Stealing signifies that fallen man, like Satan, is not satisfied with God’s sovereign assignment, but tries to make base gain by transgressing God’s regulation (22:1-5). Perhaps, in His arrangement, God does not assign many riches to you. Instead, He arranges for you to be in poverty. Are you willing to be satisfied with the circumstances in which God has placed you? If you are not satisfied, you may resort to stealing, to the transgressing of God’s regulation in order to make base gain. According to the Bible, stealing is fully condemned by God. However, in itself stealing is not always serious. What is serious with respect to stealing is transgressing God’s regulation.
We all need to be satisfied with the Lord’s sovereign arrangement of our circumstances. Because God is our Creator and we are His creatures, we should be satisfied with the circumstances He assigns to us. If we are satisfied, we shall not break God’s regulation. To steal is to be dissatisfied with the divine assignment and to break the divine regulation. In the past I knew some Chinese women who stole sewing needles from other members of the family when sewing needles were scarce. In principle, they were no better than bank robbers. In both cases those who stole were not satisfied with God’s sovereign assignment, but broke God’s regulation.
The ordinance concerning coveting (22:7-15) signifies that Satan’s lusting nature has become the indwelling sin within fallen man to deaden his body (Rom. 7:8, 17, 20, 24). In Romans 7 Paul tells us that he was not able to deal with the sin of coveting within him. Eventually he described covetousness as indwelling sin. He did not regard it merely as a thing or a matter, but as a person, even as Satan personified. The sin of covetousness is actually Satan’s lusting nature. Because we are all fallen sinners, we are given to coveting. Stealing comes from coveting. If a person does not covet anything, he will never steal. Coveting is Satan’s lusting nature dwelling within us. Hence, whenever we are greedy or covetous, we should realize that this issues from Satan operating in us as indwelling sin.
The ordinance concerning adultery (22:16-17, 19) signifies that Satan’s sinful nature works in man to corrupt him by confusing him in breaking God’s regulations concerning the relationships man should have with God, with people, and with other things. According to James 4:4, loving the world causes one to be an adulterer, for it confuses one’s relationship with God.
Just as a wife should not love another man besides her husband, we should not love anything in place of God. This is fornication. According to Revelation 17, the degraded church is called a harlot. The church should love Christ alone; however, the degraded church loves many things in place of Christ. For this reason, the fallen church not only becomes an adulteress, but also becomes a fornicator, a harlot. If a wife becomes involved with one other man, that is adultery. But if she becomes involved with many others, that is fornication. Fornication, therefore, is more serious than adultery. The fallen church is not merely an adulteress; she is a fornicator and for this reason is called a harlot in Revelation 17.
In the sight of God, the earth today is filled with fornication, with confusion. Man is confused in his relationship with others and with many things. According to the Bible, fornication refers to being wrong and confused in our relationships. For example, failing to maintain the right relationship with the government is fornication.