18:12-13 cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.
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, silver, precious stones and pearls; | 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, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; | 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 sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, 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) |
| cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, | 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) |
| of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; | 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; | The Livestock Market | Fellowship/Sacrifices | Fellowship (Ezekiel 34:11-16) Sacrifices (Revelation 5:6) |
| horses and carriages; | 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) |
| and human beings sold as slaves. | 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) |