8906. 'You shall not steal' means that no one's spiritual goods or possessions must be taken away from him, and that things which are the Lord's must not be attributed to self. This is clear from the meaning of 'stealing' as taking spiritual goods or possessions away from someone. The reason why 'stealing' has these meanings is that wealth and riches in the spiritual sense are cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, in general everything that composes the faith and charity, that is, the spiritual life a person has. Therefore taking these away from someone is what 'stealing' means in the spiritual sense. And since all spiritual goods or possessions, that is, everything composing faith and charity, come wholly from the Lord and not at all from man, 'stealing' also means attributing to self things which are the Lord's. People who do this are also called 'thieves' and 'robbers' in John,

Truly I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who is entering by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. I am the door of the sheep. All who were before Me were thieves and were robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me he will be saved, and will go in and out, and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come in order that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. John 10:1-13.

'Entering by the door into the sheepfold' doing so through the Lord, for the Lord is 'the door', as He Himself says. 'The sheep' are those who have charity and consequently faith, and they enter the fold through the Lord when they acknowledge that He is the source of everything composing faith and charity; for then these flow in from Him. But to attribute them to others, especially to self, is to take them away, which is 'to kill and destroy' them. People who attribute entirely to themselves those things which are the Lord's also assume that merit lies in works and consider themselves righteous; such people are dealt with in 1110, 1877, 2027, 2273, 2340, 2373, 2400, 3816, 4007 (end), 4174, 4943, 6388-6390, 6392, 6393, 6478. This then is 'stealing' in the spiritual sense, and it is what comes to mind with angels in heaven when a person reads in the Word about 'stealing'; for angels understand the Word wholly on a spiritual level.

[2] 'Stealing' has a like meaning in Hosea,

When I healed Israel the iniquity of Ephraim was revealed, and the evils of Samaria; for they practiced a lie, and a thief came, a band [of robbers] encircles the house. ¹ Now their own works surround them before My face; they make a king glad through their wickedness, and princes through their lies. Hosea 7:1-3.

And in Joel,

The day of Jehovah comes. Fire devours before him, and behind him a flame burns; like the garden of Eden is the land before him, but behind him there is a desert waste. Its appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like horsemen, so they run. Like the noise of chariots over the peaks of mountains [they leap]. They run about the city, they run on the wall, they climb up into the houses, they go in through the windows like a thief. The earth quaked before him, the heavens trembled. The sun and the moon were darkened, and the stars withdrew their shining. Joel 2:1-10.

This refers to the desolation of the Church, when falsities break in and destroy truths. These falsities are 'the thieves that climb up houses and go in through the windows'. Will anyone fail to wonder why it says that the day of Jehovah will be 'like the appearance of horses', and that at this time 'like horsemen, so they will run', 'they will run about the city, run on the wall, climb up into the houses, and go in through the windows', and 'the earth will quake, the heavens will tremble, the sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars will withdraw their shining'? The person who does not know anything about the internal sense and in his heart calls into doubt the holiness of the Word will say that these are simply words without anything of God concealed in them; and he will perhaps call the sayings meaningless. But the person who believes that the Word is most holy because it is Divine, and furthermore knows that there is an internal sense, in which the Church, heaven, and the Lord Himself are the subject, will profess that every word there carries weight. Therefore let a brief explanation be given of what the words and sayings there mean.

[3] 'The day of Jehovah' is the final state or final period of the Church, when there is no longer truth but falsity instead. 'The fire' which devours before him is the desire for evil, and 'the fire' which burns after him is the resulting desire for falsity. 'The appearance of horses' is intellectual powers that reason from falsity as if from truth; 'the horsemen' who run are reasoners; 'chariots' are matters of doctrine that uphold falsity; 'the city' is doctrine itself; 'the wall' on which they run is a false essential; 'the houses' which they will climb up are a person's will; 'the windows' which they will go in through are intellectual concepts; 'a thief' is falsity which takes away truth; 'the earth' which will quake before him is the Church, and so are 'the heavens' which will tremble; 'the sun' is love to the Lord, 'the moon' faith in Him, which are said 'to be darkened' when they are no longer apparent; 'the stars' are cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth which will no longer possess light from faith and love, thus from heaven, meant by 'withdrawing their shining'. From all this one may recognize what these words in general imply, and also in what sense that day or final state of the Church is called 'a thief' who will climb up houses and go in through the windows - falsity which will at that time take possession of the entire person, of both his will and his understanding, and so will take away all truth and goodness. 'A thief' has a like meaning in Obadiah,

The Lord Jehovih said to Edom, If thieves come to you, if those who overturn in the night - how you will have been cut off! - will they not steal that which is enough for themselves? Obad. verses 1, 5.

'A thief' or 'one who steals' has a like meaning in Zechariah 5:1-4; Psalms 50:18-20; Matthew 6:19-20.

[4] As all the regulations which the Lord commanded the children of Israel were founded on the laws of order which exist in heaven, that is, they sprang from the spiritual world and derived their essential nature from there, this was no less so with the laws laid down regarding thefts, such as the law,

Anyone who has stolen an ox and sells it shall repay five, or four if one of the flock. Exodus 21:37. ²

Also these laws,

If a thief has been struck while breaking in, no blood [is required] for him; but if the sun has risen, blood [is required]. A thief must pay compensation or be sold. If [what he has stolen] is found in his hand he shall restore double. Exodus 22:2-4.

Anyone who steals a man and sells him - and he is found in his hand - shall surely die. Exodus 21:16.

If there is found a man who has stolen a soul from his brothers, from the children of Israel, and has made profit on him, when he has sold him, that thief shall be killed, so that you remove evil from the midst of you. Deuteronomy 24:7.

'Men from the children of Israel' in the internal sense are those who are governed by the truths and forms of the good of faith. Accordingly in the abstract sense they are the truths and forms of good themselves, 5414, 5879, 5951, so that 'stealing a man from the children of Israel' means taking these away, and 'selling him' means alienating them and also reducing them to a state of servitude. For since truths and forms of the good of faith come from the Lord they exist in a state of freedom, and are subservient to none except the Lord alone; but when they are alienated they come into a state of servitude since they are subservient to some evil of self-love or love of the world, thus to some bodily desire. This is how that law [in Deuteronomy 24:7] was derived and what it corresponds to; and since from being in freedom the Church's truth and good is reduced to subservience, and so from being living is made dead, the punishment, which is the outcome, is death.

Fotnoter:

6393. 'And he will bend his shoulder to bear a burden' means that nevertheless he makes every effort. This is clear from the meaning of 'shoulder' as all power or every effort, dealt with in 1085, 4931-4937; and from the meaning of 'bearing a burden' as performing works so as to earn merit. Consequently 'bending the shoulder to bear a burden' means making every effort at performing works in order to earn merit. The reason this is described as 'bearing a burden' is that such people do good not out of an affection for good, thus not in freedom, but out of a selfish affection, which is servitude, 6390.

[2] With regard to those who desire a reward for the works they accomplish, it should also be recognized that they are never satisfied but become annoyed if their reward is not greater than that which everyone else receives; or if they see that others are more richly blessed than themselves, they are sad and complaining. Real blessedness is not considered by them to reside in inward things but in outward ones, that is to say, in their being pre-eminent, having dominion, and being served by angels, thus in their being superior to angels and so being the chief and great ones in heaven. But in actual fact heavenly blessedness does not consist in wishing to have dominion and to be served by others but in wishing to serve others and to be the least, as the Lord teaches,

James and John, the sons of Zebedee drew near, saying, Grant us to sit in Your glory, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left. Jesus said to them, You do not know what you ask. To sit at My right hand and at My left is not Mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. You know that those who are reckoned to rule the gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones have authority over them. It must not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your minister, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be ministered to but to minister. Mark 10:35-45.

[3] And He teaches that heaven belongs to those who do good without recompense as their end in view, in Luke,

Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. When you give a dinner or a supper, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbours, lest perhaps also they invite you back in return, and you are repaid. But when you give a feast invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, for they have nothing with which to repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. Luke 14:11-14.

'Repayment at the resurrection of the just' is the inner happiness that comes from doing good without thought of recompense, which people receive from the Lord when they perform useful services. And the more that those who love to serve without thought of repayment love to do good, the nobler are the services committed to their charge. Also, they are in actual fact greater and more powerful than others.

[4] Those who perform good works with a view to repayment also say, because of what they know from the Word, that they wish to be the least in heaven. But they think that by saying this they may become great, so that they still have the same end in view. But those who do good without thought of repayment really do not think about pre-eminence, only about being of service.

[5] See what has been stated and shown already about earning merit through works,

In the next life those who are merit-seekers appear to be splitting wood and cutting grass, 1110, 1111, 4943.

How those people are represented, 1774, 2027.

Those who have done good for selfish and worldly reasons receive no payment in the next life for that good, 1835.

Those who place merit in works interpret the Word literally to their own advantage and laugh with scorn at its inner content, 1774, 1877.

True charity is devoid of all merit-seeking, 2340, 2373, 2400, 3816.

Those who separate faith from charity consider the works they have done to be worthy of merit, 2373 (end).

Those who come into heaven throw off what is their own and any merit of their own, 4007 (end).

Most people believe, when they start to be reformed, that the good they do originates in themselves, and that through this good they are worthy of merit; but they throw off that belief as they undergo regeneration, 4174.