Theft and a false oath are different crimes, but here they are mentioned side by side and cursed together. The differences in...
Theft and a false oath are different crimes, but here they are mentioned side by side and cursed together. The difference in the nature of these actions does not alter the sameness of their essence: unlike sins are equally abhorrent. Moreover, the sinners themselves bring them closer together by choosing the same arguments for self-justification (“There is nothing terrible about it; everyone does it...” ).
An ephah, a measure of liquid equal to forty liters, contains the woman who personifies wickedness, and this reservoir of sin must be removed far away. But then we see that in a pagan land people want to build a house—that is, a temple—for the wickedness being banished, which means that they want to make wickedness an object of worship. We have no right to say that because pagans are mentioned here, these words do not apply to us. By permitting ourselves “small and forgivable sins,” we imperceptibly turn away from God and risk sinking into sin up to the crown of our heads, becoming its servants and worshipers. The consequences may prove sadder than the fruits of open paganism.