From: Stand to Reason — Principles of Successful Business from Proverbs
DISHONESTY OFFENDS GOD:
( 11:1 ) A false balance* is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.
( 20:23 ) Differing weights are an abomination to the Lord, and a false scale is not good.
( 16:11 ) A just balance and scales belong to the Lord, all the weights of the bag are his concern.
( 20:10 ) Differing weights and differing measures, both of them are abominable to the Lord.
DISHONESTY is BAD BUSINESS:
( 10:2a ) Ill-gotten gains do not profit.
( 13:11a ) Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles.
( 15:27a ) He who profits illicitly troubles his own house.
( 19:22b ) It is better to be a poor man than a liar….
( 20:17 ) Bread obtained by falsehood is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
( 21:6 ) The getting of treasure by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor, the pursuit of death.
( 28:16b ) He who hates unjust gain will prolong his days.
__________
*
From: RickCreighton.com — Dishonesty – Proverbs 11v1
The LORD abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight. The basic picture here is pretty straightforward. What you’ve got is a shopkeeper who uses a set of scales those old-fashioned scales. You know the balance-type ones, where you put the weights on one side and the food – or whatever you’re selling – on the other. And let’s say our shopkeeper is an Israelite shopkeeper, so he’s selling figs or olives or something. What he’ll do is he’ll charge you a certain amount per kilo. It’s just the same as supermarkets today – fruit and veg is still usually priced in pounds per kilo. Things haven’t changed much. Well, it might have been denariuses per shekel back then, but the principle is still the same.
Now if he’s a dodgy shopkeeper what he’ll do is he’ll make his set of weights too light. He’ll have these big weights that say 1 Kilo on them, but he’ll have made them slightly hollow or something. So you ask for kilo of figs, and you pay for a kilo of figs, and he pops the 1 Kilo weight on the scales, and it looks like he weighs out a kilo of figs – everything balances nicely. But actually you’re only getting 700 grams of figs. And, the proverb says, God hates it. He really hates it.
Now this is small-time dishonesty that’s being talked about here. It’s not international bank robbery or grand larceny. This is small, day to day stuff. Cheating someone when you do business with them. Certainly God hates big, huge, horrible crimes. But he hates little, small dishonesties too. In fact, the word “hates” almost isn’t strong enough – that’s why the NIV has the word “abhors” – it means absolutely and utterly hates. God hates dishonesty of any sort, big or small.
Read Entire Article
Related:
Asbury Revival, 1970: “Dr. Kinlaw, I am a liar. Now what do I do?”
All of my Lying posts at ToBeFree, including Why Do People Lie? Fear, Lack of Love & Greed
