“The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more - cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.”  - Revelation 18:12-13 (NIV; italics mine) Sometimes things in the Bible can seem a little far fetched, especially when you dive into the book of Revelation.  I suppose that's why so many people have a tendency to allegorize that book as well as other passages that deal with the time just prior to Yeshua's return.  In looking at the above passage, I've always had the notion that there would be a resurrection of the slave trade that would put our American ancestors to shame. Yes, I am aware that there really is a large black market slave trade and it is an abomination.  But as I watched the news this evening I realized that there is another realm where the “bodies and souls of men” are being merchandised and it is more wide spread and socially acceptable than you could imagine.  It all started with a woman's right to choose.  Because the United States legally sanctioned a woman's right to choose to murder her baby for the sake of convenience, a new marketplace was born - one that profits off of murdering men's bodies and souls.  Our nation also “exports” this right to women around the world. “I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well.  My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery].  Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.” - Psalm 139:14-16 As the psalmist wrote, God knows all our days before we were first conceived and it is God's own hand that forms us in our mother's womb.  Now there are abortion clinics everywhere and those who operate them make money hand over fist by murdering innocents.  But this phenomena of abortion on demand has led us to another very dangerous place. Now that human life has been devalued and people are beginning to question the ethics of killing a baby after it has been born - sometimes as late as three months after its birth - we are being presented with what initially sounds like a virtuous endeavor - stem cell research. While the proposed results of this research sound very promising indeed, what is the price that we would have to pay for these results, if they are even attainable? Research and drug companies stand to make billions and billions of dollars through their research programs and any subsequent therapies that might come from it.  We are now looking at the possibility of allowing human cloning in order to fuel this industry. Scripture holds human life in the highest regard.  Again, as the psalmist wrote, the Lord Himself is involved in each person's forming.  The Lord also requires an accounting for murder, not only form individuals, bur from nations as well.  How great must the cry of those who are aborted daily in our nation be in God's ears.  How great must be the coming judgment from God on their behalf.  Must we add insult to injury and begin growing human babies as so many crops to be harvested? “If I shut up heaven so no rain falls, or if I command locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.  Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer offered in this place.” - II Chronicles 7:13-15 There must be a great awakening of the followers of Christ in this nation.  It is our responsibility to humble ourselves before God in prayer and ask forgiveness for our sin, not “their” sin. “And I set my face to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes; And I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, Who keeps covenant, mercy, and loving-kindness with those who love Him and keep His commandments, We have sinned and dealt perversely and done wickedly and have rebelled, turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. Neither have we listened to and heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us confusion and shame of face, as at this day--to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, to those who are near and those who are far off, through all the countries to which You have driven them because of the [treacherous] trespass which they have committed against You. O Lord, to us belong confusion and shame of face--to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers--because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and loving-kindness and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him; And we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in His laws which He set before us through His servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, even turning aside that they might not obey Your voice. Therefore the curse has been poured out on us and the oath that is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him. And He has carried out intact His [threatening] words which He threatened against us and against our judges [the kings, princes, and rulers generally] who ruled us, and He has brought upon us a great evil; for under the whole heavens there has not been done before [anything so dreadful] as [He has caused to be] done against Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the Law of Moses as to all this evil [that would surely come upon transgressors], so it has come upon us. Yet we have not earnestly begged for forgiveness and entreated the favor of the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and have understanding and become wise in Your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity (evil) and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is [uncompromisingly] righteous and rigidly just in all His works which He does [keeping His word]; and we have not obeyed His voice. And now, O Lord our God, Who brought Your people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and secured Yourself renown and a name as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly! O Lord, according to all Your rightness and justice, I beseech You, let Your anger and Your wrath be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain. Because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach and a byword to all who are around about us. Now therefore, O our God, listen to and heed the prayer of Your servant [Daniel] and his supplications, and for Your own sake cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary which is desolate. O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and look at our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You for our own righteousness and justice, but for Your great mercy and loving-kindness. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, give heed and act! Do not delay, for Your own sake, O my God, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”- Daniel 9:3-19 Daniel identified himself completely with his nation when he prayed and asked for forgiveness.  We must do the same, throwing off our pride and self-righteousness.  If we do that, maybe, just maybe, the Lord will hear from heaven and heal our land.  I only hope we are not too late.