Deuteronomy 25: Sound Money

"You must not have two different weights in your bag, one heavy and one light."

Deuteronomy 25:13

The culture of Israel had no idea what paper money was.  Most of their trade was in the form of bartering, but when they did use currency it was in the form of silver shekels.  Where did these coins get their name?  A shekel was a unit for measuring weight (akin to ounces and pounds), and the coin was a piece of silver which weighed one shekel.  This is why having honest weights was important.

The most common use for dishonest weights was for a man to shave off a portion of his silver coins, use these silver shavings to make more coins of equivalent weight, and use the dishonest weights to make others think these smaller coins weighed the same (and therefore were worth the same amount) as every other coin.

Essentially, using different weights is stealing.  Deceiving someone into making an unfair trade, whether for silver currency or as a good-for-good barter, is the same as making a fair trade and then stealing the difference - or worse, since now the guilty party has added lying to his list of crimes.  A man who used different weights was guilty of breaking both the 8th (do not steal) and 9th (do not lie) Commandments, and probably the 10th (do not covet what's not yours) as well.

Question of the Day:

Have you ever tried to deceive someone into thinking they were making a fair trade, when in actuality you were stacking the odds in your own favor?  Can you think of any modern equivalents to using dishonest weights?

Prayer of the Day:

Lord, prevent my heart from coveting what does not belong to me, the sin which leads to so many others.  Help me to keep all my trades, bargains, sales, and purchases honest and fair, no matter who I am trading with.  Give me wisdom to know when others are trying to deceive me as well.  In this time of economic stress for our whole nation and world, help Your people teach those around us about the value and importance of sound money, so that we may work our way out of the trouble we put ourselves in.  Amen.