Making the Ephah Small and the Shekel Large

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home › resources › literature › Making the Ephah Small and the Shekel Large

Keraza Magazine issue 49-50 December 11, 2015

"Hear this, you who swallow up the needy, and make the poor of the land fail, saying: ‘When will the New Moon be past, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may trade wheat? Making the ephah small and the shekel large, falsifying the scales by deceit," (Amos 8:4-5).

Thus God rebuked His people of old on the mouth of Amos the prophet, and He continues to rebuke us today for running to make the ephah small and the shekel large. Back then, the ephah was used to measure wheat, while the shekel was used to weigh valuables, such as coins, gold, and silver. The seller measures the wheat by the ephah and receives in exchange silver weighted by the shekel. And so, making the ephah small and making the shekel large is a double deception, where the seller gives the buyer less wheat and receives in return a larger amount of silver!

Although this saying literally explains trade fraud that did occur at that time, yet the spiritual meaning hidden within these expressions is very deep. It concerns all our interactions with God and with others. In brief, it is giving less and taking more. This applies to us whenever we:

Make the ephah small concerning our spiritual canon (prayers, fastings, readings), and enlarge the shekel of the gifts and grants we expect from the Holy Spirit.
Make the ephah small concerning our offerings to God in money, effort, and time, and enlarge the shekel of the blessings and generosity we expect from Him.
Make the ephah small in valuing God’s grace working in our lives, and enlarge the shekel in imagining that those who are against us are more than those who are with us.
Make the ephah small in our attention to the spirituality, and enlarge the shekel in our preoccupation with the materialistic.
Make the ephah small in expressing our faith, and enlarge the shekel in our requests for tangible proofs of sight.
Make the ephah small in mercy that we offer to others, and enlarge the shekel of the mercies we expect from God.
Make the ephah small in our concern for the essence, and enlarge the shekel in our concern for appearances.
Make the ephah small in honest feeling we offer to people, and enlarge the shekel of our expectations of love, care, and concern from them.
Make the ephah small in our understanding of others’ sorrows and concerns, and enlarge the shekel of estimating our own pains and sorrows.
Make the ephah small concerning our own sins, and enlarge the shekel of the weaknesses and trivial mistakes of others.
Make the ephah small concerning the thanks and gratitude we show to others, and enlarge the shekel of the praise and appreciation we expect from them.
Make the ephah small of the gifts and abilities that we see in others, and enlarge the shekel of our own valuation of uniqueness and individuality.
Make the ephah small in the reconciliation and forgiveness we offer to others, and enlarge the shekel of the reconciliation and forgiveness we expect from them.
Make the ephah small in listening to others, and enlarge the shekel by weighting down their ears with our conversations.

Oh, divine Holy Spirit, behold how we have been filled with deceit and deception; behold how truth can no longer find a place within us. We entreat you to upturn the measures and weights of our hearts and thoughts, until love and humility become the basis for all our transactions with God, and with others.

Bishop Youssef
Bishop, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States