Devotional on Deuteronomy

2014 – Florence, OR

Let’s make a deal
Deuteronomy 25: Don’t carry around with you two weights.
This portion of Deuteronomy is a grab bag of varied topics. Some of them are pretty hard to read as they deal with stuff like fluid emissions, forced marriage, and rape. Others strike me as mostly curious. The prohibition against plowing with an ox and a donkey yoked together and the one against wearing clothes of mixed fabrics comes to mind. Then there are the practical ones like what to do if a farmer finds his neighbor’s ox loose and wandering around, rules for charging interest on loans, and the prohibition on carrying differing weights. This is a simple call to honesty. An individual doing business isn’t to have two weights that he claims are the same but are actually different. A dishonest person might reach into bag and grab the heavier weight when purchasing, say, some silver. Then, when selling it, he might use an identical, lighter weight to measure the weight of the silver. That way he gets more silver than he paid for, and then cheats the buyer by selling less than what is shown on the scales. The Lord says, “don’t do that – instead, be honest in your dealings with everyone.” Some of the stuff in these chapters feels dated and even a bit weird. However, a call to honesty in business speaks to every person who’s ever filled out a tax return or sold a used car. In all of business God’s people are free to make the best deal they can; that is, so long as it’s an honest deal.
Take Away: Honesty is the best (and blessed) policy.

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