Ezekiel 45:10-12
Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.
“You shall have honest scales, an honest ephah, and an honest bath. The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, so that the bath contains one-tenth of a homer, and the ephah one-tenth of a homer; their measure shall be according to the homer. The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be your mina.” Ezekiel 45:10-12
Today, money is just like it was back when this chapter of Ezekiel was written, except they used scales to measure the worth of something. For example, we know that one dollar equals 100 pennies, or 20 nickels, or 10 dimes, or four quarters. If we used a dollar to buy 50 cents worth of something, we would expect to receive 50 cents as change. If we received only 25 cents in change, we would know something dishonest had just happened. When using scales, they could be rigged not to measure the real value of something. For example, a customer might place two quarters on the left side of a scale, but the scale is rigged to show a balance when only one quarter worth of merchandise is placed on the right side. The Jewish people were using dishonest scales to make themselves rich at the expense of those being short-changed.
The Holy Spirit is using the illustration of the “dishonest scales” as a parable to teach us the way of God through Jesus Christ. For example, if we were to find a treasure in a field, or a pearl of great price, we would want that to be valued at every penny of its worth. We would not want someone to tell us the treasure and pearl was worthless. The Salvation we find through Jesus Christ is that treasure and pearl, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:44-46
Today, we live in a culture that uses dishonest scales to devalue the Kingdom of God. They want to short-change what we have found in Jesus Christ to enrich their own earthly utopia. The scales are rigged to make the entity that gives people what to think, feel, do, and say look very heavy on the left side, but to make God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit look very light on the right side.
God has made it possible to put all things under one standard of weight, the standard of Jesus Christ, and the money to be weighed is that of the Holy Spirit. There is not one standard for the Jewish culture and another for everyone else, we are all one in Jesus Christ, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:26-29
On one side of the scale, we all come up short as sinners, but on the other side of the scale is Jesus Christ, who fills us with the weight of the Holy Spirit to make us to balance in His righteousness in the eyes of God. “For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” Romans 3:23-24
The following paragraphs describe the weights mentioned in Ezekiel 45:10-12.
An Epha was about 4 1/2 gallons of dry grain.
A Bath was about 9 gallons of some type of liquid.
A Homer would be the standard that put money on the same value system. This would be like a dollar, and the Epha was worth 10 cents on the dollar, and the Bath was also worth 10 cents on the dollar. In that way, 10 cents would buy almost a gallon of liquids and another 10 cents would buy almost a 1/2 gallon of dry grain. All through the population of the Israelites, this monetary standard was to apply.
The Shekel is like a quarter that allowed for 25 pennies to be put into one coin, or better yet, allowed 1oo dollar bills to be put into one $100 dollar bill. One Shekel equaled 20 gerahs, but 60 Shekels equaled one mina [20 + 25 + 15 = 60].
The dishonest scales used by the Jewish people totally disregarded the monetary system described above. The scales were rigged to prosper the owner of those scales while short-changing those who were buying food and other needed supplies. This was equivalent to erratic and unpredictable inflation as the customers never knew how much their shekels would buy from one day to the next. This is prophesied about for this generation, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” Revelation 16:6
“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1
Discover more from Spiritual Society in Jesus Christ
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.