Ezekiel 45:10

In Ezekiel 45 we are still caught up in Ezekiel’s vision of the temple, and now God is telling him about the feasts and things that are going to happen when the new temple is built. The verse that struck me, for some reason, is verse 10:

‘You shall have honest scales, an honest ephah, and an honest bath.’ (Ezekiel 45:10)

God makes a big point of having honest scales in the Bible, moreso than perhaps we think is proportional. We know it is a good thing to be honest (or in this case I guess the word is ‘just’), but there are other good things too. Now the intent here is more for social justice, for laws to uphold honesty in trade and social matters. But it of course implies personal honesty, which implies personal sincerity. And I think this is why it struck me. Ours is an age where real honesty and sincerity have somewhat disintegrated. It’s not that we tell any more outright lies than any other generation (although we may), it’s more ‘the truth you hear may not be the truth you thought you heard’. It’s the holding back of truth, the veiling of truth behind circumstance and façade. And the fact is, this is probably just as, if not more prominent among Christians as it is amongst non-Christians, because we feel the need to hide our sins. The Bible holds a different answer – it tells us to confess our sins! Let them be over with! What would happen if all Christians started being honest with each other, and not in a spirit of criticism, but a spirit of love? How much stronger would the Church be? We should have honest scales.