“Stop your proud boasting!
Don’t let arrogance come from your mouth!
For Adonai is a God of knowledge,
and he appraises actions.“
-1 Samuel 2:3
Let’s examine the latter half of verse 3 today.
The Complete Jewish Bible says the Lord “appraises actions”.
I don’t like that translation.
Let’s see what the good ‘ole King James has to say.
“for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by him actions are weighed“.
Ah that is so much better.
Let’s see what the NIV says.
“…for the Lord is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighed“.
YES!
The NIV gets it right too!
The original Hebrew word here for “weighted” is TAKAN or תָּכַן.
According to Strong’s Concordance, it can mean either “to regulate, measure, estimate, ponder, balance, make even, level, weigh, be equal, be weighed out, test, prove”.
Out of all of those choices I like “balance” or “make even” the best.
Why?
Because I feel the word most accurately reflects how things were weighed or measured in ancient times.
See, back in the Biblical era items were weighed by placing them on a balance scale like this one:
The goal was to put an object whose weight was known on one side, and then place an amount on the other side that brought the two weight trays into balance.
Or to put an agreed amount on one side…and an equal amount on the other side so that balance was achieved.
In other words, the Biblical definition of to weigh something didn’t mean to find out how heavy something was.
Rather it meant to “balance out” or “make equal”.
So when it says “by the Lord men’s deeds are weighed” it means God is the one who brings fairness and balance to every situation according to His divine standard.
More often than not the balancing out involves the the Lord divinely reversing one’s situation in life whether positive or negative.
We are given a couple of examples in Hannah’s prayer.
Verse 4 tells us
“The bows of the warriors are broken,
but those who stumbled are
armed with strength.”
The first half of verse 5 tells us…
“Those who were full hire
themselves out for food,
but those who were hungry
are hungry no more.”
The second half of verse 5 speaks to Hannah’s former start as a barren woman:
“She who was barren
has borne seven children,
but she who has had
many sons pines away.”
These are all examples of God TAKAN-ing or bringing two opposite groups into balance.
The Lord intervenes in the affairs of men and reverses the natural order of things.
I particular love how the number 7 makes an appearance in reference to the barren woman.
Because number 7 is God’s ideal number and indicates fullness and completeness.
So the woman who was barren was given the complete number of children…
While children of the woman who was fertile have either died or abandoned her leaving her to perish in poverty.
This weighing of the Lord is the heart of the Biblical justice and you should understand it.
Of course, the big takeaway here is if you feel you’re in a bad situation in spite of your obedience to the Lord, rest assured in God’s perfect timing everything will be balanced out.
I can’t guarantee it will happen during your lifetime…
But in the final analysis, the Lord’s justice will smoothen everything out at the end of days.
And of course, the opposite also holds true.
If you’re an arrogant jerk who feels like the Lord can’t touch you in spite of your sin, well man, all I can say is you got another thing coming.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“There was a rich man who was dressed
in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury
every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named
Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat
what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the
dogs came and licked his sores.
The time came when the beggar died and
the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.
The rich man also died and was buried.
In Hades, where he was in torment,
he looked up and saw Abraham far away,
with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him,
‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and
send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger
in water and cool my tongue, because
I am in agony in this fire.’ “But Abraham replied,
‘Son, remember that in your lifetime
you received your good things, while
Lazarus received bad things, but now
he is comforted here and you are in agony.”
-Luke 16:19-25
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