18:12-13 cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble, and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives.
The CARGOES can be broken down into 8 market groups. While they clearly have the physical groupings, they also have a spiritual/symbolic meaning. This discussion will try to show these meanings.
CARGOES of
| Physical Market Group |
Symbolic Group |
Discussion |
|
| gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and | The
Investment Market |
Complete Faith |
Gold (1
Peter
1:3-7-9) Silver (Psalm 66:8-10-12) Precious Stones (Isaiah 28:9-16-22) Pearl (Matthew 13:45-46) |
| fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and | The
Commodities Market |
Royal
Righteousness |
Fine linen (Revelation
19:11-14-16) Purple [cloth] (Mark 15:16-17-20) Silk (Ezekiel 16:8-10-13-14) Scarlet [yarn] (Leviticus 14:1-4-6-9) |
| every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble, | The
[Construction]
Materials
Market |
Worship/temple |
These
materials are listed
for
temple construction as well as for the utensils used during temple
service. The earthly temple was temporary; our "heavenly temple" is
eternal. (1
Chronicles
29:1-2-9; 1
Corinthians
3:5-16-17) |
| and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and | The Luxury
Market |
Holiness/Anointing
Oil |
Just as these
items are
luxurious in the physical world, the anointing oil and incense was/is
"very holy" in God's world (Exodus
30:22-23-34-36) |
| wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and | The Food
Market |
Eternal
Life/Truth |
The widow at
Zarephath
experienced first hand how these food items never run out. Furthermore,
"life" was restored to her son by Elijah in whose mouth was the word of
the Lord. Truth and life go together. (1 Kings 17:8-14-24; John 14:1-6-11) |
| cattle and sheep, and | The Livestock
Market |
Fellowship/Sacrifices |
Fellowship (Ezekiel
34:11-16) Sacrifices (Revelation 5:6) |
| cargoes of horses and chariots and | The
Transportation Market |
Holy
judgments or the
Wrath of
God |
See Revelation
6:2; Chariots is better translated as "4 wheeled wagons" --
not
clear what the symbolic meaning may be. Perhaps it means multitudes of
judgments (much like the 7th seal contains the trumpet judgments and
7th trumpet contains the bowl judgments) |
| slaves and human lives. | The Manpower
Market |
Persons bound
by sin
(slaves)
and Souls |
How many
church-attending
souls
still are bound to sin because they have not heard the "words of God".
It is painful to realize that, then as now, people's souls are treated
like a market. Statistics are kept on how many people attend
and
on how much money (tithes and offerings) is collected. (John
8:31-34-47) |
We notice that the Energy Market(s), the Information/Knowledge Market(s)s, and Homeland Protection Market(s), to name a few, are missing. This implies that Babylon's fall will be a total collapse of the global economy with its many "high technology" innovations. Similarly, religious organization(s), still active at that time, will collapse because they have become so intertwined with and dependent upon these hi-tech gadgets. If you or your church are heavy into these technologies, be aware that they should NOT be a "necessity". All of these things will disappear in one hour (verse 19). If you are among the "saints and apostles and prophets", then you are to rejoice when this happens (verse 20) because the global economy has passed away forever (verse 21). Now the eternal economy truly can come into being (Revelation 19:1-9). Please prayerfully consider, in light of this, what you and your fellow believer's mission is!