Fair Trade – Proverbs 11:1

Did you know there is a National Conference of Weights and Measures, made up of state and local officials, federal agencies, manufacturers, retailers and consumers? They’ve been conferencing annually since 1905. They publish standards for weights and measures that have been adopted by the states, territories, District of Columbia and Navajo Nation, so that there is national uniformity in commerce.  They also have an evaluation program for weighing and measuring devices and provide a Professional Certification Program for weights and measure officials.  This is a big deal!  Solomon tells us why.

A false balance is an abomination to the LORD,

but a just weight is his delight. (Proverbs 11:1, ESV)

In some places if you want the police to investigate your complaint, you pay them a bribe.  Or, as a friend of mine experienced, his insurance settlement after his car was stolen, kept getting delayed until a friend of his, a native of the country he was living in, paid a bribe.  Perhaps you’ve needed something desperately, like a car repair, and the repair shop said it was such and such a problem and charged a large amount, only to find later that a simple part replacement would have cheaply solved the problem.

There are many examples of injustice in human society.  In some countries or communities it is more prevalent or accepted than others.  But always, for those caught on the wrong end of the “balance” it is incredibly frustrating.  We were in another country where we had rented a vehicle and the instructions were to bring it back with a full tank of gas or the company would charge a much higher fee for filling the tank.  But included in the instructions was a warning that when getting gas at a local station we must watch to see that the pump started out at zero when the attendant filled our car.

As frustrated as we are with such selfish and unfair profiting, Yahweh is even more so.  Creating a false balance for weighing goods out and other such injustices is an abomination to Him.  It is a testimony to mankind’s unwillingness to trust Him to provide our needs through honest labor.  On the other hand, it brings absolute delight to His soul when we are honest in our labor for others and only charge what is fair.

We really feel that same delight, don’t we.  With the pandemic, forest fires, storm destruction and other disasters we regale ourselves with stories of unselfish help given to folks whose property and lives were devastated, with those willing to work to fight against illness and destruction.  It is almost as if we are surprised by the goodness people can show one another.  People are practicing the rule Jesus taught us, “Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them” (Matthew 7:12).