By: Tom Lowe Date: 9-19-15
Lesson 16: Third Seal: The Black Horse and its Rider (Revelation 6:5-6)
Revelation 6:5-6 (KJV)
5 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.
6 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.
Introduction
The white horse, we learned, is the symbol of power and victory without bloodshed . . . the rider carried only a bow—no arrow. The red horse denotes power and wholesale bloodshed such as this world has never known. The rider of the red horse has been commanded to take peace from the earth, and he carries a great sword. The black horse is a symbol of lamentation and mourning. Here, as in the book of Zechariah, the black horse follows the red—“The first chariot had red horses, the second black” (Zechariah 6:2). The weeping prophet laments, “Our skin was black like an oven, because of the terrible famine” (Lamentations 5:10). Also read Jeremiah 4:28 and Jude13.
It will help us to understand the idea behind this passage if we remember that John is giving an account not of the end of things, but of the signs and events which precede the end. So here the black horse and its rider represent famine, a famine which is very severe and causes great hardship, but which is not brutal enough to kill.
What John is predicting is a situation in which a man’s whole working wage would be needed to buy enough corn for himself for a day, leaving absolutely nothing to buy any of the other necessities of life and absolutely nothing for his wife and family. If instead of corn he bought the much inferior barley, he might manage to give some to his wife and family but again he would have nothing left to buy anything else.
Commentary
5 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.
John again says, “I heard” and “I saw.” He just wants to make sure that we know that.
The color of the black horse indicates morning (see Jeremiah 4:28; Malachi 3:14), and it also speaks of famine, and it may denote darkness and ignorance. In Lamentations 4:8-9 we read:
“Now their appearance is blacker than soot;
They go unrecognized in the streets;
Their skin clings to their bones,
It has become as dry as wood.
Those slain by the sword are better off
Than those who die of hunger;
For these pine away,
Stricken for lack of the fruits of the field.”
When Christ opens the third seal another rider appears, but this one is seated upon a black horse, and the third beast cries out “Come and see”, beckoning the rider. This time he holds no weapon of warfare in his hands; there is however a pair of scales. These balances, like the black horse, suggest scarcity to the extent of famine. Grain was so scarce and dear that it had to be weighed very carefully. Beating plowshares into swords produced no food; but it did destroy the man who produced the food and it prevented the soil from being tilled. Famine always follows war. Food rationing of the strictest order is an aftermath of war, particularly in the warring countries.
Black follows red; famine follows war. Famine is symbolized in Scripture by the color black. “Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine” (Lamentations 5:10). When our Lord Jesus said “There shall be wars and rumors of wars with nation rising against nation and kingdom against kingdom,” He added, “And there shall be famines” (Matthew 24:7).
This vision of the rider on the black horse is considered by most Bible commentators as prophesy and a forewarning of the famines which will lead to a period of Great Tribulation; but there is also a spiritual meaning that we must not miss. According to prophetic language, these articles—wheat and barley, oil and wine—signify the food of religious knowledge by which the souls of men are prepared to receive everlasting life, and which Isaiah has invited us to buy—“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1). But when the dark clouds of ignorance and superstition, denoted by the black horse, spread over the Christian world, the knowledge and practice of true religion became scarce. When a people loathe their spiritual food, God is justified in depriving them of their daily bread. The famine of bread is a terrible judgment; but the famine of the Word is even more so.
6 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.
The magnitude of the famine during the tribulation is suggested by what John saw and heard in that divinely given prophetic vision. The announcement, “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” is not ascribed to any one of the four beasts. In fact, the announcement itself is only said to have been like a voice from among the four beasts.
In metrology, which is the science of weights and measures, there are linear measures, measures of capacity, measures of weight, and measures of value or money. Here the word “measure” is used to denote the amount required to feed a man for one day. The “measure” was a choinix, equivalent to 2 pints and consistently defined in the ancient world as a man’s ration for a day. The “penny” (denarius) was the daily wage of a laborer or soldier at that time—“And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard” (Matthew 20:2). Now imagine a man working a full day for merely enough food to keep himself alive, and then having to share that food with his family. The average person passing through such torture would rather be dead. And this condition exists while the war lords enjoy plenty, for “the oil and the wine” are the possessions of the few rich who hold the masses in slavery, and therefore they are not to be measured out to the famine-stricken. The rider on the black horse is commanded to leave the luxuries of the rich untouched, but the staples of the poor, wheat and barley, are to be weighed out a pinch at a time. Judgment is tempered with mercy, for the wheat and the barley are not to be entirely destroyed, and the oil and the wine are to be untouched by whatever caused the famine. This rider on the black horse symbolizes the blighted prosperity of the last days; he represents famine, wartime inflation, and economic disaster.
The phrase “Do not damage the olive oil and the wine” could be a warning to conserve two basic provisions; or, it could mean that these items would be hoarded and thus unavailable in the marketplace; or, it may be that although this famine would be severe, it would not destroy the olive trees and the vineyards; or, it could signify that the rich will be excluded from this famine. All oil and wine were regarded as luxuries, and were to be found only on the tables of the rich. Oil would correspond to our toiletries, the beauty aids and the body conditioners that we use today; that is, the luxuries of life. The wine corresponds to the liquor that will be in abundance. Isn’t it interesting that there will not be enough foodstuff, not enough barley for food, but there will be enough barley to make liquor! They will make it in that day, and the rich are the ones who will get it. (Read carefully Proverbs 21:17; Jeremiah 31:12; Psalm 104:15.)
The chastisement under the seal that produces the black horse falls on the working classes, the poor people. The rich governing classes will be exempt from this suffering; but they shall not escape. Under the sixth seal (Revelation 6:12-17 judgment is meted out to all alike—from the king down to the slave. So the rich will not escape, even though they do escaped hunger when the black horse rides out. Worse calamities than this was still to come. The oil and the wine are basic ingredients for cooking and for purifying water, respectively. In addition, barley—usually fed to animals, was low in nutrients and cheaper than wheat—was used by the poor to mix with their wheat to make it go further. According to the information given in verse six, the market prices were well beyond what anyone could afford. As for why they have been left out of the judgment, no reason is given. Because the olive trees and grapevines are still producing, this famine will affect the poor, but some will survive.
It has happened before. It is with us today. Half the children of the world of preschool age are so undernourished that their physical and mental growth is retarded, and mortality among them is 60 times what it is in more fortunate societies. More than half the world goes to bed hungry. Even the magnificent bounty of the United States cannot stave off forever the mass starvation of the world. Malnutrition stalks the globe. It claims 10,000 lives every day. In the United States we throw into our garbage cans every day enough food to feed a family of six in India. The average American dog has a higher protein diet than most peoples of the world. One and a half million people are eternally hungry on what Gandhi called “the eternal compulsory fast.”
In many countries of Africa, Asia and the Middle East today the poor become poorer and the few rich leaders become richer. The one billion hungry people in the world today, plus the 400,000,000 in danger of starvation, will seem like child’s play compared with the famine to come upon the earth in that day predicted by our Lord. That black day is coming. The day of famine will appear upon the earth. When it does, famine and inflation will play such havoc with the economies of the world that a working man’s daily wage will buy only enough of the poorest food to satisfy his own immediate need. Now we know why this period is called “The Tribulation.”
It has happened before. It is with us today. It will happen again, for this dreaded rider on the black horse is not yet abroad; it is only his shadow we see. But when he comes, he will act as an advocate for starving mankind, whom he will deceive and eventually wipe them out by the million, and will persuade the survivors to listen to the buttered lies of the beast. No wonder Antichrist will eventually be able to control the economy (Revelation 13:17), since he promises to feed the hungry masses. Certainly there will be much hunger, suffering, and death during the time of the riding of the black horse.
So, then, this is a picture of famine set alongside luxury. There is always something radically wrong with a situation in which some have too much and others too little. This is always a sign that the society in which it occurs is hastening to its ruin.
