As we follow the distinction between carrying wrongdoing and committing it, another passage comes into view. It concerns people who are traded for someone else’s benefit.
This was part of my earlier comparison of the woman, the wine, and the responsibility of those involved. Before developing that connection, I want to hold closely to the actions Scripture actually describes.
A Girl Sold for Wine
In Joel 3:1–3, Jehovah brings the nations into judgment over their treatment of His people. The charges include scattering them, dividing the land, and treating people as things to be exchanged.
Verse 3 describes a boy traded for a harlot and a girl sold for wine.
The distinction that caught my attention is simple: the girl is sold so that others may drink. The passage does not describe her as the one choosing the exchange or enjoying its benefit.
That matters when considering responsibility. What happens to someone is not automatically an expression of that person’s desires, allegiance, or inward condition.
I do not want the person harmed to disappear from the study while all our attention goes to the people exercising power.
Human Lives Among the Cargo
A related detail appears in Revelation 18:11–13. Babylon’s merchants mourn because their goods no longer have buyers. The list moves through valuable materials, clothing, food, animals, and finally human beings and human lives.
People appear among the things being traded.
That brings Joel’s passage to mind. In both accounts, the treatment of people is part of what must be examined. Wealth and commerce cannot be considered separately from the lives caught within them.
I see a comparison here, but it does not establish that Joel’s girl is Babylon or that every woman in these passages represents the same person. The connection begins with the actions described: someone is traded, while someone else benefits.
What Are They Mourning?
The merchants’ lament centers on the loss of Babylon’s wealth and the prosperity they received through her. Heaven and God’s servants are given a different response because judgment has been rendered on their behalf. Revelation 18:15–20
This makes me pause over the meaning of sorrow.
A person can grieve the loss of an arrangement because it served them well. That grief does not, by itself, reveal concern for those the arrangement harmed.
As I read, I want to ask what each person values, what they have lost, and whose suffering they recognize.
Judgment and Those Who Need Refuge
Joel’s account also describes Jehovah as a refuge for His people amid the shaking and later identifies the shedding of innocent blood as a reason for judgment. Joel 3:16–19
This keeps the people affected by wrongdoing in view as our study moves from judgment toward dwelling and restoration.
For me, the question is never only what falls. It is also who has been harmed, who is held responsible, and where those needing refuge can turn.
Threads to Follow
People traded for another’s gain.
The distinction between suffering wrongdoing and participating in it.
Mourning lost wealth compared with recognizing the harm done.
Jehovah as refuge, and the movement toward restored dwelling.
The books were opened…
🌿 By Maria Emilia
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