The Four Horsemen-The Black Horse
“And when He had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse, and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” Revelation 6:5-6
In the last two blogs, I gave a brief outline of the time when Jesus begins to open the seven seals during the period of tribulation. These prophecies are interpreted in various ways by different folks, but scripture tells us that what is written in scripture is of no private interpretation (II Peter 1:20). The words that I write are from the notes that I have made as I studied the book of Revelation in 2014/2015. Scripture also tells us that no one, not even Jesus Himself, knows when He will return (Matthew 24:36). Only God the Father knows, and it is a fact that Jesus will return to judge the earth. In my opinion, I don’t believe that we have entered the seven year tribulation period, but who knows that what is going on now with COVID-19, out-of-control rioting and destruction, and the desire for some to bring in the godless system of socialism could be a “dress rehearsal”, so to speak, of the main event. Hardships and turmoil have occurred all throughout history. No one alive today has experienced a time quite like this one so naturally those who are familiar with Biblical prophecy are considering that this could be the beginnings of sorrow that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24:8.
As Jesus opened the third seal, the third beast, possibly the one with the face of a man, called for John to come and see. This time John saw a black horse, and its rider had a pair of balances in his hand. A voice from among the living creatures called out, “A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” One of the results of warfare is famine. Farmers cannot work their fields for fear of being caught in the crossfire. What food is produced cannot be transported for the same reason, or it is confiscated by those in authority and given to whomever they please, leaving little or none for the citizens of the land. Wheat was more expensive than barley, hence the wealthy ate wheat and the poor ate barley, but the drastic economic downturn would affect everyone. When the government continues to give out stimulus money, it will eventually have to print more money which causes inflation. Everyday necessities begin to take more and more of a families’ income. Imagine a loaf of bread costing $40.
When the color “black” is used in scripture, it usually represents darkness, fear, famine, and death. The scales indicate that something was to be weighed or measured as a way to determine justice and equity. I am reminded of Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Belshazzar, while feasting with the vessels that his father had stolen from the temple in Jerusalem, saw the fingers of a man’s hand writing on the wall. When Daniel interpreted the writing, one thing that was written was that Belshazzar was weighed in the balances and found wanting, that is, he had failed the test (Daniel 5:3, 27). The command to “not hurt the oil and the wine” is difficult to ascertain as to its intended meaning. Oil and wine were two necessary commodities in Biblical times. Besides being used as food, the oil was used to anoint priests, and the wine was symbolic of the blood of Christ, thus perhaps extra care was to be taken to preserve these two commodities. Both were also used for medicinal purposes. Whatever the meaning, it is certain that the necessities of life will be drastically affected for all people who are living at that time.
In the 24th chapter of the book of Matthew, the disciples asked Jesus what would be the signs of His return and the end of the world. The first thing that He said was to not let anyone deceive them. There would be all sorts of people claiming to be Christ, wars and rumors of wars, famines, diseases, and earthquakes. He then said that these things are the beginning of sorrows. These things have been occurring since Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and sin entered the picture. These sorrows have continued for thousands of years. Our world is groaning under the burden of man’s sins. It would seem that this old world can’t last much longer. However, as bad as it is now, it will get worse as foretold in the book of Revelation. If the tribulation period begins tomorrow or God holds it off for 100 years, those of us who know Jesus as Lord and Savior can know for certain that He will bring us home one way or another. Some believe that Christians will be taken out of the world before the tribulation period and not have to suffer persecution, and I hope that they are right. However, if not, those believers who are living in that time need to stay faithful and keep their eyes on Jesus. He is our only hope.