Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight.
Proverbs 11:1 (NKJV).
God desires a high-trust society, and for us to deal with others honestly. This is enabled by seeing past the immediacy of selfishness to understanding both the temporal and eternal consequences of sin, the denying of God's order and design in favor of that which denounces God, and good.
The problem is that, and this this is an issue that is difficult for a lot of folks, because so many were brought up under false pretenses, under empty rhetoric which should have been suspicious, that has put down deep roots, and it's hard to tear that up and face reality.
Trying to behave honestly with those who are dishonest is not "justice". That's a dishonest scale, though not for the reasons that may be most obviously apparent.
Denying truth is not something that aligns with God's desires, God's nature. If someone is dealing with you dishonestly, and you ignore that to pretend like they are dealing with you honestly, you are denying truth in your circumstances. While I don't think that qualifies as sin, nor would being the victim of a circumstance you could have averted, it would affirm that you are a fool, and we've been hearing a lot about them throughout Proverbs.
God desires that we deal with people honestly, but that doesn't mean we ignore what's literally happening in front of us, that we deceive ourselves. If someone is being dishonest, the scales are not made just because of our actions, because of our ignoring their sinful attempts to attain selfish gain.
Proverbs was written in an era of Israel's history when it was likely high-trust. The reason we can tell is from the punishments for those who broke The Law. Consequences are foundational to trust because, if someone wrongs you, and there is no consequence, why wouldn't someone do so to benefit themselves? There's no consequence for the act, so how could it even be considered "wrong"?
Thus why Israel, in obedience to God, with consequences both eternal and temporal, would have been a place which should have trended towards trustworthiness because the cost of deceit was so high.
Should have.
Thus the difference between what God desires and what God allows, what God abhors but will judge eternally and that which God abhors and will judge both temporally and eternally.
This does not excuse sin, it just means that the modern interpretations of sin, where one's own pursuits of justice, one's righteousness, counts for anything, is a tragic lie that has brought much pain and suffering which would have otherwise been averted. People have been fools, thinking God would reward their foolishness, and that's simply not the case.
We should strive after what God desires, but not partake in deceptions and lies, even if only to ourselves, in order to accomplish it. God will not only not honor what we accomplish, we will be judged by the arrogance in presuming that our way, and not God's way, is the correct path for demonstrating obedience to God.
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