Stop Fooling Yourself! Blind Justice Is Better Than Social Justice

*The hatred of Yahweh is *in the substitution of *stone for stone *to satisfy *the balances of discontent. (MAST)

Proverbs 20:23 (NKJV)

Diverse weights are an abomination to the Lord, And dishonest scales are not good.

*[The hatred of Yahweh is] literally, the execration of God. The proverb begins here as a noun that defines our Lord's view towards a practice that falsifies the standard of a just trade, created out of a heart of discontent. The noun opens up the understanding of God’s attitude and position regarding the practice.

God hates it! God despises it! The practice itself is the curse of God (Mal.3:9). The objects used are called accursed things (Dt.7:26; 13:17; Jos.6:17-18; 7:1-15). The schemers of the practice are an abomination to God (Gen.3:14; Ecc.7:29). We can say God's hatred is in the practice of this scheme because there is no love for God in the authors of it (Ex.18:21; 20:5; Dt.12:31). They are inventors of evil (Gen.6:5; 8:21; Rom.1:30). They have chosen not to walk in the righteous steps of the Lord (that is, the Providence of God) to exercise a just measure and weight (Pr.20:24; Ps.37:23; 40:2; 89:30-32; Ezk.37:24).

Yahweh, who is both the Creator and Lord of the heavens and the earth, takes full ownership of this emotion, this abhorrence. It is genitive of God. This hatred originates in God. Therefore, the weight and standard of this emotion are infinitely fixed and infinitely incomprehensible, compared to the human emotion (Ps.5:4-6). This hatred burns hotter than the greatest star in the universe and is higher and broader than the universe itself (Rev.20:15; Isa.33:14). There is no loving presence of God in the act of this practice, for God is as far from it as the unattainable edges of the cosmos (Job.26:13-14). These schemers do what they do because God has removed his loving restraint (2Cor.5:14). No one participates in this practice who loves Yahweh's commandments to recognize it as an abomination (1Jn.2:9-11; 3:13-15; 4:19-21), and therefore there is no one to discipline the authors of it (Pr.20:26; 1Jn.3:6-9). But God stands over this practice with a stored up hatred against it in his heart (Rom.2:1-5).

*[in the substitution of] This phrase was added on my part to give understanding to the practice represented here. It doesn’t really carry over into English, so it is sometimes necessary to do this for the mind of the reader to get into the mind of this culture. Literally, what follows ‘the hatred of Yahweh’ is ‘stone for stone,’ but what is being presented here is a practice. But its description is laid out strictly with Hebrew nouns. There are no verbs in this construct to aid us in how the construction functions in tense, voice, or mood. It’s as if this is strictly a statement, but it’s a statement describing God’s emotion towards an evil practice. It could be rendered: “The hatred of Yahweh is stone for stone in the propitiation of the balances of discontent.”

It is as though Solomon is holding these objects (these things), these stones in his hand, expecting the reader to understand what they are, what they represent, and more importantly, what they do in this practice. But we cannot see them unless we understand the culture.

Therefore, the description of the practice of these “differing stones” is found after the conjunction in the next construct. This noun that is found here is not describing the scale but the exchange of the stones or weights in place of another. It is not the scale that is set up to trick or manipulate as a computer program would, but the objects are set up to deceive when placed on the balances of the scale. So in the application, there is the deceptive substitution of one stone for another. The image of the stone has similar characteristics, but the weight is different. And so, when placed on a scale, there is an imbalance (Dan.5:27). That makes this an intentional act of the author who created this art of deception. It is premeditated theft!

The noun then acts more like an adjective to describe the discontented person or persons behind this fraud. It describes a subtle change in the nature of the stone used as a standard weight of measure (Ps.118:22; 1Pet.2:7). If gold is the agreed-upon standard weight of measurement for the trade, and one ounce of gold is the agreed exchange value for twelve ounces of rubies, but I use fool’s gold, which is less dense than real gold, to make that exchange, then I have purposely deceived my partner in the trade agreement. I have made a false substitution.

We see this same hatred of God in the image of the serpent, who deceived Eve into exchanging the soul of her husband (Gen.3:6), Adam (Gen.3:13-15), who was her Spirit, her lord (1Cor.6:17; 2Cor.3:17), in flesh for flesh and image for image (Gen.1:27; 2:20, 23-24), in substitution for the evil of the whole world (Gen.2:16; Matt.16:26). Therefore this a false substitution to satisfy the balances of justice. Image for image, it is a hoax: an illusion, a parlor trick, smoke and mirrors.

*[stone for stone] literally, stone for stone. I think it is best to understand it this way, too. Again, imagine Solomon is holding these two stones, one in each hand, as he is demonstrating this trick (this science experiment) before his son. But teaching him also how much Yahweh despises it, warning him in all seriousness that if he builds a kingdom in this manner, he will reap severe consequences for doing so (Gal.6:7). Substituting these stones for each other betrays the trust of Yahweh’s righteous and just name (Num.20:11-12). Israel is to be a nation, a people, that does business by the standard of the Most High, the Almighty maker of heaven and earth. To betray his standard is to betray the nation's trust in his promises and judgments that she is commanded to walk in as a people.

So, stone for stone, these are differing weights by a standard that is utterly not of this world (Matt.16:18, 23). Christ, then, is the exclusive substitute that balances the scale of God’s righteous judgment (Matt.5:48). There is no other image of a man placed on the balance of this scale that can reconcile sinners to God (Jn.3:10-21; Ps.62:9). Without Christ, Adam's soul remains lost and exiled from the Spirit of God’s favor (Ps.22:6). God regards the spirit of such a man as no higher than a beast; yes, than that cunning serpent that deceived the soul of his wife (Ecc.3:17-21; 8:8-9; Hos.12:7).

Therefore these stones are not comparable to each other, not compatible with each other, and not even parallel to each other. They are opposites. This proverb is given in addition to verse 10 of this same chapter (Pr.20:10). We previously translated that proverb as: “Stone for stone; size for size; though two of them be the same, they are an abomination of Yahweh.” (The Forgotten Memorial (7thdayministries.com))

In that translative interpretation, Yahweh's hatred was in how stones of the same size and weight (image for image, if you will) are stacked on each other for a memorial. Still, here the hatred is demonstrated in how differing stones are used on a scale to satisfy a trade agreement. That’s where the following conjunction comes in; it joins the description of these stones to the balances of those individuals of discontent, who have doctored the outside of these stones to appear as something they are not, an image that is hiding beneath the surface (Matt.23:25-33; Acts 23:3).

*[to satisfy] conjunctively, to falsify. But as this conjoins the description of the stones to the construct of the balances, it means to satisfy by deception. It’s a trick of the trade. The scale is deceiving itself by substituting one stone for another, thus satisfying the scale, having been designed to give the appearance of justice. Still, it is being disillusioned because of the discontent of the schemer. The scale is under the delusion that it satisfies justice because it is naive to the deception of the stones. The schemer is satisfied, and the other trader may be disillusioned (that is, satisfied) in the contentment of the traded goods. Still, nevertheless, he was swindled by the ignorance of the scale. Meanwhile, Yahweh's hatred fills the scale the whole time because of the lack of love for God’s commandments. This practice is an abomination to God (1Jn.3:8, 10-12).

*[the balances of discontent] literally, balances falsified by discontent. I don’t believe I need to explain further the Hebrew noun used for the balance scale other than the fact that it is a dual construct. It is not referring to multiple scales per se, but one scale of two balances. So it’s viewing both parties as judging themselves by the same scale, but it is a scale of discontent. And so when God’s judgment and perspective rightly balance the scale, both parties are weighed as discontent or “not good.” In this understanding, God abhors the whole scale, even though one balance is opposite to the other, in that one was content to be deceived (Matt.25:27; Lk.19:23). He despised his soul enough not to judge himself by the standard of the righteous scale, being willfully ignorant of the commandment (Amos 8:5; Mic.6:11; Ezk.45:10; Lev.19:35-36; Dt.25:13-16; Ps.62:9; Pr.11:1; 16:11). “The scale and the balances belong to Yahweh; His purpose is in all the weights of the bag.” Everything is to be tested by the Word of God.

Now we come to this Hebrew adjective, tob, which sounds like, toev. It leads with negation, so I translated it: discontent. But as we have studied this same word in previous proverbs, I believe the best understanding of the Hebrew adjective is contentment. Let’s look back to Proverbs 18:22, where I first labored to expound this so that we can trace the thoughts of Solomon as he progresses in the use and development of the word. We translated that proverb as follows: “He who finds a wife is he who secures the contentment which buys favor from the Lord.” In that translative work, I don’t mean literally that a man can buy favor from God, but rather the buying into the righteous standard of marriage, defined as one man with one woman for life, is the favorable practice of the Lord. God loves the contentment of the union of one man with one woman for life.

• *[the contentment] literally, what is good. But it carries the merriness or pleasant emotion of joy in what is morally valuable and true (what is right). It refers to “the whole” of goodness. It is the desire to possess all that the body is made for and the soul that it was made with. It is the desire to own all that God has to offer. But it is not the plurality of these things (plural) all at once (Gen.2:16-17); it is the (singular) means (or sacrament) to pursue them. It’s the “buying into” the access of the joy of the worship. Man is a worshiper whether he chooses to be or not; whether he takes pleasure in sin or in God, he serves something. It’s (what) or (who) he worships that either leaves him empty and void or full and satisfied.

We also saw this Hebrew adjective, tob, in Proverbs 19:2. We translated it there as: “Therefore, without understanding in the soul, there is no contentment; for a runner narrows away with feet to forfeit the soul.”

• *[the soul] literally, the verbal participle. This verb is participle to its object. The participle is the aim or mark of the action of the verb. The aim is for the soul to be content, but the soul is lost in missing contentment. So the runner is striving to keep the feet [rather than] aiming the feet for contentment. But when the feet have no direction, the feet have no soul. Therefore, it should be the direction of the feet to keep the soul in the “understanding” of the contentment of the LORD. It’s not a sin to be a “runner” but a sin to run with feet that have no direction in their purpose (or they’ll end up as mere feet without a soul).

Now in Proverbs 19:8, we translated it as: “He who buys back the heart loves his own soul; he who leads with understanding will secure her contentment.”

• *[buys back] literally, to purchase. But this is a participle of, to own. This buying back makes this individual “the possessor.” The verb also implies that the item was lost or misplaced, but the only way to obtain it back is through repossession (a buyback). So this is not “a rent to own” agreement. This is a purchase with full possession of the lost (or stolen) item. It is redemption to self-erect, to put back in place or order (Ex.19:5). In context, of course, this is not encouraging Arminianism (the power to save oneself), but Solomon is hinting for us “to lead” our heart rather than follow it (Ezk.18:31). Solomon is telling us to get out in front of our own heart by purchasing wisdom, which has the eternal perspective to guide us through life’s mysteries (Deut.29:29;32:6;1Cor.2:7;4:1; Eph.1:9; Dan.2:22). Our heart is powerless to do this, so we must be purchasing those things that offer a greater perspective (1Cor.6:20;7:23). The man who does this loves his own soul and already has the wisdom not to drown in his own ignorance (Eph.5:28). He has the “sense” to look away from himself in order to lead himself (Eph.5:33). This is a heart that purchases wisdom (1Jn.3:20). He buys into the heart that is greater than himself, to lead himself with understanding (Isa.43:4; Prov.23:23). Doing so causes him to discover what is eternally good -- contentment with reality and God (1Pet.2:4; 1Cor.7:29; 1Tim.6:6).

• *[leads] literally, to have charge over. The Qal participle could be defined as a watchman. So it is this treasuring up of understanding and guarding over it for her protection. The noun for “understanding” is feminine, so this understanding is subordinate to the verb, “to keep,” but this understanding is the essential “key” to the “watchman’s” contentment (goodness)(Col.1:12; 2Cor.3:5). Without this contentment, he watches over understanding (in vain) (Ps.127:1). So while the feminine noun is subordinate, she still rules together “with” the guardian of her value and worth (1Pet.3:7; Acts 20:24 (ESV); Matt.6:26;10:31;12:12).

• *[secure] literally, to find. But this is not like the previous verb of the prior proverb of the man who “dogs.” The verb, to find, here, is not like the dog that “hunts down” to secure his prey. This verb is much milder, such as stumbling upon a treasure. Think of walking along a path, and looking down by happenstance, you find a penny laying heads up at your amazement. That’s the kind of action through which this contentment “is secured.” This goodness of the grace of life, called contentment, is not “secured” like a dog that hunts down his prey. No, this contentment is secured over time through “leading” your own heart to get out in front of its own destruction and (permit) understanding to happen upon you. Understanding then will follow you like a dog chasing an ambulance. She chases after you for her health and salvation. Your leadership then exists for her contentment and edification, for the erection of her soul (Matt.15:27-28).

• *[her contentment] literally, moral completeness. Here, the adjective describes the feminine noun in construct to the understanding; but the verb, to secure, is infinitive of the feminine noun. So the watchman watches over ‘her’ contentment by getting out in front of his own. This is how a man is to love his own soul (Mk.12:29-31); for in this, understanding will dwell securely with him and in him and through him (Col.1:16; Gen.1:27; 1Cor.11:7). This is how the image of wisdom was made for “the” man (Col.1:9-15). He is to live for her good understanding, the contentment of her love. This is how a Christian man is “to lead.” He is to lead in the image of Christ.

[It is an abomination of Yahweh, stone for stone, for the satisfaction of the balances of discontent].