[an Analysis Of The Financial Crisis In The United States] 15 – Babylon’s Merchants Are The World’s Great Men
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ISSUE 210
NOVEMBER 25TH 2009
Prophetic Brief Insight and Analysis for the 21st Century An Analysis of the Financial Crisis in the United States - 15
Babylon’s Merchants are the World’s Great Men
The Afghanistan Briefs
Afghanistan continues to be in the news with new troops, a renewed push against the Taliban and increased deaths. The month of July has seen the highest death toll of Amer ican soldier s since the beginning of the war in 2001, and the total may increase still more before the month is out. In a series of short video briefings, S c o t t We b s t e r a d d r e s s e s Afghanistan from the perspective of the Word of God. Included in the video sessions are: 1. Why Be Aware 2. The Formative Process 3. U.S. Involvement 4. Key Players 5. What Does the Future Hold 6. Kingdom Insights Visit scottwebsterministries.org, where these videos will be available for viewing soon.
Revelation 18:3 For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. e kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich om her excessive luxuries." (NIV) We are told specifically that all the nations have drunk of the maddening wine of Babylon’s adulteries, and that the kings of the earth were complicit in allow the merchants of the earth growing rich from Babylon. In v 19 Babylon is described as a system which had ships on the sea which became rich thr o u g h h e r w e a l th , i n d i c a ti n g a transnational system of manufacturing, buying and selling in which people in diverse nations buy goods from far off. e language used indicates this system is global – all the nations…kings of the earth…merchants of the earth…ships on the sea, etc. indicating that it is a global system which involves both political processes and economic realities. e dominant factor that drives the global financial system is the promise of new and bigger markets – commonly called profit. In spite of the global financial crisis, China overtook the United States as the world’s largest auto market and the carmakers which are struggling in the United States are opening new manufacturing plants in China as fast as they can. To reprise the old saying and apply it to the global reality: cash is king. e quest for profit and market share is the dominant driver of human behavior – the merchants are the world’s great men.
e Primacy of Economics / Merchants are the World’s Great Men Revelation 18:23 Your merchants were the world's great men. By your magic spell all
© 2009 SCOTT WEBSTER MINISTRIES.
the nations were led astray. 24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth." (NIV) In the competition for influence and highest rank between the leaders of nations and merchants, the merchants are the ones with the primary place. Merchants here is the
word emporos, the word means a person on a journey. e implication is of a passenger on a ship going to conduct commerce, and the word was transliterated into the English word emporium – which was used historically in the U.S. to denote a large retail store selling a large variety of articles. Emporium means a marketplace or a bazaar and that is true to the Greek meaning of the word. e same word was used to describe how the moneychangers had corrupted the House of God when Jesus drove them out of the temple and declared to those who sold doves how dare you turn my Father’s house into a market (emporeeon) ( John 2:16). e ethic that drives Babylon – lust for riches – also drives portion of the church, indicating that the materialistically minded and carnal church is simply a subset of Babylon. ey speak in tongues and prophesy but their real quest is for cash and the carnal power and
Page 1 of 3
ISSUE 210
NOVEMBER 25TH 2009
Revelation 18:23 23 Your merchants were the world's great men. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. 24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth." (NIV) influence it brings. Peter referred to these church leaders when he said in their greed these teachers will exploit (emporeuomai) you with stories they have made up (2 Peter 2:3). ese leaders don’t have an authentic personal process because they are not on a migratory journey towards Christ-likeness, and they merchandise the anointing and anything else they can get people to give them money for. e word “great” is the Greek word megistanes, which means a person of particularly great importance and high status. You can see that the core part of the word is mega, where we get the word very large or abundant. eir ability in commerce and finance makes them great, even in comparison to the leaders of nations because it is the merchants which lead the nations astray by their magic spell or what the King James calls sorcery. e Greek word for sorcery is pharmekia, and we see from the word that it also was transliterated into the English word pharmacy or the place where drugs are dispensed. e meaning is very clear – the earth has been drugged or seduced by their lust for riches.
Application of Merchants Ascendancy What will the merchants being the great men of the earth look like, and what will be the pragmatic fulfillment of this scenario which defines the times of the End in which we live? ere are three practical things I will point out which have been put in place to directly fulfill the vision John had thousands of years ago:
© 2009 SCOTT WEBSTER MINISTRIES.
1) Private business attracts the best talent. Because leaders in the business sector are hig hly paid the field attracts a disproportionate share of the best talent, oen making them more competent than their government overseers. Wall Street and investment banking draws the best talent because of the lucrative rewards, and government salaries can never compete with the bonuses and perks of compensation in the private sector. erefore whatever legislation is passed to limit risk in global finance will be outmaneuvered with multiple loopholes by brilliant financial strategists who are intent on increasing profits, which is exactly what happened when JP Morgan invented the Credit Default Swap or the CDS. e CDS market allowed billions of dollars of risky investments to be made without scrutiny or oversight, it shied the risk of investment to a third party that “insured” the debt but the insurer was not required to have reserves to pay off the bad debt if it was defaulted on. A brilliant plan created by financial wizards who seem to find ways to make money where none have existed before. CDS trading exploded, going from $88 trillion a decade ago to $600 trillion in 2009. It was the CDSs which played a large role in the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers as well as the near failure of AIG, so in 2008-09 these instruments were being looked at again in terms of regulation to keep the financial markets safe. However, whatever regulation is draed it will not be enough, because... 2) e legislative system is ineffective. e business / finance sector also has enormous clout with government leaders due to their economic and business oriented position
The word “great” is the Greek word megistanes , whic h means a person of particularly great importance and high status. You can see that the core part of the word is mega, where we get the word very large or abundant. Their ability in commerce and finance makes them great, even in comparison to the leaders of nations because it is the merchants which lead the nations astray by their magic spell or what the King James calls sorcery. The Greek word for sorcer y is pharmekia, and we see from the word that it also was transliterated into the English word pharmacy or the place where drugs are dispensed. The meaning is very clear – the earth has been drugged or seduced by their lust for riches. Page 2 of 3
ISSUE 210
NOVEMBER 25TH 2009
which stimulates the economy. Legislators who should be aware and pass laws – as they should have before the global economic crisis – can be easily seduced by the good economic times and by their constituencies who clamor for more favorable economic conditions. Not to mention lobbyists; the number of lobbyists doubled in the U.S. from the year 2000 to 2005, adding up to 65 lobbyists for every member of Congress.
about macro-economic issues, and they get quickly bored by policy issues. ey also are intent on getting their share of spoils regardless of how they are acquired. Voters are apathetic also – they simply don’t care and voting turnout numbers prove it. Since 1972 only about half of the nations registered voters have participated during the presidential election years; on off years participation falls to just over 1/3rd.
Tom Allen, CEO of the Association of American Publishers, called WTOs findings a landmark ruling. "It protects legitimate creators of valuable content and offers them fair access to this extremely important market," Allen said. "Both these long-standing market-access barriers and widespread piracy and counterfeiting in China cause serious economic damage to publishers, who make substantial inestments in developing and promoting creative content."
Under the pressure of the financial lobbyists, legislation was passed in 2000 called the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, a law which allowed trading without regulation which became the basis for the Credit Default Swaps. Now that the economic meltdown has happened and legislators are pushing for new laws regarding CDSs, a lobbying group has been formed and the financial sector is paying large sums of money to influence any proposed legislation. In the years 2007-08, securities and investment firms gave $152 million in political contributions, and the top five companies - Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Credit Suisse — gave $22.7 million and spent more than $25 million combined on lobbying activities in that period.
So whether you examine the apathetic and uninformed citizens of America’s democracy or the autocratic centralized government of China all seem focused on one thing: increasing market share and enhancing the quality of life through purchasing power.
In other words, I’m glad we changed the rules so we can make more money!!!! Sounds like one of the “great men” to me.
Because financial investors are brilliant and extremely driven by the quest for profit, and because legislators seem unable to exercise sufficient oversight, the obvious solution would be to vote in a new set of political leaders who will govern correctly. But that won’t happen because… 3) Voters are ill-informed and apathetic. In a parliamentary democracy, voters should have the authority to change the law by voting in new legislators who could do the job, but the problem with that is that most voters are not deeply informed about the issues. Voters want their news in sound bites, which can’t do justice to complex issues that demand study and the application of insight. Unfortunately we live in a time where the majority of individual citizens who vote are generally ignorant, incapable of thinking
When you leverage these realities beyond any single nation and into the global marketplace, the future seems clear: nations will compete for market share and the quest for profit will drive life on the earth more than it ever has in human history. Organizations like the World Trade
The Architecture of the New Dimension A revolutionary new look at prophetic reality as it exists in the 21st century church. get this book>
Org anization ( W TO) will become increasingly active in ruling in trade disputes between nations, giving a trade based global entity authority that equals or exceeds the legacy institutions like the U.N. For example, the WTO ruled recently that China had to ease state controls and open their markets for U.S. makers of DVD’s, music downloads, books, etc. China is appealing the ruling but will likely have to eventually comply with at least some of the findings. e WTO can authorize higher tariffs and other measures against countries failing to adhere to the rules, but generally only aer years of litigation.
2778 Cumberland Blvd Suite 163 Symrna GA 30080 Tel: 678.302.3052 [email protected]
www.scottwebsterministries.org © 2009 Scott Webster Ministries. All Rights Reserved.
© 2009 Copyright by SWM, copy and duplication without permission is prohibited.
Releasing The New Prophetic Dimension • Activating The Capacity To Build • Obeying The Command To Finish © 2009 SCOTT WEBSTER MINISTRIES.
Page 3 of 3
NOVEMBER 25TH 2009
Prophetic Brief Insight and Analysis for the 21st Century An Analysis of the Financial Crisis in the United States - 15
Babylon’s Merchants are the World’s Great Men
The Afghanistan Briefs
Afghanistan continues to be in the news with new troops, a renewed push against the Taliban and increased deaths. The month of July has seen the highest death toll of Amer ican soldier s since the beginning of the war in 2001, and the total may increase still more before the month is out. In a series of short video briefings, S c o t t We b s t e r a d d r e s s e s Afghanistan from the perspective of the Word of God. Included in the video sessions are: 1. Why Be Aware 2. The Formative Process 3. U.S. Involvement 4. Key Players 5. What Does the Future Hold 6. Kingdom Insights Visit scottwebsterministries.org, where these videos will be available for viewing soon.
Revelation 18:3 For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. e kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich om her excessive luxuries." (NIV) We are told specifically that all the nations have drunk of the maddening wine of Babylon’s adulteries, and that the kings of the earth were complicit in allow the merchants of the earth growing rich from Babylon. In v 19 Babylon is described as a system which had ships on the sea which became rich thr o u g h h e r w e a l th , i n d i c a ti n g a transnational system of manufacturing, buying and selling in which people in diverse nations buy goods from far off. e language used indicates this system is global – all the nations…kings of the earth…merchants of the earth…ships on the sea, etc. indicating that it is a global system which involves both political processes and economic realities. e dominant factor that drives the global financial system is the promise of new and bigger markets – commonly called profit. In spite of the global financial crisis, China overtook the United States as the world’s largest auto market and the carmakers which are struggling in the United States are opening new manufacturing plants in China as fast as they can. To reprise the old saying and apply it to the global reality: cash is king. e quest for profit and market share is the dominant driver of human behavior – the merchants are the world’s great men.
e Primacy of Economics / Merchants are the World’s Great Men Revelation 18:23 Your merchants were the world's great men. By your magic spell all
© 2009 SCOTT WEBSTER MINISTRIES.
the nations were led astray. 24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth." (NIV) In the competition for influence and highest rank between the leaders of nations and merchants, the merchants are the ones with the primary place. Merchants here is the
word emporos, the word means a person on a journey. e implication is of a passenger on a ship going to conduct commerce, and the word was transliterated into the English word emporium – which was used historically in the U.S. to denote a large retail store selling a large variety of articles. Emporium means a marketplace or a bazaar and that is true to the Greek meaning of the word. e same word was used to describe how the moneychangers had corrupted the House of God when Jesus drove them out of the temple and declared to those who sold doves how dare you turn my Father’s house into a market (emporeeon) ( John 2:16). e ethic that drives Babylon – lust for riches – also drives portion of the church, indicating that the materialistically minded and carnal church is simply a subset of Babylon. ey speak in tongues and prophesy but their real quest is for cash and the carnal power and
Page 1 of 3
ISSUE 210
NOVEMBER 25TH 2009
Revelation 18:23 23 Your merchants were the world's great men. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. 24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth." (NIV) influence it brings. Peter referred to these church leaders when he said in their greed these teachers will exploit (emporeuomai) you with stories they have made up (2 Peter 2:3). ese leaders don’t have an authentic personal process because they are not on a migratory journey towards Christ-likeness, and they merchandise the anointing and anything else they can get people to give them money for. e word “great” is the Greek word megistanes, which means a person of particularly great importance and high status. You can see that the core part of the word is mega, where we get the word very large or abundant. eir ability in commerce and finance makes them great, even in comparison to the leaders of nations because it is the merchants which lead the nations astray by their magic spell or what the King James calls sorcery. e Greek word for sorcery is pharmekia, and we see from the word that it also was transliterated into the English word pharmacy or the place where drugs are dispensed. e meaning is very clear – the earth has been drugged or seduced by their lust for riches.
Application of Merchants Ascendancy What will the merchants being the great men of the earth look like, and what will be the pragmatic fulfillment of this scenario which defines the times of the End in which we live? ere are three practical things I will point out which have been put in place to directly fulfill the vision John had thousands of years ago:
© 2009 SCOTT WEBSTER MINISTRIES.
1) Private business attracts the best talent. Because leaders in the business sector are hig hly paid the field attracts a disproportionate share of the best talent, oen making them more competent than their government overseers. Wall Street and investment banking draws the best talent because of the lucrative rewards, and government salaries can never compete with the bonuses and perks of compensation in the private sector. erefore whatever legislation is passed to limit risk in global finance will be outmaneuvered with multiple loopholes by brilliant financial strategists who are intent on increasing profits, which is exactly what happened when JP Morgan invented the Credit Default Swap or the CDS. e CDS market allowed billions of dollars of risky investments to be made without scrutiny or oversight, it shied the risk of investment to a third party that “insured” the debt but the insurer was not required to have reserves to pay off the bad debt if it was defaulted on. A brilliant plan created by financial wizards who seem to find ways to make money where none have existed before. CDS trading exploded, going from $88 trillion a decade ago to $600 trillion in 2009. It was the CDSs which played a large role in the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers as well as the near failure of AIG, so in 2008-09 these instruments were being looked at again in terms of regulation to keep the financial markets safe. However, whatever regulation is draed it will not be enough, because... 2) e legislative system is ineffective. e business / finance sector also has enormous clout with government leaders due to their economic and business oriented position
The word “great” is the Greek word megistanes , whic h means a person of particularly great importance and high status. You can see that the core part of the word is mega, where we get the word very large or abundant. Their ability in commerce and finance makes them great, even in comparison to the leaders of nations because it is the merchants which lead the nations astray by their magic spell or what the King James calls sorcery. The Greek word for sorcer y is pharmekia, and we see from the word that it also was transliterated into the English word pharmacy or the place where drugs are dispensed. The meaning is very clear – the earth has been drugged or seduced by their lust for riches. Page 2 of 3
ISSUE 210
NOVEMBER 25TH 2009
which stimulates the economy. Legislators who should be aware and pass laws – as they should have before the global economic crisis – can be easily seduced by the good economic times and by their constituencies who clamor for more favorable economic conditions. Not to mention lobbyists; the number of lobbyists doubled in the U.S. from the year 2000 to 2005, adding up to 65 lobbyists for every member of Congress.
about macro-economic issues, and they get quickly bored by policy issues. ey also are intent on getting their share of spoils regardless of how they are acquired. Voters are apathetic also – they simply don’t care and voting turnout numbers prove it. Since 1972 only about half of the nations registered voters have participated during the presidential election years; on off years participation falls to just over 1/3rd.
Tom Allen, CEO of the Association of American Publishers, called WTOs findings a landmark ruling. "It protects legitimate creators of valuable content and offers them fair access to this extremely important market," Allen said. "Both these long-standing market-access barriers and widespread piracy and counterfeiting in China cause serious economic damage to publishers, who make substantial inestments in developing and promoting creative content."
Under the pressure of the financial lobbyists, legislation was passed in 2000 called the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, a law which allowed trading without regulation which became the basis for the Credit Default Swaps. Now that the economic meltdown has happened and legislators are pushing for new laws regarding CDSs, a lobbying group has been formed and the financial sector is paying large sums of money to influence any proposed legislation. In the years 2007-08, securities and investment firms gave $152 million in political contributions, and the top five companies - Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Credit Suisse — gave $22.7 million and spent more than $25 million combined on lobbying activities in that period.
So whether you examine the apathetic and uninformed citizens of America’s democracy or the autocratic centralized government of China all seem focused on one thing: increasing market share and enhancing the quality of life through purchasing power.
In other words, I’m glad we changed the rules so we can make more money!!!! Sounds like one of the “great men” to me.
Because financial investors are brilliant and extremely driven by the quest for profit, and because legislators seem unable to exercise sufficient oversight, the obvious solution would be to vote in a new set of political leaders who will govern correctly. But that won’t happen because… 3) Voters are ill-informed and apathetic. In a parliamentary democracy, voters should have the authority to change the law by voting in new legislators who could do the job, but the problem with that is that most voters are not deeply informed about the issues. Voters want their news in sound bites, which can’t do justice to complex issues that demand study and the application of insight. Unfortunately we live in a time where the majority of individual citizens who vote are generally ignorant, incapable of thinking
When you leverage these realities beyond any single nation and into the global marketplace, the future seems clear: nations will compete for market share and the quest for profit will drive life on the earth more than it ever has in human history. Organizations like the World Trade
The Architecture of the New Dimension A revolutionary new look at prophetic reality as it exists in the 21st century church. get this book>
Org anization ( W TO) will become increasingly active in ruling in trade disputes between nations, giving a trade based global entity authority that equals or exceeds the legacy institutions like the U.N. For example, the WTO ruled recently that China had to ease state controls and open their markets for U.S. makers of DVD’s, music downloads, books, etc. China is appealing the ruling but will likely have to eventually comply with at least some of the findings. e WTO can authorize higher tariffs and other measures against countries failing to adhere to the rules, but generally only aer years of litigation.
2778 Cumberland Blvd Suite 163 Symrna GA 30080 Tel: 678.302.3052 [email protected]
www.scottwebsterministries.org © 2009 Scott Webster Ministries. All Rights Reserved.
© 2009 Copyright by SWM, copy and duplication without permission is prohibited.
Releasing The New Prophetic Dimension • Activating The Capacity To Build • Obeying The Command To Finish © 2009 SCOTT WEBSTER MINISTRIES.
Page 3 of 3
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