REVELATION
SIMPLIFIED
CHAPTER 6.5
Gleanings
from the Book of Revelation:
A
Weekly Verse-by-Verse Bible Study Series
The
REVELATION
TO JOHN
(The
Apocalypse)
Chapter
Six
(Verse
5-6)
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.
Continuing the study: Jesus opens the third seal.
Then, John hears the third living creature say, "Come and see." And
again, a command is given to a horseman.
A black horse
3.
Horseman Number Three (The Third Seal)
Following the red horse is one riding on a black
horse. The colour black is generally associated with mourning. Lamentation is
symbolic of famine, hunger, and starvation, a consequence of war. The scenario John
graphically describes is worldwide where food supplies are destroyed. Of all
previous world famines, this event is the most devastating thus far.
As a precursor to Tribulation, early examples of
famines are given in the stories of Abraham and Joseph:
Genesis
12:10 – And
there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was
grievous in the land.
Genesis
41:56 - And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto
the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in
the land of Egypt.
Hunger and starvation are graphically described
elsewhere in Scripture:
Lamentations
4:8-9 - Their
visage (appearance) is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick. They that be slain with the sword
are better than they that be
slain with hunger: for these pine (waster, rot) away, stricken through
for want of the fruits of the
field.
Lamentations
5:10 - Our
skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.
Later, in His punishment for Judah, the Lord said:
Jeremiah
4:27-29 - For
thus hath the LORD said, The whole land
shall be desolate; yet will I not make a
full end. For this shall the earth mourn, and the
heavens above be black: because I have
spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will
I turn back from it. At the sound of the horseman and bowman every city flees;
They go into the thickets and climb among the rocks; Every city is forsaken,
And no man dwells in them.
Of course, whenever there are famine conditions,
inflation surely skyrockets as a result. Food rationing lines, more severe than
the Great Depression, will be global.
And he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand
A pair of balances or scales pictures the
rationing of food and the weighing of commodities. Money, silver, and gold will
render worthless as found in the following examples:
Ezekiel
7:19 – They
shall cast their silver in the streets, and
their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to
deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their
souls, neither fill their bowels: because it
is the stumblingblock (obstacle) of their iniquity (perversity, evil sin).
James 5:1,
3 - Go to
now, ye rich men, weep and howl
for your miseries that shall come upon you…Your gold and silver is cankered (corroded); and the rust of them shall be a witness against you,
and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for
the last days.
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.
Although there are several meanings for the word measure, the Greek word John uses is choinix,
meaning a dry weight measurement (about sixteen American ounces). Wheat, a
common grain representing bread, is conducive to food rationing that will
ensue. Eating bread by weight is a Jewish phrase, thus indicating that food is
scarce.
Such was predicted earlier:
Ezekiel
4:16 - Moreover
He said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in
Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure,
and with astonishment.
Leviticus
26:26 - And when I have broken the staff of your
bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
There are four major commodities here in play:
1. Wheat
2. Barley
3. Oil
4. Wine
A brief discussion of these will give a clearer
understanding of the conditions during this judgment.
1. A measure of
wheat for a penny
Wheat is the leading source of vegetable protein
and is grown in more land areas worldwide. Primarily, it is highly nutritious to
curb world hunger.
A Penny in Greek is dēnarion.
The word of Latin origin means a denarius. Generally, it is plural and twice rendered
pennyworth. This was the basic Roman silver coin worth sixteen cents and
equivalent to an average day's wages for a laborer. It was at best a minimum
for only one person, leaving naught for others in a household. Hence, starvation
became commonplace.
2. Three measures of
barley for a penny
Barley was usually a symbol of poverty. It is a
long-haired grain lower in nutritional value and primarily used as fodder for
cattle, horses, camels, and donkeys when oats were unavailable.
When barley is baked, it produces a black round flatbread that was
eaten by poor folk and slaves. Besides, three measures of barley were considered
the daily famine ration of the common Roman foot soldier, especially during punishment
or imprisonment. Barley loaves were also multiplied by Jesus to feed the five thousand (cf. John 6:9).
The account reads:
John
6:9-11 - There
is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes… So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves;
and when he had given thanks, He distributed
to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down;
and likewise of the fishes as much as they
would.
Additionally, barely was significant to the
storyline of Ruth.
Ruth 1:22 - So Naomi returned, and Ruth
the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country
of Moab: and they came
to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
3. And see thou hurt (harm, damage, waste) not the oil
The third commodity associated with the black
horse is oil, chiefly olive oil, and was evidence of prosperity. Oil had
several important functional uses in Bible times. Some uses are explained:
1. In food preparation, as a substitute for butter (see
I Kings 17:12-16)
2. In offerings when mixed with meat or grain (cf. Leviticus
6:15)
3. In lanterns (cf. Zephaniah 1:12) or torches (cf. John
18:3).
Olive oil was largely produced by knocking down
olives from an olive tree with long poles. Once gathered, they were originally
pounded with a crude version of a pestle in a mortar (cf. Exodus 27:20) and
later grounded by stone olive presses hewn out of solid rock, thus allowing the
oil to flow into vessels. Hot water was then added and stored in earthen jars
until the impurities settled. One good olive tree yielded between ten to
fifteen gallons of olive oil per year.
4. And the wine.
Another staple was wine. It was important to many
civilizations and cultures for two primary reasons: (1) Namely because the
water in many areas was unsafe to drink, and (2) secondly, its use as a festive
alcoholic beverage was notorious.
A tremendous amount of time and energy went into
the production of wine. An early example is found in Isaiah Chapter 5 - The Parable of the Vineyard. Also,
concerning the vine, the prophet Joel gave this warning:
Joel 1:10
- Be ye
ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye
vinedressers, for the wheat and for the
barley; because the harvest of the field is
perished.
Hence, the luxuries of oil and wine will now be
spared for the necessities of life, mostly reserved for the wealthy. Irrespective
however of being a king or slave, God's judgment will be meted out to all.
(Verses 7-8)
And when He had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the
fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his
name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given
unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with
hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
As Jesus opens the next seal, a voice from the
fourth living creature summons John to observe the following events of the
fourth judgment. John looks, and lo and behold sees, not an ordinary, but a
nondescript pale colour horse riding across the scene carrying a rider who has
a name. This horseman aggravates the conditions begun by the black horse rider
and produces mass starvation.
A pale horse
4.
Horseman Number Four (The Fourth Seal)
The word for pale in Greek is chlōros, pronounced khlo-ros'
[Strong's G5515, from the primary word
Chloē, green] and is principally translated as a verdant green (usually associated
with vegetation). However, the English words chlorine and chlorophyll are
derived from this because of their transitional pale yellow-green colour and is
usually related to death.
Some translations apply the word Ashen (a gray colour of ash), but the
King James Version is more accurate because of the vegetation alluded to by a
successive trumpet judgment (cf. Revelation 8:7; 9:4).
And the name that sat on him
(the pale horse) was (The) Death,
and Hell (The Unseen, The Grave, Hades; a place or state of departed
souls) followed with him (The Death)
During this seal judgment, the fourth horseman has
a name --- Death --- also a consequence of war, and Hell follows Him.
A. Death is always associated with the living
B. Hell is concomitant with the souls of the dead
And power was given unto them
(Literal Greek is him) over the fourth part of the earth, to kill
with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth
Death
Power was given to (the) Death to kill a fourth
part of the earth. It is interesting that Death,
the Greek word Thanatos, is defined
as separated from God, absent from the body either physically or spiritually.
Mr. Death is given this authority over four
weapons of mass destruction:
1. The Sword – Most likely nuclear, chemical, and
biological weaponry
2. Famine – World starvation en masse
3. Pestilence – Destroying plagues or diseases
4. Wild (evil) Beasts – Unrestrained animals freely
roaming the earth to kill mankind
Foretold by Scripture:
Ezekiel
14:21 - For
thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon
Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome
beast, and the
pestilence, to cut off from it man and
beast?
Hell
Hell is translated Hades. It is another word
for the grave which does not come alongside but follows the rider Death. The
imagery here is that of a grave digger burying the victims of death.
The grave is where the body goes. Hades is likewise
the temporary abode of the wicked dead (the spiritual souls of non-believers).
They eventually will be destroyed at the second death, eternal separation from
God (see Revelation 20:14, 1 Corinthians 15; 26 and Revelation 21:4).
World Peace, war, and famine characterize the
first half of the Tribulation. Without parallel to the history of humankind,
these are horrific worldwide woes. The first four woes give us an urgency of
how we are to live our lives. However, far worse to come is the remaining
seals, trumpets, and bowl judgments.
Sadly, it is not until the sixth seal that earth's
inhabitants at that time will finally recognize God as the source of said
judgments. But rest assured, God is in total control and His purposes shall be
accomplished.
Hebrews 10:31
- It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Hebrews
2:3 - How
shall we escape, if we neglect so great
salvation; which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him.
John
3:16-17 - For
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world
to condemn the world; but that the world
through Him
(JESUS) might be saved.
The following study will unveil the fifth seal. Please
read ahead.
QUESTIONS:
1. What are the consequences of the third seal
judgment?
2. Identify the rider on the pale horse.
3. How does this horseman carry out his purpose?
4. Discuss the importance of the four major
commodities?
5. What are the differences between Hell and Death?
6. Name the four weapons of mass destruction used.
7. What should our responsibility be after studying
these judgments?
If this study was a blessing to you, make it a blessing to others.
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