ECONOMY 06 – CHEATING & TRADE
Definition (Merriam-Webster)
- Cheating = to break a rule or law to gain an advantage, to take something from somebody by lying or breaking a rule, to prevent somebody from having something they deserved or expected.
- Deception = making somebody believe something that isn’t true
Foundational Scriptures
Deu 25:13-16 Honest weights
“You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, large and small. You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures. Large and small. You shall have only a full and honest weight; you shall have only a full and honest measure, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are abhorrent to the LORD your God.”
Lev 19:35-36 Honest weights
“You shall not cheat in measuring length, weight, or quantity. You shall have honest balances, honest weights, and honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the LORD you God, who brought you out of Egypt.”
Eze 45:10 Honest weights
“You shall have honest balances, and honest ephah, and an honest bath.”
- ‘bath’ /’ephah’ and ‘hin’ are measures of volume, 24 and 4 liters respectively
- God commands honesty in trade, in measures of length, weight, volume
- Honesty means: what is said needs to be done, a kg needs to be a kg
- Honesty means: what is said needs to be true… quality as promised
Prov 11:1, 16:11
“A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but an accurate weight if his delight. Honest balances and scales are the LORD’s; all the weights in the bag are his work ”
- Honesty in trade pleases God.
- Trade itself is not bad or evil, it can be done rightly and righteously.
Prov 11:1, 20:10, 20:23
“A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but an accurate weight if his delight. … Diverse weights and diverse measure are both alike an abomination to the Lord … Differing weights are an abomination to the LORD, and false scales are not good.”
Mic 6:10-12
“Can I forget the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is accursed? 11 Can I tolerate wicked scales and a bag of dishonest weights? 12 You wealthy are full of violence, you inhabitants speak lies, with tongues of deceit in their mouths.”
- God has very strong language for dishonest transactions: ‘abomination’ (something abominable, abhorrent, disgusting, hateful, loathsome) and ‘accursed’ (something having a curse on it)
- Why such strong words about a daily occurrence that we think so normal?
- Deu 25:15 linked honest trade <=> longevity, therefore we must assume that cheating <=> instability of a country
Why does God command this? How is cheating bad or hurtful?
- frustration, anger, discouragement. Similar to stealing, just smaller scale
- God wants to prevent people to have to experience this daily.
- goal not reached, effort frustrated, rectifying takes more cost & energy.
- it’s cumbersome, complicated, annoying, damage is greater than gain.
- I can’t rely on things > can’t plan things > can’t successfully do things.
- it’s an inefficiency, a waste of time, resources, energy, thought.
- it’s a breech of word, contract … no reliable information.
- I need a lot of knowledge to prevent cheating, I need to know experts.
- the poor, uneducated, simple (those it hurts most) are least able to prevent cheating.
- it hurts the poor most, it hinders and discourages the development of people.
- culture of lying, of mistrust, of disrespect, of denying each others’ rights.
- it cannot be ensured by prosecution, the amounts are too small, therefore it is a moral issue, not a legal one … maybe that’s why God is so strong.
Example
- Buying medicines as a clinic administrator: Pharmaceutical companies that cheat about amounts, prices, quality, delivery dates waste time, money, energy.
- But with companies who trade honestly and keep word huge transactions can be done quickly and efficiently.
What does honesty in trade lead to?
- Cost-efficiency, less time and labor needed
- > higher trade volume possible.
- > Higher trust, better long-term relationships, more investment, more scope
Bigger Scale
What is true for small trade transactions is true also for big international trade:
- > breech of word > frustration, rejects, inefficiency, inability to deliver on time
- > waste of money, energy, re-sources, manpower
- > Example: Big companies have pulled out of Bangladesh because they cannot get the quality they need, or can’t get things in the time they need it.
If there is consistent cheating in a nation:
- > frustration of buyers, higher cost in trading, waste of time, skill, money, labor
- > less efficiency > higher costs > less investment > less production > less skill > less development
Cumulative effect of cheating
- > Each little act of cheating or bribing seems small and unable to hurt much. But if you cheat and think it ‘no big deal’, so will everybody else, leading to a long line of cheating. The cumulative effect is a complete stranglehold and paralysis.
- > Example: bridge tolls to get a truck from the village to Dhaka.
- > God abhors cheating because of its fruit: frustration, inefficiency, waste.
- > We should hate cheating, too! Never feel triumphant or smart for cheating.
Links of cheating to other sins
Lev 19:11 cheating <=> breech of contract, lying
“You shall no steal, you shall not deal falsely, you shall not lie to one another.”
Jer 6:13, Jer 8:10 cheating <=> abuse of power or position
“For from the lest tot he greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.”
Amo 8:5-6 cheating <=> hurting the poor
“When will new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the Sabbath so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat.” (cheating about quality)
Hos 12:7 cheating <=> Injustice, oppression
“A trader, in whose hands are false balances, he loves to oppress.”
Mic 6:10-12 cheating <=> unjust gain, injustice, violence
“Can I forget the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is accursed? Can I tolerate wicked scales and a bag of dishonest weights? You wealthy are full of violence, you inhabitants speak lies, with tongues of deceit in their mouths.”
Bangladesh Examples
- The Immigration Officer, by demanding bribes for visas he is positively selecting for cheaters to enter the country and honest people to not come. Those cheater business people will not make up for the money paid in bribes from their own pocket, but rather the poor Bangladeshi workers in their companies. In effect the Immigration Officer is cheating his own poor people.
- Adulterated foods or medicines, hurting children and patients especially.
- Unfulfilled warranties, non-existing customer service, leading to frustrated buyers.
- ‘Christian’ Drug company with a overtly religious name, selling low quality drugs at mid-range prices to Christian organizations.
- New ‘Christian’ Bangla Learning School, stealing curriculum from other schools, yet still hoping for God’s blessing.
- Exam questions being leaked and degrees that are to be bought have the total effect of reducing the value of everybody’s degree in general.
Dishonesty in trade has the same effect as bribes:
> A little gain for few people for a short time =
> A lot of loss for most people for a long time
Links of honesty to other blessings
Lev 25:14, Lev 25:17 honesty in trade <=> peaceful co-living
“When you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not cheat one another … You shall not cheat one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God.”
God’s high standard
Lev 6:3, 5 cheating with found objects
“When any of your commit a trespass … have found something lost and lied about it … you shall repay the principal amount and shall add one fifth to it. You shall bring … a guilt offering.”
- This is a very high standard: integrity even with found objects
- Bangladesh example: When mangoes fall of a tree due to the wind, even in the tree’s owner’s presence: those who run and catch the mangoes first think they are entitled to them.
Mal 1:14 cheating God is disrespecting God
“Cursed be the cheat who has a male flock and vows to give it and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished; for I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name is reverenced among the nations.”
Some cheaters & deceivers in the Bible
- Gen 27:35-36 Jacob cheating Esau out of blessing
- Gen 29:25 Laban cheating Jacob about his bride
- Gen 31:7, 20, 26, 27 Laban cheating Jacob by changing his salary
- Gen 36 Jacob’s sons deceiving & killing men of Shechem
- Gen 37:31 Jacob’s sons deceiving about Joseph
- Jos 9 Gibeonites trick Joshua into a peace treaty
- 2 Sam 3 David’s general Joab murdering Abner
- Act 5:1-11 Ananias & Sapphira, lying about price of field
- Cheating is linked to selfishness, abuse, breech of word, lying, fraud, bribes, injustice in court, oppression … God hates all of it! … God is like none of it!
- God is a God of covenant keeping, a God of truth, of reliability, of integrity, of honesty, of fairness, of justice, of peace and of selfless love
- We need to be like him, honest and trustworthy!