A False Balance is Abomination
“A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight…” (Proverbs 11:1 KJV)
Solomon advises us to be just in our business dealings with other people. Most business transactions relied upon the barter system. For instance, if someone had a bag of salt they wanted to trade for some leather, then both parties would agree on a certain weight of salt in exchange for a certain amount of leather. The fairness of the trade would depend, in some part, upon the accuracy of the scale, which was merely a balance bar with a known weight on one side and a space on the other for the thing weighed. Using a lighter than advertised counterweight, a dishonest trader could then take advantage of the gullible.
This practice is an abomination to the Lord. The word abomination, according to the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Dictionary means, “1) a disgusting thing; in a ritual sense or in an ethical sense…” An abomination is something that makes God “sick” at His “stomach.” Dishonesty in business or in any other realm of our lives makes God disgusted with us!
On the other hand, when we are honest and do right by our fellow man, God takes delight and pleasure in it! The word “delight” here is the opposite of abomination. God looks favorably upon morally upright and godly business ethics.
Christians are to be “wise as serpents…” – there is nothing wrong with sharp business acumen, but this also must be counterbalanced by being “as harmless as doves…” (Mat 10:16) We should go out of our way, if necessary, to be just and fair in all our dealings with other people. It may be a temptation to “fudge” the numbers a bit, to take advantage of another, but we must refrain from all forms of dishonesty.
Read Romans 12:17-18, 2 Corinthians 8:20-21; 1 Peter 2:11-12