(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 22:1–4, “Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother. And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again. In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother’s, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself. Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.”
The preamble to the Ten Commandments is, "I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” (Ex 20:2) This was the justification for all of the Lord’s commands that He gave to Israel. The Lord was alienated by humanity when we sinned. Even though the Lord was the offended party, He effected reconciliation and we did nothing. There is a principle that can be seen in the Lord’s relationship with Israel was not based on their activities, it was based on the fact that they believed God. Even great Abraham was treated according to the fact that he believed God rather than the works that he did. (Gen 15:5–6, “And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”) Israel were delivered from slavery before they were given the Law. Abraham didn’t circumcise his family until after he was counted as righteous. (Gen 17:10–14, 24 “This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant... “And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.” As part of the Lord’s faithfulness to those who believed in Him, He freed Israel from slavery. Not even Abraham was sufficient, in his own right, to please God. God chose him in love. (compare Deut 26:5–9, “And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: And when we cried unto the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression: And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey.”) The Lord always dealt with Israel in grace and mercy. This is the reason why the Israelis were called upon to treat their fellow citizens with grace and mercy. Every man was to respect the fact that the Lord loved their fellow Israeli as much as he loved any individual Israeli. If they saw that a fellow Israeli was suffering some kind of loss through injury or straying of their beasts, they were to make sure that they treated their fellow’s beasts as though the beast was their own. In this way the would respect and show gratitude for Israel out of the abundance of His overwhelming grace and mercy. Even today, on the statute books of some countries there is a crime called theft by finding.
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