE IN WAIT FOR BLOOD; they hunt every man his brother with a net.”

God says, He is tired of our violence, murders and bloodshed and punishment for violation of the Sixth Commandment among others will be national slavery for America, British Commonwealth nations and Israel.

Seventh Commandment

The Seventh Commandment is stated in Exodus 20:14, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY.”

This commandment was given to protect the honor and sanctity of marriage and, like the Fifth Commandment, it also protects the entire family unit. 

After God spoke the Ten Commandments, the Israelites asked that God not speak to them directly, but through Moses. After that God gave further statutes and judgments through Moses, and after that through the prophets. God then further elaborated on the seventh commandment in Ex 22:19, “19 Whosoever lies with a beast shall surely be put to death.” And in Leviticus 18:20-24, ““Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, to defile yourself with her…You shall not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. Neither shall you lie with any beast to defile yourself therewith…it is confusion. Defile not you yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you.”

Then in I Corinthians 6:18, God instructed through Paul, “Flee fornication.”

Thus according to the seventh commandment, any sex outside of marriage between a man and woman is prohibited, and is a sin punishable by death. Leviticus 20:10 states, “And the man that commits adultery with another man’s wife, even he that commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.”

The Bible has many instructions on marriage and how to maintain the sanctity of marriage. I have provided detailed information on this subject in my book “God’s Purpose for Marriage”, available free at my web site www.ChurchofGodMessage.com

How are Americans doing in keeping the Seventh Commandment? Our society is drenched in sex and rampant adultery. Our entertainment industry is full of it. Pornography is widely available. Adultery and fornication are the norm. We have broken all bounds. Our filthy and vile sexual behavior is open for all the world to witness, and we are not even ashamed of it. We parade it around with great pride for all the world to see. Here is how the prophets described our behavior in their prophecies:

In Jeremiah 5:6-11 God states, “because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased. 7 How shall I pardon you for this? Your children have forsaken me: WHEN I HAD FED THEM TO THE FULL, THEY THEN COMMITTED ADULTERY, AND ASSEMBLED THEMSELVES BY TROOPS IN THE HARLOTS’ HOUSES. 8 THEY WERE AS FED HORSES IN THE MORNING: EVERY ONE NEIGHED AFTER HIS NEIGHBOR’S WIFE. 9 Shall I not visit for these things? says the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 10 Go up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements [meaning defenses for war]; for they are not the Lord’s. 11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, says the Lord.”

The in Isaiah 3:9 God testifies, “THE LOOK ON THEIR FACES TESTIFIES AGAINST THEM; THEY PARADE THEIR SIN LIKE SODOM; THEY DO NOT HIDE IT. WOE TO THEM! THEY HAVE BROUGHT DISASTER UPON THEMSELVES.” 

Thus God testifies against America and British Commonwealth nations for their sins of adultery and homosexuality, declaring that our war defenses will be taken away and that our violations of the seventh commandment will bring disaster on us. It will lead to defeat in war at the hands of the cruelest people on earth, and national slavery.

Adultery in America is borne out by the statistics. At present in about 83% of all U.S. households, one or both partners have committed adultery in their lifetime. OUR SIN OF HOMOSEXUALITY IS WORLD FAMOUS. 

More than 2.5 million people attended the New York City Gay Pride parade in June 2019. The number of attendees in St. Petersburg in Florida near where I live was above 250,000, and in Tampa where I live the attendance was between 40,000 - 50,000.

Our leaders, both high and low, and our judges and justices have passed or upheld laws to provide full protection for this sin. Anyone who speaks against it immediately feels the impact in the pocket book by losing his or her job, or business for those who are self-employed such as entertainers, or even large Fortune 500 corporations. The biggest names in TV and the entertainment industry support and even promote it, and actively demonize and excoriate the highest leaders in the land if they make any kind of comment mildly criticizing these perversions. 

God has left no one in any doubt in the Bible that these sins are an offense to Him. And He rightly lays the blame on our leaders in Isaiah 3:12, “As for My people, children are their oppressors, And women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths.”  

Here are more pronouncements by the prophets against American, British and Jewish perversions:

Jeremiah 7:9-10, “9 Will you steal, murder, and COMMIT ADULTERY, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom you know not; 10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?

Ezekiel 22:9-11 (NLT), “9 People accuse others falsely and send them to their death. You are filled with idol worshipers and PEOPLE WHO DO OBSCENE THINGS. 10 MEN SLEEP WITH THEIR FATHERS’ WIVES AND FORCE THEMSELVES ON WOMEN WHO ARE MENSTRUATING. 11 WITHIN YOUR WALLS LIVE MEN WHO COMMIT ADULTERY WITH THEIR NEIGHBORS’ WIVES, WHO DEFILE THEIR DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW, OR WHO RAPE THEIR OWN SISTERS.”

Hosea 4:2-3, “By swearing and lying, Killing and stealing and COMMITTING ADULTERY, They break all restraint, With bloodshed upon bloodshed. 3 Therefore the land will mourn; and everyone who dwells there will waste away…(NIV)13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar and terebinth, [during Christmas and Valentine’s Day rituals] where the shade is pleasant. THEREFORE YOUR DAUGHTERS TURN TO PROSTITUTION AND YOUR DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW TO ADULTERY. 14 “I will not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because THE MEN THEMSELVES CONSORT WITH HARLOTS AND SACRIFICE WITH SHRINE PROSTITUTES—a people without understanding will come to ruin!”

God hates divorce, and in many cases the reason for divorce is to commit adultery. God made that very clear in Malachi 2:13-16 (NLT), “13 Here is another thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings and doesn’t accept them with pleasure. 14 You cry out, “Why doesn’t the Lord accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because THE LORD WITNESSED THE VOWS YOU AND YOUR WIFE MADE WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG. BUT YOU HAVE BEEN UNFAITHFUL TO HER, THOUGH SHE REMAINED YOUR FAITHFUL PARTNER, the wife of your marriage vows. 15 Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. 16 “FOR I HATE DIVORCE!” SAYS THE LORD, the God of Israel. “TO DIVORCE YOUR WIFE IS TO OVERWHELM HER WITH CRUELTY,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “SO GUARD YOUR HEART; DO NOT BE UNFAITHFUL TO YOUR WIFE.”

Violations of God’s seventh commandment by America and British Commonwealth nations are getting worse each passing year. There is no indication of repentance from this sin. It already brings it automatic penalties in the form of sexually transmissible diseases, broken families, poverty, domestic violence, sometimes leading to murder. God has had enough of our sins. His punishment for breaking our Covenant with Him is almost at our door.

The Eighth Commandment

God gave the eighth commandment in Exodus 20:15, “YOU SHALL NOT STEAL.” This command was given to respect the property and possessions of others. Then God elaborated on the command through various statutes and judgments.

God views getting gains by deception and lying as stealing. He stated in Leviticus 19:11, 13, “You shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another…You shall not defraud your neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with you all night until the morning.” 

God sharply rebuked the withholding of wages in the New Testament in James 5:4-6, “Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, cries: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath. You have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; you have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter…and He does not resist you.” That is a very serious punishment to contemplate before committing such acts. 

God says those who withhold wages of workers or shortchange them practice stealing, and are fattening themselves up for the day of slaughter in the day of judgment. But employer-employee stealing can work both ways. Laborers and employees may steal by billing for more hours than they actually work, or feign illness to collect benefits without working.

There are many other ways in which stealing is practiced in the world, and America and British Commonwealth nations are not behind in any way. But we are held to a higher standard by God, because of all nations, we are the only ones who have received the Law.

Many sophisticated scams and ponzi schemes are perpetrated in the USA and Britain at some of the highest levels. Some of the most infamous names are Bernie Madoff ($65 billion in losses); Stanford International Bank (SIB) and proprietor Allen Stanford were accused of "massive fraud" by U.S. authorities, and SIB's assets were frozen; the apparent Ponzi scheme drew in more than $8 billion of "deposits" to Sir Allen's bank in Antigua; Tom Petters $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme, a £80 million buy-to-let property fraud scheme operating under a company called Practical Property Portfolio in the U.K., to name just a few. Top leaders in financial institutions also practice scams. But because they are deemed too big to fail, tax payers bail them out. The common man has to pay higher taxes, or through deficit financing, future generations are burdened with the bill. These corporate bosses still get paid high sums as salaries and bonuses.

Deceptive advertising, online sales scams, are other ways manufacturers steal from their customers by selling lower quality products at whatever price they can charge through misleading advertisements.

Here is another form of stealing that Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong described, and America is at the forefront of it. He wrote in The Plain Truth Magazine, in June 1972:

“But now let’s COMPARE the wisdom and intelligence of man with that of GOD who brought these marvels into being, and keeps them functioning.

“The grain of wheat GOD causes to grow out of the ground is a perfect food. But, like other perfect gifts from God, man fails to value the priceless perfection of the all-wise God, and, undertaking to improve on God’s handiwork, perverts, pollutes, and defiles it! Every bit of God’s perfection man’s hand has ever touched, it would seem, he has besmirched, spoiled and polluted!

“And the poor, defenseless grain of wheat is no exception! Into flour mills of human devising go the millions of bushels of healthful wheat. And there the supposedly intelligent human takes it apart, removes the alkaline-reacting mineral elements, and turns out for human consumption sacks of white flour composed largely of the acid-reacting carbohydrate elements—with poison bleach added!

“Out of this, the human population makes healthless bread, biscuits, doughnuts, pastries, puddings, macaroni, spaghetti, gravies, etc., etc., often mixing flour with ‘refined’ sugar and greases or fats—a combination guaranteed to wreck any organism in time! Yes, the sugar refiners do the same thing to sugar; and nearly all foods on the market for human consumption today have gone through man’s factories and suffered from man’s processes until they have been devitalized, depleted of their health-giving nutrients, and turned from foods into slow-acting poisons! And these foodless foods with which man has tampered in lust for profits have produced in human bodies a whole series of diseases of which our forefathers of a few generations ago had never heard! There is a reason why the history of degenerative diseases has paralleled the rise of modern technology!

“Today human beings drop dead before their time with heart failure; others die with cancer; the population suffers rheumatism, arthritis, diabetes, kidney diseases, anemia, colds, fevers, pneumonia, and thousands of other diseases. We respond to the toothbrush and toothpaste ads and frantically brush our teeth, but our teeth keep decaying, and we lose them beginning at an early age because of a lack of calcium and other elements in our diet.

“It would seem man is not very intelligent after all!

“Then, too, the God who created this earth and all vegetation told us to let our land lie idle every seventh year. But man is too greedy to do that. And so our land is worn out and depleted, and natural good foods such as carrots, beets, and turnips are lacking in the necessary mineral elements and vitamins! And drug companies get rich selling vitamin pills!

“Whose intelligence is higher—that of the GOD who provided every perfect need for every living thing or that of greedy, gullible, God-rejecting humans who in the interest of bigger profits and more luxuries for themselves have ROBBED the very foods which God created and gave us, of their health- and body-building values?”

According to Environmental Health News (ehn.org), “annual analysis finds almost 70 percent of U.S. fruits and vegetables have pesticide residues”. This year’s (2019)  "Dirty Dozen" — starting with the most polluted is: Strawberries, spinach, kale, nectarines, apples, grapes, peaches, cherries, pears, tomatoes, celery, potatoes.

"Even low levels of pesticide exposure can be harmful to children," Dr. Philip Landrigan, a pediatrician and world renowned epidemiologist, said in a statement.

Other forms of crime that steal the money, happiness and often the life of their victims is the drug trade and pornography. Any other form of illicit activity is stealing. Drugs are marketed to hook people into becoming consumers, who then get hooked on them, ruining and many eventually losing their lives.

Can we steal from God? God sure says we can in Malachi 3:8-12, “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me. But you say, Wherein have we robbed You? In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse: for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer [this means crop-destroying insects] for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, says the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for you shall be a delightsome land, says the Lord of hosts.”

God has a well-developed worship system to help mankind stay close to Him and become a righteous people. Part of the worship system is assembling on His Sabbaths to learn more of His ways. And teachers of His way, pastors and assistants, have to be paid. Worship facilities have to be maintained, literature printed or made available in other ways for people to study on their own. All this requires money to finance. God’s tithing system provides that financing. Because we don’t follow God’s tithing system to pay for good pastors, we are no longer righteous nations. 

God challenges us to test Him by paying tithes for His work and He’ll bless the tithe payer by opening the windows of heaven to pour out the blessings for him or her. But our nations continue to rob God.

So, how are America and Britain doing in keeping the eighth commandment to not steal?

In the age of the Internet, we get video evidence of personal property theft, especially during the holiday seasons when packages delivered for Amazon and other online retailers are stolen from front doors. FBI reported that collectively, victims of property crimes (excluding arson) suffered losses estimated at $15.3 billion in 2017. 

But there are other forms of massive theft committed around the globe, and a great deal of it occurs in the USA and Europe, at the expense of American and European consumers. In 2017, Global Financial Integrity published global estimates of various kinds of illegal activities. The value of counterfeited and pirated goods is estimated at $923 billion - $1.13 trillion; global drug trafficking at $426 billion and $652 billion [with the U.S. estimates at $110 - 200 billion]; human trafficking $150.2 billion; illegal logging $52 - 157 billion; illegal mining $12 - 48 billion; illegal unreported and unregulated fishing $ 15.5 - 36.4 billion; illegal wildlife trade $ 5 - 23 billion; crude oil theft $ 5.2 - 11.9 billion; and more than a billion dollars each in organ trafficking and trafficking in cultural property. When such illegal goods are sold in the USA and Britain, there are American and British sellers involved who are knowingly stealing from consumers.

The porn industry is estimated to be worth $97 billion which makes more money than Major League Baseball, the NFL and the NBA combined.

Coalition Against Insurance Fraud estimates that across all lines of insurance, fraud totals about $80 billion a year. FBI estimates the total cost of insurance fraud for non-health insurance at $40 billion, which costs an average family between $400-700 in average higher annual premiums.

According to the Insurance Crime Bureau, Workers' Compensation costs $7.2 billion annually of the total $60 billion in claims paid out every year, and it is said to be the fastest growing segment of insurance fraud in the U.S. This is employees stealing from the businesses. 

Fraud plots are getting more complex, and often involve multiple industries rather than solely insurance. An insurance investigation, for instance, might reveal evidence of financial fraud. Fraud schemes involving identity theft, hacking, employee-agents and claims are of high concern for insurance companies. Besides the outright losses in theft, there are additional costs incurred by businesses and individuals to prevent fraud and there is tremendous amount of anguish and pain caused by identity theft.

But the biggest scammers in the America and Britain are the financial bosses. In the 2008 financial crisis, Americans lost a total of $10.2 trillion dollars in wealth, $6.9 trillion due to stock market crash and $3.3 trillion in home equity. And the ordinary tax payers bailed them out because the banks were too big to fail. The leaders responsible for the crisis got away scot free.   

Other professionals are not far behind. Lawyers, doctors, agriculture PhDs and other professionals have to make a living, the higher the earnings, the better for them. So lawyers file as many lawsuits as they can and the population is harassed. Doctors perform unnecessary surgeries so that they can earn more money. Agriculture PhDs produce more genetically modified grains and other foods so that virtually the entire agriculture industry: all grains, vegetables, fruits are genetically modified and all cattle and poultry are fed such feed. No wonder Americans are afflicted with diseases that have no cure; and babies are born deformed or mentally challenged, and are in most cases, a burden to parents for the rest of their lives. 

God’s law is very harsh on those who steal. 

Exodus 22:1 states: “If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. If a thief be found breaking in, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.” Thus, if a thief was caught in the act, he forfeited any protection for his life under the law.

Deuteronomy 24:7 states, “If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and makes merchandise of him, or sells him [slavery, or forces him or her into prostitution]; then that thief shall die; and you shall put evil away from among you.” Clearly, the penalty for those caught in human trafficking should be death.

God’s laws protected and benefited the victim. On the other hand, modern laws tend to favor the perpetrators, who are often the ones portrayed as the victims. Today, the liberals have packed the judicial system and think they are more righteous than God.  

But God prophesied our condition in Jeremiah 7:8-10: “Behold, you trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom you know not; and come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?”

Here is how mainstream Christianity is fulfilling this prophecy. They believe that because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, they are free of any penalty for their sins. So they can do whatever they like and Jesus’ sacrifice covers all their sins and imputes righteousness to them. But God will hold our nations accountable for violations of His eighth commandment.  

Here are more prophecies in which God condemns our nations for violation of the eighth commandment:

Isaiah10:1-3, “Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; 2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that THEY MAY ROB THE FATHERLESS! 3 And what will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will you flee for help? and where will you leave your glory?”

Jeremiah 7:9-11, “9 Will you STEAL, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom you know not; 10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? 11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a DEN OF ROBBERS IN YOUR EYES? Behold, even I have seen it, says the Lord.”

Ezekiel 22:29-30, “29 The people of the land have used oppression, and EXERCISED ROBBERY, and have VEXED THE POOR AND NEEDY: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. 30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”

Hosea 7:1-3, “1 whenever I would heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim are exposed and the crimes of Samaria revealed. They practice deceit, THIEVES BREAK INTO HOUSES, BANDITS ROB IN THE STREETS; 2 but they do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me. 3 “They delight the king with their wickedness, the princes with their lies.”

Amos 3:10-11, “10 For they know not to do right, says the Lord, who STORE UP VIOLENCE AND ROBBERY IN THEIR PALACES. 11 Therefore thus says the Lord God; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down your strength from you, and your palaces shall be spoiled.

Zechariah 5:1-3 NIV), “1I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll. 2 He asked me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.” 3 And he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, EVERY THIEF SHALL BE BANISHED [‘CUT OFF’ in KJV], and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished [cut off]. 4 The Lord Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and IT WILL ENTER THE HOUSE OF THE THIEF and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name. IT WILL REMAIN IN THAT HOUSE AND DESTROY IT COMPLETELY , BOTH ITS TIMBERS AND ITS STONES.’”

God has not left any doubt about what He will do to us for violating His eighth commandment to not steal.

Ninth Commandment

God thundered the ninth commandment from Mt. Sinai in Exodus 20:16, “YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST YOUR NEIGHBOR.”

This commandment condemns every form of lying and deception. Examples include outright lies, blatantly false advertising or puffing up one’s product or services, coloring the truth, exaggerating, defamation of someone’s character, distorting the facts, as well as rendering false testimony in a court of law.

God further elaborated on this commandment in Exodus 23:1-2, “You shall not raise a false report: put not your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. You shall not follow a multitude to do evil [i.e., riots]; neither shall you speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment [i.e., collusion or scheming to falsely implicate someone, or cause wrong judgment].” 

God then explained in Deuteronomy 19:15-20 how testimony is to be obtained to minimize the chances of lying, and the punishment for a false witness, “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong; then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days; and the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother; then shall you do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shall you put the evil away from among you. and those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.”

More than one witness was required to establish a charge, and the punishment for a false witness was the same as he thought to have done to the victim of his false testimony.

How are America and Britain doing in obeying God’s ninth commandment. God’s prophets prophesied what would prevail in our nations in the end times.

Here is what Isaiah the prophet said:

Isaiah 59:2-4, “ 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; YOUR LIPS HAVE SPOKEN LIES, YOUR TONGUE HAS MUTTERED PERVERSITY. 4 No one calls for justice, NOR DOES ANY PLEAD FOR TRUTH. THEY TRUST IN EMPTY WORDS AND SPEAK LIES.”

Isaiah 59:13-15, “In transgressing and LYING AGAINST THE LORD, And departing from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, CONCEIVING AND UTTERING FROM THE HEART WORDS OF FALSEHOOD. 14 Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; FOR TRUTH IS FALLEN IN THE STREET, AND EQUITY CANNOT ENTER. 15 SO TRUTH FAILS, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.”

Look at our justice system. The purpose of a defense lawyer is not to get to the truth, but to defend his client so that he is not found guilty, even though the lawyer may know he is guilty. To achieve that result, lies will be told. Sometimes, prosecuting attorneys will also bend the truth to get a conviction. Because of these premises, a great deal of lying goes on in our courts. That is how the system is built. It fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy.

Next, hear Isaiah’s condemnation of the preachers who preach what the people want to hear. He states in Isaiah 30:9,“This is a rebellious people, LYING CHILDREN, CHILDREN THAT WILL NOT HEAR THE LAW OF THE LORD.” Liars obviously don’t want to hear the law because it condemns them. So they walk out of churches that preach the law. In order to keep their congregants, Church pastors no longer preach the law and make up justifications to avoid keeping it.   

Jeremiah 7:8 also condemns our nations and Church pastors for the same reason, “BEHOLD, YOU TRUST IN LYING WORDS, THAT CANNOT PROFIT.”

Besides lies being preached and practiced in our courts and our religion from the pulpits, our political system also violates the ninth commandment in a huge way. Here is how the system is built for lying and must resort to it in all elections. All politicians stand for elections to win. In order to do so, they conduct voter polls to gauge the mind of the voters. Then they tailor their messages to attract a majority of them to their platform, whether they believe in it or not. And tailoring the message often involves lying. Thus our political system is built for lying which is widely practiced in order to win elections. That is not to say everything spoken is a lie, or not genuinely from the heart. But so many words are spoken during election time that there are bound to be some lies among them. Proverbs 10:19 says, “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking.”  

Proverbs 12:22 says, “Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are His delight.” God hates our political system.

Much of America, Britain, Israel and indeed the world’s education system is based on a colossal lie: the Theory of Evolution. God-hating men don’t want to retain Him in their knowledge. So they invented a lie to try and explain the creation without a Creator. Much of our social and biological sciences, medicine, international relations, economics,  marriage, family and child rearing are based on the premise that God does not exist, and that life evolved from nothing. Colleges and schools teach that everything came into existence by itself, when the sum total of our experience tells us that something cannot come out of nothing by itself. 

A very vocal and aggressive minority of scientists continue to propagate this theory while the others, even though they know it to be a lie, are afraid to speak against it because they are afraid of being laughed at, or labeled ‘ignorant’, ‘unscientific’, ‘fools’ and a whole host of other things, including losing funding for their scientific research or even their jobs, and not being able to get another one.

To prove to yourself that the theory of evolution is a lie, please read my short article “Is Evolution True?” Available free at my web site www.ChurchofGodMessage.com

We have already discussed how our people violate the fifth to the eighth commandments wholesale. Let’s look at these commandments individually. The fifth commandment says to honor your father and mother. There is certainly lying involved in the lives of those who disobey this commandment. The sixth commandment prohibits murder. That involves lying when the murderer is required to defend himself. The seventh commandment prohibits adultery. This sin is premised on lying, in order to cover it up. And we have already seen that virtually every form of stealing involves lying. Thus America and Britain are engaged in wholesale violation of the ninth commandment as prophesied for our time and will be held accountable for our conduct.

The prophets condemn violation of this commandment by our nations.

Isaiah 9:14-16, “14 Therefore the Lord will cut off head and tail from Israel…in one day. 15 The elder and honorable, he is the head; THE PROPHET WHO TEACHES LIES [Meaning pastors of mainstream Christianity], HE IS THE TAIL. 16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err, and those who are led by them are destroyed.”

Isaiah 28:15-17 (NIV), “15 You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death, with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, FOR WE HAVE MADE A LIE OUR REFUGE AND FALSEHOOD OUR HIDING PLACE.” 16 So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone [Jesus Christ] for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic. 17 I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place.”

Jeremiah 9:3-9, “3 “AND LIKE THEIR BOW THEY HAVE BENT THEIR TONGUES FOR LIES. THEY ARE NOT VALIANT FOR THE TRUTH ON THE EARTH. For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,” says the Lord. 4 “…And EVERY NEIGHBOR WILL WALK WITH SLANDERERS. 5 EVERYONE WILL DECEIVE HIS NEIGHBOR, AND WILL NOT SPEAK THE TRUTH; THEY HAVE TAUGHT THEIR TONGUE TO SPEAK LIES; They weary themselves to commit iniquity. 6 Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit; THROUGH DECEIT THEY REFUSE TO KNOW ME,” says the Lord. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will refine them and try them; For how shall I deal with the daughter of My people [when God uses the word daughter, He means the modern day descendants]? 8 THEIR TONGUE IS AN ARROW SHOT OUT; IT SPEAKS DECEIT; One speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart he lies in wait. 9 Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the Lord. “Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?”

God has some very harsh words for mainstream Christianity’s pastors who preach that there will be no punishment because we are no longer required to keep God’s Law after the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Jeremiah 14:14-17 (NKJV) states, “14 And the Lord said to me, “THE PROPHETS PROPHESY LIES IN MY NAME. I HAVE NOT SENT THEM, commanded them, nor spoken to them; THEY PROPHESY TO YOU A FALSE VISION, DIVINATION, A WORTHLESS THING, AND THE DECEIT OF THEIR HEART. 15 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, whom I did not send, and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not be in this land’—‘By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed! 16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem [a symbol for America, Britain and Israel as it was the capital of the undivided kingdom of Israel] because of the famine and the sword; they will have no one to bury them—them nor their wives, their sons nor their daughters—for I will pour their wickedness on them.’”

Jeremiah 23:1-30 (NKJV), ““Woe to the shepherds [Church pastors] who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord. 2 Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the Lord. 3 “But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. [This occurs after the Americans, the British and the Jews are rescued from slavery] 4 I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the Lord…7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ 8 but, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land.”

9 My heart within me is broken Because of the prophets; All my bones shake…11  “FOR BOTH PROPHET AND PRIEST ARE PROFANE; Yes, in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the Lord. 12 “Therefore their way shall be to them like slippery ways; In the darkness they shall be driven on and fall in them; For I WILL BRING DISASTER ON THEM, THE YEAR OF THEIR PUNISHMENT,” says the Lord. 13 “And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: They prophesied by Baal [because they worship a false Jesus who is actually Baal whose day of worship was Sunday and Christmas and Easter are his pagan festivals] and caused My people Israel to err. 14 Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery and walk in lies; They also strengthen, so that no one turns back from his wickedness. [because they teach that Christians are no longer required to keep the Law, the Ten Commandments, because of Jesus’ sacrifice]. All of them are like Sodom to Me, and her inhabitants like Gomorrah. 15 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets: ‘Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, And make them drink the water of gall [bitterness]; For from the prophets of Jerusalem, profaneness has gone out into all the land.’ ”

“16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; THEY SPEAK A VISION OF THEIR OWN HEART, NOT FROM THE MOUTH OF THE LORD. 17 They continually say to those who despise Me, ‘The Lord has said, “You shall have peace” ’; And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart [effectively they claim everyone can do whatever he likes because all sins are forgiven], they say, ‘No evil shall come upon you.’ 

 “19 Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury—A violent whirlwind! It will fall violently on the head of the wicked. 20 The anger of the Lord will not turn back until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. IN THE LATTER DAYS YOU WILL UNDERSTAND IT PERFECTLY. [This clearly shows this message is for our time.] 21 “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in My counsel, and had caused My people to hear My words, then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings.

 “25 “I HAVE HEARD WHAT THE PROPHETS HAVE SAID WHO PROPHESY LIES IN MY NAME, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, 27 who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal. 28 “The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?” says the Lord. 29 “Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

30 “Therefore behold, I AM AGAINST THE PROPHETS,” says the Lord, “WHO STEAL MY WORDS EVERY ONE FROM HIS NEIGHBOR. [many self-styled prophets in mainstream Christianity try to interpret prophesy based on what Herbert W. Armstrong interpreted, but they add their own interpretations (which will turn out to be false) to claim that their interpretations of prophecy was original] 31 Behold, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who use their tongues and say, ‘He says.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the Lord, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,” says the Lord…39 therefore behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you and forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and will cast you out of My presence. 40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’ ”

Ezekiel 13:1-10 (NKJV), “1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “SON OF MAN, PROPHESY AGAINST THE PROPHETS OF ISRAEL WHO PROPHESY, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’ ”

3 Thus says the Lord God: “WOE TO THE FOOLISH PROPHETS, WHO FOLLOW THEIR OWN SPIRIT AND HAVE SEEN NOTHING! 4 O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts. 5 You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord. 6 THEY HAVE ENVISIONED FUTILITY AND FALSE DIVINATION, SAYING, ‘THUS SAYS THE LORD!’ BUT THE LORD HAS NOT SENT THEM; YET THEY HOPE THAT THE WORD MAY BE CONFIRMED. [These prophets are speaking lies, yet hoping that events will turn out as they prophesy] 7 HAVE YOU NOT SEEN A FUTILE VISION, AND HAVE YOU NOT SPOKEN FALSE DIVINATION? YOU SAY, ‘THE LORD SAYS,’ BUT I HAVE NOT SPOKEN.”

8 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “BECAUSE YOU HAVE SPOKEN NONSENSE AND ENVISIONED LIES, THEREFORE I AM INDEED AGAINST YOU,” says the Lord God. 9 “My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord God. 10 “Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace…”

Hosea 4:1-3, “Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel: for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, BECAUSE THERE IS NO TRUTH, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. 2 BY SWEARING, AND LYING, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood touches blood. 3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwells therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.”

Tenth Commandment  

The tenth commandment is stated in Exodus 20:7, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET your neighbor’s house, you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

The dictionary defines covet as “to  desire wrongfully, inordinately, or without due  regard for the rights of others.” Thus, this commandment addresses our hearts and minds, and how we think about the property and everything else that belongs to others. We should not wrongfully desire or lust after anything that belongs to someone else. It addresses the greed in humanity.

Violation of this commandment is the source of violations of the other commandments that have to do with our relationships with other human beings. Jesus Christ affirmed in Mark 7:21-23, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness,” Christ said. “All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”

James the apostle also explained how our desires lead to sin. He said in James 1:13-15, “13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts He any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.”

And in James 4:1-2, “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.”

In Luke 12:15, Jesus admonished His disciples, “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.”  

Jesus Christ and James make it abundantly clear that covetousness is the root cause of many sins, which in some cases can lead to murder and is usually the cause of warfare. The root cause of breaking the seventh commandment, which is prohibition against adultery, and the eighth commandment which condemns stealing is obviously covetousness. Even the cause of lying, or breaking the ninth commandment can be a desire to gain something, which is covetousness. 

We have seen that the seventh, eighth and ninth commandments are broken by most Americans and Britons. In doing so, they are also breaking the tenth commandment, because people commit adultery because they covet someone other than their spouse; they steal mainly because they want something that others have, which they cannot afford themselves; and they lie to gain something. 

Besides these, other glaring example of covetousness which is almost universally accepted is the huge ever-growing popularity of government run lotteries. People covet the luxuries others possess, and are willing to sacrifice a part of their paycheck to have the hope, no matter how remote, of living that luxurious life. 

The popularity of gambling casinos is yet another example of covetousness because the gamblers are trying to acquire something another way than hard work. Invariably, in cities around the world where gambling casinos are located, crime, homicides, violence, drugs and prostitution thrive. All these vices are based on lust and greed.

America and Britain are great consumer nations with the demand for products fueled by advertising and marketing research, which promote unbridled covetousness.

One measure of our covetousness, desiring to have without being able to afford it, is our consumer debt (on credit cards, mortgages, auto loans and other debt) which this year reached $14 trillion. That is $42,813 per man, woman and child in America. ValuePenguin found that more than 40% of all US households carry credit card debt, with the average American household carrying a balance of $5,700. For only indebted households, which excludes people who pay their balances in full every month, the average debt is $9,333.

In the U.K. the total consumer debt at the end of May 2019 stood at £1.640 trillion or $2 trillion, and the average total debt per household, including mortgages, was £59,708 or $72,815. 

As a result of consumer debt, personal bankruptcies in the USA in 2017 numbered 767,721. The total bankruptcies from 2006-2017 were 12,775,578. Personal bankruptcies in the U.K. hit 115,299, a seven-year high. 

Our nations are clearly living it up, coveting what others have without being able to afford it. We worship possessions.  

Covetousness is considered a very serious sin which can keep a person out of the kingdom of God. Paul calls it idolatry in Colossians 3:5-6, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and COVETOUSNESS, WHICH IS IDOLATRY. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.” Then he states in Ephesians 5:5, “For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, NOR COVETOUS MAN, WHO IS AN IDOLATOR, HAS ANY INHERITANCE IN THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST AND GOD.”

Covetousness disqualifies a person from holding leadership positions in God’s eyes. The qualifications of a leader are given in Exodus 18:21, “Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, HATING COVETOUSNESS; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.”

In the USA, Israel and Britain high government officials are regularly accused of crimes related to corruption and bribery, or thinly disguised bribery, strong evidence of covetousness at high levels.

Paul listed the qualifications of a Bishop, or a minister in 1 Timothy 3:2-3, “2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach; 3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, NOT COVETOUS…”

In 2 Timothy 3:1-2 God described the general perilous conditions in the world in the end-time: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, COVETOUS, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy…”

God prophesied about the covetousness in USA, British Commonwealth nations and Israel through the prophets and issued strong warnings.

Jeremiah 6:10-13 states, “10 To whom shall I speak and give warning, That they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, And they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them; They have no delight in it. 11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord. I am weary of holding it in. “I will pour it out on the children outside, and on the assembly of young men together; for even the husband shall be taken with the wife, the aged with him who is full of days. 12  And their houses shall be turned over to others, fields and wives together; for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord. 13 “BECAUSE FROM THE LEAST OF THEM EVEN TO THE GREATEST OF THEM, EVERYONE IS GIVEN TO COVETOUSNESS; AND FROM THE PROPHET EVEN TO THE PRIEST, EVERYONE DEALS FALSELY.” 

Micah 2:2-3, “2 And THEY COVET FIELDS, AND TAKE THEM BY VIOLENCE; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. 3 Therefore thus says the Lord; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which you shall not remove your necks; neither shall you go haughtily: for this time is evil.”

When God’s Church warns our nations to repent of their sins, they agree with what we say, but will not take action to repent, change their attitudes and lifestyles because they are busy pursuing material things because of covetousness. Ezekiel the prophet describes the reaction of our nations of Israel to our preaching in Ezekiel 33:31, “And they come unto you as the people comes, and they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, BUT THEIR HEART GOES AFTER THEIR COVETOUSNESS. 32 And, lo, you are unto them as a very lovely song of one that has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear your words, but they do them not. 33 And when this comes to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet has been among them.”

God is going to hold America and British Commonwealth nations accountable for our gross violations of His tenth commandment. Our people simply do not give heed to God’s warnings.



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