Daniel and Zechariah Volume 2, week 11

The Evil and Wickedness of Commerce
versus
a Divine Sense of Value concerning Christ and Church

What is the most important thing in your life? You don't have to answer me. But you need to answer yourself. It is very important, because your value system will determine the way you live. So may our value system be aligned with what the bible teaches us.
This week we are going to see what the bible says about the wickedness of pure commerce and preciousness of the church.

The wickedness of pure commerce

What is the aim of your work today? Are you working so that you will be rich? Of course, being rich is not bad at all. God may bless some of us to be millionaires, or even billionaires for His purpose and for His glory. But does your desire to be rich blind you and draw you away from the perfect will of God?
There are many kinds of works in this world. Some of them are legal, while others are not. I'm sure that we all know that illegal works are not good to be involved in. But do you know that some works are absolutely all right in people's eye and are 100% legal, but God hates it. The vision of the ephah vessel (basket) in Zechariah 5 tells us something about that.

Then the angel who talked with me came out and said to me, "Lift your eyes now, and see what this is that goes forth."
So I asked, "What is it?" And he said, "It is a basket that is going forth." He also said, "This is their resemblance throughout the earth:
Here is a lead disc lifted up, and this is a woman sitting inside the basket"; then he said, "This is Wickedness!" And he thrust her down into the basket, and threw the lead cover over its mouth.
Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were two women, coming with the wind in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven.
So I said to the angel who talked with me, "Where are they carrying the basket?"
And he said to me, "To build a house for it in the land of Shinar; when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its base." (Zechariah 5:5-11 NKJV)

In this vision, we see a woman inside the basket. And the angel calls this "wickedness." She was eventually thrust down into the basket, which was then shut down with lead cover. At the end, the basket was brought to the land of Shinar.
The basket, or ephah vessel, is the material that one uses for business. It is used for measuring things for selling and buying. It is the symbol of commerce, which involves covetousness, deceit and the love of money. It is so evil that God has to shut it down and bring it away to the city of Shinar, which is Babylon, where there will be the most severe judgment from God. 

And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!
For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury."
And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.
For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
(Revelations 18:2-5 NKJV)
In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.'
Therefore her plagues will come in one day --- death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. (Revelations 18:7-8 NKJV)

Commerce was started in Ezekiel 28. It will be fully developed in Revelation 18, when it will also be severely judged.
What is pure commerce? It is simply defined as a work in which one uses the money to get money for money's own sake. It does not do anything good to society or humanity. It aims just to gain as much money as it can. For example, the people who buy something, just keep it until the price goes up, and then sell it at the highest price they can. (This is typical for stock investor, isn't it? But it does not include those why just buy long-term stocks for saving money.) The one who does this kind of job is invariably mastered by the commercial mind with the love of money, which is the root of all evil things. Please avoid it!

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:10 NKJV)

Brothers and sisters, this is a kind warning from God. Please keep yourself away from the pure commerce. It is evil in God's eye. You may know someone who does it and becomes extremely rich because of it. But please be informed by God's word that it is not the way of earning money for living that God is pleased with. God ordains man to work. God wants us to do something good for humanity or society that we are living in.
If you are a skilled worker, or a professional, go on and enjoy it! If you are a businessman or a merchant, sell the products at reasonable prices. Do your work for God's glory, not for being rich in this world.

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,
knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23-24 NKJV)

Even though you may not be as rich as those who are doing some kind of pure commerce, you will be truly blessed because our faithful God will supply you all you need according His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Remember that you cannot gain true wealth by earning a lot of money. True wealth can be found only in our Lord Jesus. And we have already had that wealth!

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9 NKJV)

The preciousness of the church

May I share a parable regarding the kingdom of heavens.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls,
who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. (Matthew 13:45-46 NKJV)

I'm sure that most of use are quite familiar with this parable. Almost all commentators explain that we are like the merchant who is seeking the kingdom of heavens. And when we find it, we sell all things and buy it.
Umm. That sounds good, doesn't it? We need to give all we have to God, and we will gain the kingdom of heavens.
But wait a minute! Is the kingdom buyable? Can we do good works in order to enter into the kingdom? Are our good deeds good enough for it? Umm. It is interesting, isn't it? Bible teaches us that we are saved by grace through faith. Our works are not involved in God's saving project at all. All the required works have already been accomplished by Jesus Christ at the cross, and all we need to do is just to believe in Him.

But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6 NKJV)
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV)

Therefore let us try to look at the parable from a different perspective. Why don't we try to compare the merchant to our Lord Jesus and the pearls to the church? He is looking for the pearls. He did this by coming to the world, which is the lowly place for Him. He came to find us, the beautiful pearls. And in order to gain us, He gave all that He had, that is his whole life. He died for us all, so that we would have life! He shed His blood so that it would wash away all our sins. He was crucified on the cross so that our sinful nature would be crucified with Him and His resurrected life would dwell in our new life.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Romans 5:8-10 NKJV)

Brothers and sisters, even though we are unworthy of this amazing grace at all, we are by no means worthless. We are so precious in God's eye. We are so precious that God has bought us at a high price in order to gain us!
What should our response be? This parable reminds me of what Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NKJV)

Yes, we all have been bought at a price. Our life is not our own anymore. We all, as His body, are now the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in us. Therefore let us glorify God in our whole life! Let us treasure Him the most! He is the truly precious One, who deserves our heart. Let us count all things to be loss when compared to His preciousness! Let us say with Paul that:

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. (Philippians 3:7-8 NKJV)

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization Study of Daniel and Zechariah Volume 2, week 11.

Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)