Ev – Honest Weights and Measures 25: 13-16

Honest Weights and Measures
25: 13-16

Honest weights and measures DIG: How did ADONAI want Isra’el to be different than the rest of the world? Why do you think God made a point of insisting that business transactions were supposed to be humane and compassionate? Who set the standards for weights and measures for Isra’el?

REFLECT: How are you doing in your business or job with this? Do you have stones of different weights in your bag? Where do your standards as a believer and the marketplace clash? Can you reconcile the two? What support do you need?

The Israelites were to be totally honest in their business dealings. They could afford to do so because it was ultimately ADONAI who would withhold or give them prosperity.

Deuteronomy 19:1 to 26:15 (to see link click Dl – The Social and Family Mitzvot) deals with individual mitzvot, and to today’s readers they might appear irrelevant at first, but the very principles behind these commandments were the ones that have brought dignity to mankind. We need to examine these mitzvot in depth to discover the spirit in which they were given, so that we can still live in obedience to God’s Word today. For example, in Numbers 18, the Israelites were to bring their tithes to the Tabernacle because the priests and Levites had no inheritance. But today we have no Temple and no priesthood; however, we bring our tithes to our place of worship. That is the spirit of the mitzvah.

From 23:15 to 26:15, Moses deals with twenty real life situations that the nation would need to function in a godly manner, and valuable lessons for us today as well: number nineteen.

Using false weights occurred regularly throughout the biblical world. Leviticus 19:35-37 and Ezeki’el 45:10 address the same issue, and biblical prophets indict those who cheat with incorrect weights and measures (Hosea 12:7; Micah 6:10-12; Proverbs 11:1, 16:11, 20:10 and 23). Throughout the biblical world there was no apparent standard for weights and measures. Regardless of the precise measuring tool in use at a given place, the professed unit of measurement and the actual unit of measurement were to be identical. A person should have received the exact amount expected and pay only what was agreed to.⁵⁵⁶

Ancient merchants used weights (stones) and measures (bags or jars for liquids or grains) when buying and selling goods; they could use those tools to their own financial advantage. When buying, they could use a heavier stone or a larger container measure in order to receive more than their fair amount. When selling, they could use a lighter stone or smaller container so that the customer received less than expected for the price paid. The customer was at the mercy of the vendor who could easily use heavy stones for buying and smaller ones for selling. Royal standards for these weights were fixed during the reign of David (Second Samuel 14:26). The Israelites were to be totally honest in their business dealings.⁵⁵⁷

God’s people were to have only one set of stones and bags or jars – a set that was full and honest. Moses declared: You are not to have stones of different weights in your bag – large and small. You are not to have in your house ephahs of different measures – large and small. You must have a full and honest weight and a full and honest measure (25:13-15a).

In addition to the fact that using false weights represented deception (a practice condemned by various biblical passages), it was primarily done to take advantage of those who had nowhere else to turn: the poor and the needy, the fatherless, resident aliens, and widows. YHVH consistently condemns mistreating people at the fringe of Israelite society. For all who do these things, all who do injustice, are detestable to ADONAI your God (25:16). Moreover, to use accurate and honest stones and bags was part of a life of covenantal conformity and would bring to the honest merchant longevity, so that your days may be long on the land that ADONAI your God is giving you (25:15a).⁵⁵⁸

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that You are perfectly holy. There is not even the slightest hint of anything wrong in You. Your thought life, Your actions, Your future planning – all are totally holy and pure. We can always trust that when You say to do something, it is the best for us. You love Your children (John 1:12) so much and You plan the future to rescue and help Your children (book of Esther).

There is no where I can go that You cannot see us to be there to help us. ADONAI, You searched me and know me. Whenever I sit down or stand up, You know it. You discern my thinking from afar. You observe my journeying and my resting and You are familiar with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold ADONAI, You know all about it. You hemmed me in behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from Your Ruach? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to heaven, You are there, and if I make my bed in sh’ol, look, You are there too. If I take the wings of the dawn and settle on the other side of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely darkness covers me, night keeps light at a distance from me,” even darkness is not dark for You, and night is as bright as day – darkness and light are alike (Psalms 139:1-12). You are wonderful! Praise You that you are always everywhere, watching over Your children, to guide and to protect. In Yeshua’s holy name and His power of resurrection. Amen