Part 6
Hi Beloved & Friends…
Next we read…
- Rev 18:11 And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their cargo anymore;
12 the cargo of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and every ivory vessel, and every vessel of very precious wood, and of bronze, and of iron, and of marble, 13 and cinnamon, and incenses, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
- Here, we are introduced to the merchants that will do business with this great city, & as we are told in verse 15 they became rich with all the profits from their business relationship, & how heartbroken they will be, because they won’t be able to profit from her anymore.
Now it is interesting that the Lord lets us know with details, the type of goods that they sold to this great city. If you look in the web, you’ll see that some of the greatest cities in the world are known for some exalting characteristics of their own. Now when we look into the Old Testament for the goods that the merchants sold to Jerusalem in the times of king Solomon when he built the Temple & during his kingdom, we find very interesting facts.
I will go over the goods that the merchants of Revelation 18 sold to this great city, because I think these items will point to Jerusalem because of all the religiosity that will be emanating from there towards the whole world, remembering that the Abomination of Desolation will be there.
I found in my concordance that the only times in the Old Testament that “gold, silver, & precious stones appear together is in 2Ch 32:27 referring to Hezekiah king of Judah & his riches, also Est 1:6 describing the pompous party given by Ahasuerus king of Persia in the days of Ester who became his wife later on.
Now the next references are quite interesting, since they have to do with the city of Jerusalem & the building of the first Jewish Temple under king Solomon.
1Ch 29:1-2 And David the king said to all the assembly, "Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great, for the palace will not be for man but for Yahweh God. 2 So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, besides great quantities of onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones and marble. 3 In addition, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, since I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, I give it to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, 4 even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, with which to overlay the walls of the houses; 5 of gold for the things of gold, and of silver for the things of silver, and for all kinds of work to be made by the hands of artisans. Who then offers willingly to consecrate himself today to Yahweh?” 6 Then the princes of the fathers’ households, and the princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers over the king’s work, offered willingly; 7 and they gave for the service of God’s house of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand darics, of silver ten thousand talents, of brass eighteen thousand talents, and of iron one hundred thousand talents. 8 People with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of Yahweh’s house, under the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite.
Pay attention: Of his own treasure king David donated three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, seven thousand talents of refined silver, five thousand talents and ten thousand darics, of silver ten thousand talents of brass, eighteen thousand talents, and of iron one hundred thousand talents, plus many precious stones. According to the website https://bibleask.org/how-much-did-king-david-give-to-the-building-of-gods-temple/,
1-Three thousand talents. If this was a regular talent, measured at 75.39 lb. the amount of gold gathered by David would thus be about 113 tons (102 metric tons). However, we cannot be certain of the precise value of ancient standards of weight.
2- Seven thousand talents. On the basis of a talent weighing 75.39 lb., the amount of silver given would be about 263 tons, or 239 metric tons.
3- 7. Iron. On the basis of a talent weighing 75.39 lb. the amount of iron contributed would total about 3,770 tons, or 3,420 metric tons. It should be noted that Iron was of much greater value in those days than it is today.
Besides king David, the princes of all the tribes of Israel, & the captains in the army & all the people who owned precious stones also donated to the Temple’s construction.
Scholars calculate that the cost of building Yahweh’s Temple in the days of Solomon is equivalent to 6 billion dollars of today.
If we think about the multimillionaires of today, I can say that since their riches are calculated in millions of dollars, who are not even worth the paper on which they are printed, or virtual bank figures of money not backed by gold, as paper money used to be, compared to the riches of David & Solomon based on solid riches, those millionaires look like middle class citizens, as the only solid riches they truly have are the real state they possess, or the machinery they have in their industries.
Solomon's Throne
Why do I find these facts interesting? Well, if we bear in mind that the Temple that Solomon built was & is still considered the most pompous & rich of all temples ever, since the Antichrist will want to be consider the awaited Jewish Messiah, don’t you think he will want to make this new Jewish temple, in Jerusalem, the richest one ever, to boast of his greatness & power. Looking at the next reference which is a prophecy in Daniel concerning the Antichrist…
Dan 11:38 He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts.
In the next reference we see that it is in Jerusalem where the Antichrist builds his palace. Dan 11:45 a He will plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain… “between the sea and the glorious holy mountain” : Considering that the Antichrist will sit in the Temple in Jerusalem pretending to be God & that Jerusalem is between two seas, & that the glorious holy mountain is Mt. Zion in Jerusalem, he will build his palace in Jerusalem or very close by. So, all these passages make it clear that Jerusalem will become a great city where gold, silver & precious stones will be in great quantities, especially where the king that will rule the whole world, the Antichrist will sit as God. 2Thes 2:3-4
Most Bible commentators that I’ve read refer to the prophecies given in the book of Daniel in chapter 11:29-45 as fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanes from Greece from 175 BC to in 164 BC. I always asked myself… Have they read Mat 24:15“When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)…
Jesus is simply implying that the prophecy given by Daniel is to be fulfilled in the future… Dan 11:31 “Forces will stand on his part, and they will profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and will take away the continual burnt offering; Then they will set up the abomination that makes desolate. This prophecy is obviously to be fulfilled in the future, in the time close to the return of Jesus.
And the following passage… Dan 11:32-33 He will corrupt those who do wickedly against the covenant by flatteries; but the people who know their God will be strong, and take action. 33 “Those who are wise among the people will instruct many; yet they will fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder, many days.
It is obviously talking about God’s elect from the Ecclesia, God’s Church in the near future now. Who are the people who know their God?
1Jn 4:14-16 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God. 16 We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
1Jn 5:9-12 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is God’s testimony which he has testified concerning his Son. 10 He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who doesn’t believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. 11 The testimony is this: that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn’t have God’s Son doesn’t have the life.
The Jews do not know God; rather they make Him a liar, when they deny Jesus as the Savior of the World. And to say that those that know their God refers to the Maccabees brothers who rebelled against Antiochus Epiphanes, & remained faithful to Yahweh, lacks a bit of punch when we ask: Did the Maccabees instruct many? It is true that some of the Maccabees died as martyrs but Dan 11:35 Some of those who are wise will fall, to refine them, and to purify, and to make them white, even to the time of the end; because it is yet for the time appointed… “even to the time of the end” does not apply to the Maccabees.
- Going back to Rev 18:12 “and of pearls”… Pearls are hardly named in the Old Testament, but it is obvious that pearls are an indication of wealth, & many rich women like to wear them, so it will be another characteristic of the wealth of the city. Also interestingly there are a number of pages in the web which relate pearls to magic, the occult, and spiritism.
-“fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet” … In part 1 in point number 4 I shared a few passages from the Old Testament where we see that these materials where used to build & decorate not only the Tabernacle in the days of Moses, but also Salomon’s Temple. Linen is the fabric used for the costumes used by the priests that offered their services within the Temple, so in the new temple in Jerusalem, all these materials will be of much use again.
- “all thyine wood, and every ivory vessel, and every vessel of very precious wood, and of bronze, and of iron, and of marble”;
Thyine wood is translated like “all expensive wood” in some Bible translations like the World English Bible for example. If you read 1Kings chapter 6, you will see that Solomon went the extra mile to furnish the Temple with the most expensive wood, from instruments of music, to … 1Kings 6:15 He built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar: from the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the house with cypress boards.
6:23 In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high.
6:31 For the entrance of the inner sanctuary, he made doors of olive wood. The lintel and door posts were a fifth part of the wall.
6:32 So he made two doors of olive wood; and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold. He spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.
6:33 He also did so for the entrance of the temple door posts of olive wood, out of a fourth part of the wall;
6:34 and two doors of cypress wood; The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.
So we find that also expensive wood will be an important item “in the great city”, and “ivory”:
- ivory… 1Ki 10:21-22 All king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver, because it was considered of little value in the days of Solomon. 22 For the king had a fleet of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years the fleet of Tarshish came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. 23 So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.
I believe the Antichrist will do his best to exceed Solomon, as he will try to be as God, & the great city will do her best to fulfill his wishes.
- “every vessel of very precious wood, and of bronze, and of iron, and of marble”; Here again we find that all these materials were the same materials that king David put together for the building of Solomon’s temple.
1Ch 29:2 Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, the brass for the things of brass, iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood; also onyx stones, stones to be set, stones for inlaid work, of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.
- Rev 18:13a and cinnamon, and incenses, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour and wheat, and beasts, and sheep;
Again all these items were used continually in the daily sacrifices as Yahweh instructed Moses to gather them for that exclusive purpose.
If you feel inspired to see the specific way in which this items were to be used exclusively in the Tabernacle & later on in the Temple read Exodus 29-30. I will not talk about it here, since my main point is to emphasize that the reason the Lord lets us know this details of the items that the merchants will become rich with is to help us put together the reason why these items will be highly required in the city that will be the religious capital of the whole world.
- Rev 18:13b and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
King Solomon as the richest king ever had…
1Ki 4:26 Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.
Now king David composed Psalm 72 for his son Solomon. I am only citing 11 verses, but you should go over the whole Psalm, as it is obvious that David was inspired by the Holy Spirit to prophecy about the Messiah, Jesus & his Kingdom.
Psa 72:1 For Solomon. God, give the king your justice; your righteousness to the royal son.
2 He will judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.
3 The mountains shall bring prosperity to the people. The hills bring the fruit of righteousness.
4 He will judge the poor of the people. He will save the children of the needy, and will break the oppressor in pieces.
5 They shall fear you while the sun endures; and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
6 He will come down like rain on the mown grass, as showers that water the earth.
7 In his days, the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.
8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him. His enemies shall lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring tribute. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
11 Yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.
In sight of the Antichrist wanting to be like the Messiah, if Solomon had those many horses, it will more likely that he, the Antichrist, will also want many horses to impress people & make them think he is also that rich.
- slaves, and souls of men. According to International Labor Organization nowadays human slavery is…
At any given time in 2016, an estimated 40.3 million people are in modern slavery, including 24.9 million in forced labor and 15.4 million in forced marriage.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations is very nice but is only in paper because when it comes to respecting Human Rights, nowadays there is more disrespect for humans than there ever was. Have you seen the huge facility in Texas, USA, built by president Barack Obama where these criminal agencies hold thousands of children as prisoners & there are sources that affirm these children are being sold to gangs of pedophiles.
And that is in what used to be called the “land of the free”. Let’s imagine in the rest of the world.
Mat 24:10-12 Then many will stumble, and will deliver up one another, and will hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will arise, and will lead many astray. 12 Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold.
So the selling of slaves & men by these merchants to the “great city” & his rulers is not out of the ordinary.
Okay… Time for a break… Please keep me in your prayers. I appreciate your comments & questions…
Blessings in Jesus Name… Alejandro
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