Shincheonji lesson 21: figurative scales
Lesson 21 · Introductory
Main verses used
Links open the NET Bible.
What SCJ teaches
This section comes from class notes that an attendee wrote down during SCJ’s 9-month Bible study seminar, posted with the full Closer Look study. They are not SCJ’s printed curriculum, so the wording is the note-taker’s.
Scales are the word
The board definition is short: “Scales are the word.” The main reference is Revelation 6:5, where the rider of the black horse holds a pair of scales, which the notes say signifies “judgment in the last days.”
The stated hope is “to be weighed and found worthy in God’s scales,” because “from God’s perspective, we must be found heavy.”
What God’s scales weigh
A scale is “a symbol of judgment” and “a tool for weighing.” Proverbs 24:12 is used against a common saying. When people say God knows their heart, the instructor says, “People frequently say this to avoid doing something they know they should be doing.”
God’s scales weigh both the heart and the deeds, so “we will not be judged on faith alone.” 1 Samuel 16:7 appears on the board as the place where “God weighed David” and he passed.
Belshazzar, weighed and found wanting
Daniel 5 is the warning story. The writing on the wall said Belshazzar had been “weighed on the scales” and found lacking. “That very night, Belshazzar was killed.” The application is direct: “No one should rest assured of their standing before God.” Later the notes add, “We can accidentally err like Belshazzar, judged though ignorant,” just as “One may unknowingly exceed the speed limit and still receive a ticket.”
The word as the standard
From John 12:48 and Hebrews 4:12 the lesson concludes: “The word functions as a scale and standard for judgment.” The books of Revelation 20:12, the notes say, record “whether we learned the lessons and carried out the commands in Scripture,” including “the difficult parts we may struggle to understand.”
One question Jesus will ask is about a prophecy, Matthew 24:15-16: “did you flee?” The notes explain: “When everyone will be judged all the same, it is better to understand, better to know what he means, so that we can carry it out.”
Satan’s scales
Proverbs 11:1 is read as a parable: “The metaphor of dishonest scales represents abusing a position of power or authority to exploit people through deception.” With Proverbs 30:5-6, the problem becomes interpretation itself: when someone “adds thoughts and ideas, essentially adding to the word,” then “They make the scale dishonest.” Revelation 22:18-19 is applied against “human interpretations which can be flawed or biased.” A hint follows: “Perhaps that time has already arrived and we should examine Scripture more closely.”
Being weighed
Students draw a scale with God’s word on one side and themselves on the other, and ask: “Am I reading God’s word as if my life depends on it?” The review sums up: “The scales represent the word that judges our faith in deeds.” The memory verse is John 12:48.
In SCJ’s own books
Each passage was checked against the scanned page image; page numbers are as printed.
The Explanation of Parables (Shincheonji), page 24:
The true meaning of the figurative scales is “the word of God that weighs one’s faith and actions.”
Page 25 gives the results as printed: “God’s scales (honest scales) → Heaven”; “Satan’s scales (dishonest scales) → Hell.” On the second coming:
“At the Second Coming, God’s true shepherd weighs the faith and action of the believers with the honest scales, the word of truth (Rv 6:5-6). Conversely, Satan’s false shepherds deceive the believers with false teachings, which are the dishonest scales.”
The Physical Fulfillment of Revelation, Lee Man-hee (Shincheonji Press), page 131, on the rider of the black horse:
“The rider uses his scale to weigh the faith and actions of the people of the tabernacle of the seven golden lampstands.”
How the lesson notes compare with the books
- Scales = the word. Same teaching. The notes say “Scales are the word”; both books say the scale is God’s word (Parables p. 24; Physical Fulfillment p. 131).
- Who holds the scales. Difference. In the notes, Jesus’ words are the standard and everyone is weighed. The book puts the honest scales in the hands of “God’s true shepherd” at the second coming (Parables p. 25), and Physical Fulfillment applies the weighing to “the people of the tabernacle of the seven golden lampstands” (p. 131).
- The stakes. Difference in emphasis. The notes speak of “life and death”; the book names the results as heaven and hell (p. 25).
- Dishonest scales. Same direction. The notes say added interpretation makes the scale dishonest; the book identifies the dishonest scales with “Satan’s false shepherds” (p. 25).
What the Bible says
- In Revelation 6 the rider’s scale is followed at once by food prices, a picture of scarcity. Then when the Lamb opened the third seal I heard the third living creature saying, “Come!” So I looked, and here came a black horse! The one who rode it had a balance scale in his hand. Then I heard something like a voice from among the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat will cost a day’s pay, and three quarts of barley will cost a day’s pay. But do not damage the olive oil and the wine!” (Revelation 6:5-6, NET)
- 1 Samuel 16:7 is spoken about Eliab, the brother God rejected. It is not a scene of David being weighed. When they arrived, Samuel noticed Eliab and said to himself, “Surely, here before the Lord stands his chosen king.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t be impressed by his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way people do. People look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:6-7, NET)
- Belshazzar was not judged in ignorance. Daniel says he knew and did not humble himself. “But you, his son Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, although you knew all this. Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that cannot see or hear or comprehend. But you have not glorified the God who has in his control your very breath and all your ways! (Daniel 5:22-23, NET)
- Jesus says he came to save, and that his word judges the one who rejects him. If anyone hears my words and does not obey them, I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not accept my words has a judge; the word I have spoken will judge him at the last day. (John 12:47-48, NET)
- Revelation 20 has the books of deeds, and also the book of life. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Then books were opened, and another book was opened—the book of life. So the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds. (Revelation 20:12, NET) If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, that person was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15, NET)
- Paul says salvation is a gift received through faith, not a reward for works. For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9, NET)
- The warning against adding to God’s words applies to every teacher, including anyone who brings a new explanation. Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I am delivering to you. (Deuteronomy 4:2, NET)
Where SCJ’s reading conflicts with the Bible
The lesson’s board says “Scales are the word.” The notes add that God’s scales weigh both heart and deeds, so “we will not be judged on faith alone.” It uses Belshazzar to say “No one should rest assured of their standing before God,” and that we can be “judged though ignorant,” like a driver who gets a speeding ticket without knowing the limit. One of the questions Jesus will ask at the judgment, the notes say, is about Matthew 24:15-16: “did you flee?” SCJ’s The Explanation of Parables (p. 25) says that at the second coming, “God’s true shepherd weighs the faith and action of the believers.” Scripture does teach that God judges hearts and deeds, and that should be affirmed. But the lesson misreads its main passages, and its conclusions undercut the assurance the gospel gives.
1. Revelation 6:5-6: The rider’s scale is about food shortage
The board says “Scales are the word,” citing the rider of the black horse.
- The very next verse explains the scale: “A quart of wheat will cost a day’s pay, and three quarts of barley will cost a day’s pay. But do not damage the olive oil and the wine!” (6:6).
- A scale in the hand, followed by grain prices, is a picture of scarcity and rationing, the kind of famine that follows war (the red horse, 6:4). The Old Testament uses the same image for a siege: “They will eat their bread ration anxiously” (Ezekiel 4:16).
- The word of God isn’t in the passage.
SCJ’s The Physical Fulfillment of Revelation (p. 131) says the rider weighs “the people of the tabernacle of the seven golden lampstands,” SCJ’s name for a particular church in its own history. The text doesn’t say that either.
2. God does judge hearts and deeds, and that should be admitted
- God is “the one who evaluates hearts,” who will “repay each person according to his deeds” (Proverbs 24:12).
- Paul says God “will reward each one according to his works” (Romans 2:6), and “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
- James says “faith without works is dead” (James 2:17, 26).
But Scripture is clear about how these fit together:
- Paul writes that “by grace you are saved through faith … it is not from works” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
- Works are the fruit of salvation: “we are his creative work, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we can do them” (2:10).
- Revelation 20, which the lesson cites for the books of deeds, also opens “the book of life,” and that book decides the outcome: “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, that person was thrown into the lake of fire” (20:12, 15). Names are in that book because of the Lamb: it is “the Lamb’s book of life” (21:27).
3. 1 Samuel 16:7 is about Eliab, not David being weighed
The board says 1 Samuel 16:7 is where “God weighed David” and he passed.
- The verse is about David’s older brother Eliab. Samuel thought Eliab must be the chosen king, and the Lord said, “Don’t be impressed by his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him … the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:6-7).
- It’s a small error, but it shows how readily the lesson attaches its theme to a verse that says something else.
4. Belshazzar was not “judged though ignorant”
The notes say, “We can accidentally err like Belshazzar, judged though ignorant,” like a driver who unknowingly speeds and still gets a ticket. Daniel told Belshazzar the opposite:
“But you, his son Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, although you knew all this. Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that cannot see or hear or comprehend. But you have not glorified the God who has in his control your very breath and all your ways!” (Daniel 5:22-23)
- Belshazzar knew what had happened to his father Nebuchadnezzar, and deliberately mocked God with the temple vessels. He was judged for knowing pride and idolatry, not for an honest misunderstanding.
- Jesus distinguishes between knowing and not knowing: the servant who knew and did not get ready “will receive a severe beating,” while the one who did not know “will receive a light beating” (Luke 12:47-48).
- Paul says God “has overlooked such times of ignorance” and now “commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).
The speeding-ticket picture is not how Scripture describes God. It is used to make students fear that missing the course’s interpretation could cost them, even if they never knew.
5. Jesus’ judgment questions are not “did you flee?”
The notes say one question Jesus will ask at the judgment is whether we fled, as in Matthew 24:15-16.
- Matthew 24:15-16 was about escaping the siege of Jerusalem (Luke 21:20-21; see Lesson 12). It isn’t a judgment question.
- Jesus does describe the final judgment, in the next chapter. The questions are about whether we fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, cared for the sick and visited the prisoner. “I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me” (Matthew 25:31-46).
The judgment questions Jesus gives are about mercy to the least, not about correctly decoding a prophecy.
6. The lesson says “No one should rest assured of their standing before God”
The lesson cites Philippians 2:12, where Paul tells believers to continue “working out your salvation with awe and reverence,” and concludes: “No one should rest assured of their standing before God.”
- Read the next words: “for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort—for the sake of his good pleasure—is God” (Philippians 2:13). Believers work out what God is working in them.
- Paul in the same letter is sure “that the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (1:6).
- John: “I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).
- “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (8:38-39).
Humility before God is right. But Scripture gives believers assurance, grounded in Christ, not in how hard they study.
7. John 12:47-48: Jesus came to save
The memory verse is John 12:48. Read the verse before it:
“If anyone hears my words and does not obey them, I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not accept my words has a judge; the word I have spoken will judge him at the last day.” (John 12:47-48)
- Jesus’ word judges the one who rejects him. That’s about rejecting Jesus, not failing to understand the difficult parts of Revelation.
- And Jesus’ purpose in coming was to save.
8. Who judges? The Son
The Explanation of Parables (p. 25) says, “At the Second Coming, God’s true shepherd weighs the faith and action of the believers with the honest scales.”
- Jesus says “the Father does not judge anyone, but has assigned all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22).
- God “has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom he designated, having provided proof to everyone by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). The judge is the risen Jesus.
- Paul speaks of “Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead” (2 Timothy 4:1).
No pastor holds the scales.
9. Dishonest scales: Apply the lesson’s own definition
The lesson reads Proverbs 11:1 (“The Lord abhors dishonest scales”) as a parable: “The metaphor of dishonest scales represents abusing a position of power or authority to exploit people through deception.”
- In context, the proverb is about honest business. Even so, take the lesson’s own definition seriously.
- Recruiting people into a study without telling them who runs it or where it leads, and then using authority to bind them to it, fits that definition: “abusing a position of power or authority to exploit people through deception.”
10. Adding to the word
The lesson uses Proverbs 30:5-6 and Revelation 22:18-19 to warn against anyone who “adds thoughts and ideas, essentially adding to the word,” and hints: “Perhaps that time has already arrived.”
- The warning is real: “Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it” (Deuteronomy 4:2).
- It applies to every teacher, including SCJ. Look at what this lesson alone adds. The rider’s scale becomes the word (Revelation 6:5-6). First Samuel 16:7 becomes David being weighed. Belshazzar becomes ignorant. Matthew 24:16 becomes a judgment question. A “true shepherd” holds the scales.
- The hint that the time “has already arrived” points at the explanations students already hold. By the lesson’s own test, the additions are in the course.
What the lesson is really for
This lesson makes students unsure of where they stand:
- No one should rest assured; you can be judged even if you didn’t know.
- One judgment question is whether you understood and fled, per Matthew 24.
- Existing interpretations are “dishonest scales” that add to the word.
- “Am I reading God’s word as if my life depends on it?”
- SCJ’s book says a true shepherd weighs believers at the second coming.
The biblical answer: the rider’s scale in Revelation 6 is a picture of famine (6:6). Belshazzar was judged because he knew and still exalted himself (Daniel 5:22). The judge is the risen Son (John 5:22; Acts 17:31), whose judgment questions are about mercy to the least (Matthew 25:31-46). Jesus came to save (John 12:47), and believers can know that they have eternal life (1 John 5:13).
What’s happening behind the lesson
These notes are our reading of the lesson text, using Steven Hassan’s BITE model (behavior, information, thought and emotional control). They describe what the text does, not the teacher’s intent. Hassan notes that not every group uses every item. Source: Steven Hassan, BITE Model, Freedom of Mind.
- Emotional: can create pressure through fear of judgment. The notes say “No one should rest assured of their standing before God,” and that a person can be “judged though ignorant,” like a driver who will “still receive a ticket.” Assurance is presented as a risk, and the remedy offered is more study.
- Information: can limit trust in other teaching (our reading). Whoever “adds thoughts and ideas” makes the scale “dishonest,” and Revelation 22 is turned against “human interpretations which can be flawed or biased.” Then: “Perhaps that time has already arrived.” In our reading, the warning points at the explanations students already hold, while a new one is hinted at.
- Thought: can tie worth to effort in the course. Students draw themselves on a scale and ask, “Am I reading God’s word as if my life depends on it?” Being found “heavy” is linked to how hard they study.
The lesson’s call to “look into scripture to see why it is the case” is not a control technique in itself.