[Cargoes] of cinnamon, spice and incense, perfume and frankincense, wine and olive oil, wheat flour and wheat grains, pack animals and sheep, horses and carriages, and the bodies and souls of men. Rev. 18:13.
How do you buy and sell the souls of men, as Babylon did? What is a soul anyway? The Hebrew philosophy of the Bible makes no division between body and soul. Unlike the ancient Greeks, who thought the soul could exist apart 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 has an impact on the body.
Phineas Gage was an efficient and capable construction foreman in 1848. Then a premature explosion on the job drove an iron bar through the front of his brain and out the top of his head. Amazingly enough, not only did he survive the terrible accident, but doctors declared him physically healthy two months later. But he was not able to return to his job. The accident had totally altered his personality. His actions were fitful and completely unpredictable. You never knew what he would do next. The damage to the physical tissue of the brain had completely changed the kind of person he was.
Such stories confirm the biblical view of soul. The basic meaning of "soul" is actually the whole person: mind, body, emotions, and spirit. As at the creation of Adam, Scripture calls the whole person a "living soul" (Gen. 2:7, KJV). When the Bible contrasts soul with body, as in Revelation 18:13, the word particularly emphasizes the mental, emotional, and spiritual side of the whole person. It is one thing to control human bodies, as occurred in the case of slavery. Slavery commands a person's body, but cannot dominate the mind and heart. But Babylon's power goes beyond slavery. She rules 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 cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28, NIV). The "One" Jesus spoke about is God. In Revelation 18 Babylon takes on a Godlike 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.
Lord, my daily life often seems completely out of control. I choose to accept Your rulership over my life today, no matter how I feel.
How do you buy and sell the souls of men, as Babylon did? What is a soul anyway? The Hebrew philosophy of the Bible makes no division between body and soul. Unlike the ancient Greeks, who thought the soul could exist apart 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 has an impact on the body.
Phineas Gage was an efficient and capable construction foreman in 1848. Then a premature explosion on the job drove an iron bar through the front of his brain and out the top of his head. Amazingly enough, not only did he survive the terrible accident, but doctors declared him physically healthy two months later. But he was not able to return to his job. The accident had totally altered his personality. His actions were fitful and completely unpredictable. You never knew what he would do next. The damage to the physical tissue of the brain had completely changed the kind of person he was.
Such stories confirm the biblical view of soul. The basic meaning of "soul" is actually the whole person: mind, body, emotions, and spirit. As at the creation of Adam, Scripture calls the whole person a "living soul" (Gen. 2:7, KJV). When the Bible contrasts soul with body, as in Revelation 18:13, the word particularly emphasizes the mental, emotional, and spiritual side of the whole person. It is one thing to control human bodies, as occurred in the case of slavery. Slavery commands a person's body, but cannot dominate the mind and heart. But Babylon's power goes beyond slavery. She rules 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 cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28, NIV). The "One" Jesus spoke about is God. In Revelation 18 Babylon takes on a Godlike 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.
Lord, my daily life often seems completely out of control. I choose to accept Your rulership over my life today, no matter how I feel.
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