Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Balances and Scales
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Leviticus 19:35-37
In earlier times, food and other goods were measured out by weight using a balance. A standard weight (typically made of stone) was placed on one side, and the material being measured was put on the other. When the balance was level, both buyer and seller knew that the amount had been measured correctly. However, human nature being what it is, it did not take long for the unscrupulous to use one stone for a standard when buying and a different one for selling. In this way, they could "tip the balances" in their favor by using weights that were advantageous to them. Using such a "double standard," as it came to be known, might materially benefit the individual, but it was highly destructive to the overall society because it bred distrust and suspicion. Thus, God's Word makes it clear that universal and unchanging weights and other measurements are crucial to the smooth functioning of a group of people: -
Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight. (Proverbs 11:1) -
Honest weights and scales are the LORD'S; all the weights in the bag are His work. (Proverbs 16:11) -
Diverse weights and diverse measures, they are both alike, an abomination to the LORD. (Proverbs 20:10) -
Diverse weights are an abomination to the LORD, and dishonest scales are not good. (Proverbs 20:23) As with most of God's instructions, though, over time the Israelites paid them little heed. Before Israel's fall, these principles were commonly violated, and God links these practices with deceit, violence, wickedness, and oppression (Amos 8:5-6; Micah 6:10-12; Hosea 12:7). Their dishonest dealing was part of the same pattern of unfaithfulness wherein the people were more interested in their own well-being than in their covenant responsibilities to God and man. Whatever the motivation, the overall result was societal breakdown as the individual exalted himself against God and his fellow man. Actual balances are rare these days, and Western civilization has seen to it that we have standard weights and measures, so the instructions in Leviticus may seem to have little relevance now. However, godly principles are timeless, and though the application may not be the same, honest weights and scales are still crucial for a smooth and peaceful society. When God re-gave the law to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land, He broadened His instructions regarding honesty in measurement: You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light. You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure, that your days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD your God is giving you. For all who do such things, all who behave unrighteously, are an abomination to the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 25:13-16) The fact that one's "bag" (pocket or purse) and one's "house" are specified indicates that not just the measuring at the shop or depot is important. Honest and balanced measuring is needed everywhere—in the home and anywhere else one goes with a "weight" in one's pocket. Anytime something must be weighed, God demands that the scale or balance we use must be as accurate as possible. He does not use "abomination" lightly, yet that is how He consistently describes using varying standards when weighing or measuring. Thus, we must take great care not to use a lenient standard to measure ourselves or our friends and a harsher one for someone else. Having differing standards will contribute to the breakdown of society through distrust, suspicion, disunity, or even oppression. Our carnality moves us to weigh things in our own favor or according to our preferences. We are inclined to cherry-pick evidence that tips things to our advantage and discard or minimize facts that could tilt matters away from us. But with God's Spirit and the new heart and eyes that He has given, we have the wherewithal to use honest weights in relation to others. Anytime there is a group—such as a church—it is natural and easy to "weigh" it, especially in relation to any group we are not part of. When such measuring is done, great care must be taken not to use differing standards—a light one for our particular group and a heavy one for another. After all, the "society" at risk for disruption is not some human enclave but the spiritual Body of Christ! The relationships in it must be protected if the Body is to grow, and that begins with not despising. A "just weight" is God's delight, as Proverbs 11:1 says, because it indicates that the individual is working for the good of all and not just the good of one.
David C. Grabbe
A Just Weight Is His Delight
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Revelation 6:5-6
"Pair of scales" translates the Greek word zugón, which literally means "yoke," as in a yoke of oxen or the yoke of bondage. The beam of a balance, which resembles a yoke's crossbeam, joins or couples the two pans just as a yoke joins the oxen. Just as it is better if the yoked oxen are evenly matched, so the purpose of the balance is to determine that the contents of the two pans are equal. Today, we have little experience with pairs of scales or balances, yet until recently, they were the commonly used means of weighing substances. Perhaps we are familiar with a pair of scales from its use in a Western movie to determine the weight of a gold nugget. In addition, most of us are aware that a balance is an international symbol of justice, depicting the supposed equality of all before the law. Elements of both of these common uses appear in the third horseman. In ancient times, the value or quantity of a thing was determined by weighing it on scales. In fact, people bought and sold items by weight or measure rather than by our currency-based system. For instance, the shekel was not originally a unit of money but of weight according to which the price and quantity of things were determined. As such, scales were common marketplace items, and God demanded they be used justly (Leviticus 19:36; Proverbs 11:1; 16:11; Amos 8:4-10; Matthew 7:2). Interestingly, because scales are easily manipulated, they can also be a symbol of fraudulent exaction and oppression, as Hosea 12:7 illustrates: "A cunning Canaanite [or merchant, referring to Ephraim, which stands for all Israel]! Deceitful scales are in his hand; he loves to oppress." Micah concurs: "Shall I count pure those with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? For her rich men are full of violence, her inhabitants have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth" (Micah 6:11-12). When mentioned in terms of foodstuffs, particularly bread, scales become a symbol of scarcity because, normally, bread would be sold by the loaf without much concern for exact weight. However, during a famine when each ounce of flour was valuable, flour would be rationed by weight or measure, and neither buyer nor seller would want to be cheated. Notice God's prophetic warning in Leviticus 26:26: "When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back to you your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied." The prophet Ezekiel also mentions rationing by weight as a judgment from God: And your food which you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from time to time you shall eat it. . . . Son of man, surely I will cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and shall drink water by measure and with dread. (Ezekiel 4:10, 16) God is often depicted in the Old Testament as holding scales. For example, Hannah prays, "For the Lord is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed" (I Samuel 2:3). Solomon declares, "The Lord weighs the spirits," or the motives and attitudes of people (Proverbs 16:2). Job cries, "Let me be weighed [margin, Let Him weigh me] in a just balance, that God may know my integrity" (Job 31:6). Perhaps the best known use of the scales in this sense appears in Daniel 5:25, where God tells Belshazzar through Daniel's interpretation, "You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting." It is certainly possible that God wants us to understand all these seemingly disparate meanings in the third horseman. His lethal power is a terrible, divine judgment on mankind for its violent oppression and greed, and it takes the form of famine and wasting through malnutrition.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Four Horsemen (Part Four): The Black Horse
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Revelation 6:5-6
Clearly, this third seal pictures famine stalking the land (see Matthew 24:7; Luke 21:11). Biblically, the color black—unlike our modern conception of it as the color of evil, as opposed to white—signifies mourning and ill health as a result of scarcity (see Jeremiah 14:2; Lamentations 5:10; Nahum 2:10; all of which, in Hebrew, describe people's expressions, skins, or faces as "black" due to want). This is in keeping with another use of black or darkness in Scripture: as a sign of God's judgment for sin (Zephaniah 1:15; Joel 2:2). The pair of scales, of course, suggests similar things, adding an economic element, as grains or other foods would often be weighed for sale. Scales could also be used, as is likely intended in the third seal, to ration food during a time of scarcity. In the vision, a denarius represents a laborer's daily wage, and a quart of grain equals a person's daily nutritional requirement. The third horseman, then, portrays a scenario of hunger and suffering, when the powers that be tightly control the meting out of staple foods at highly inflated prices. Finally, there is the curious phrase, "do not harm the oil and the wine." Commentators have been debating the meaning of this command for centuries. It is clearly spoken by God, sitting among the four living creatures, and just as He sets the famine prices of grain, He also decrees that oil and wine be spared any harm. How are we to understand this? Olive oil and wine are not luxury items, as many take them to be; in the Mediterranean world, they are important supporting elements of the common diet (see Deuteronomy 7:13; Hosea 2:8; Haggai 1:11; etc.). However, while they provide supplementary nutrition, people cannot subsist on them alone. Thus, they are secondary food items, and in the prophecy, they remain plentiful. This leads to two possible conclusions: 1. God is limiting the severity of famines, as "the end is not yet" (Matthew 24:6) and "these are the beginning of sorrows" (verse 8); or more likely, 2. He is indicating a measure of disparity and irregularity in these famines. Some foods will be scarce, while others are abundant. Some people will be sorely affected, while others will hardly suffer. Some areas will be hit hard, while others feel little impact. This second conclusion suggests human involvement, a wild card in every circumstance, which would fit well with the first two seals. Unlike simple natural disasters, religious deceptions and wars require the decisions and actions of people to bring them about. God hints at a human element in all these disasters, including famine, that occur down through the centuries to remind us of our culpability in them. When man governs without the guidance of God, catastrophe and destruction are not far behind.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Scarcity Amid Plenty
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