How do you Buy and Sell Souls?
And [cargos] of cinnamon, spice and incense, perfume and frankincense, wine and olive oil, wheat flour, and wheat grains, pack animals and sheep, horse and carriages, and the bodies and SOULS OF MEN.” – Rev 18:13. NLT
The NASB translates the last line “slaves, and human lives” Other translations like the NKJV and NLT translates the word as souls. This should give us an insight into the word ‘soul’
Accordingly, the Hebrew word nephesh, although translated as “soul” in some older English-language Bibles, actually has a meaning closer to “living being”, as in the NASB and NRSV. Nephesh was translated into Greek in the Septuagint as psūchê, using the Greek word for “soul”. The New Testament also uses the word psūchê in the same way as we find nephesh used on the Old Testament.
How do you buy and sell the souls of men, as Babylon did? What is a soul anyway? In the Hebrew philosophy of the Bible, there is no division between body and soul. Unlike the ancient Greeks, who thought the soul could be separated from the physical body, the Bible understands the human person to be a unified whole. In Hebrew thinking, you cannot separate a person’s thoughts from the chemical reactions in the brain. What happens to the body affects the mind, and what happens to the mind affects the body. You can request my written dissertation on this subject if you so desire.
The basic meaning of “soul” is actually the whole person, mind, body, emotions, and spirit. As at the creation of Adam, God breathed into Adam the breath (same word as spirit) of life and he became a living soul (Heb: nephesh). It is the whole person that is called a “living soul” (Gen 2:7). “Eight souls were saved in the Ark.” Some older translations of this text in I Peter 3:20 has the word ‘souls,’ (e.g. NKJV) other, more recent translations say ‘people’ e.g. NLT, NASB etc. When the soul is contrasted with the body, as in Rev 18:13, the word particularly emphasizes the mental, emotional, and spiritual side of the whole person. It is one thing to control the bodies of men, as occurred in the case of slavery. Slavery commands a person’s body but cannot control the mind and heart. But Babylon’s power goes beyond slavery. She controls the whole person. So, Babylon is even more dangerous than the slave trader, she can trade in the “souls of men.”
This is why Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in [a]hell. – the footnote says Gehenna, the place of destruction” (Matt 10:28, NASB). The “Him” Jesus spoke about is God. In Revelation 18 Babylon takes on a God-like role, part of the great end-time deception. We don’t, however, need to submit ourselves to any power but God Himself. Oppressors may try to compel us, but we can refuse them our inner allegiance. We are citizens of another kingdom, the one that wins in the end.
The Bible says there is but one body, or church, into which Jesus calls His end-time people—the bride of Christ.
To some, this is unnerving, as there are thousands of churches today that call themselves Christian. Virtually every one of them claims to be God’s church, yet they each differ widely in biblical interpretation, faith, and practice. It’s quite impossible for an honest seeker of truth to investigate the claims of each one. However, we can be thankful that Jesus has solved this dilemma for us by describing His church in such detail that you can easily identify it! That description, vivid and powerful, is found in Revelation 12 and 14, and it will thrill you with amazement that will help you in the end times. These chapters are the centre of Revelation’s chiasm and are therefore they key point.
Though we have studied it already read again Revelation 12:1–17, and Revelation 14:1-12. Notice again the contrast with those in Revelation 14:8-11 that worship the beast and receive its mark and those in v12 who don’t. We also will soon be in the chapter that describes the Bride of Christ and the wedding feast we are all invited to.