A COMING DEFICIT

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

Revelation 6:5-6

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

False peace with a true motive of conquest and destruction followed by bloodshed and war, nation on nation, and people upon people.

These were the first two judgments that will be unleashed upon the earth from Heaven during the end times as Jesus, the only One worthy of opening the scroll of His Father God, breaks the first two of the seven seals holding the scroll closed.

In today’s passage, we find Him tearing the third seal and initiating the third penalty on the earth in the form of yet another horseman. Look again at these words found in verses five and six of Revelation, chapter 6:

When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

Like in the first two instances, one of the living creatures summons a horse with a rider who had a specific judgment to carry out once dispatched. We have seen where the color of the horse and the items seen on the rider provided important symbolic clues as to what was to come. In the case of this third horse, we read where the horse was black and this color represented starvation and death as this judgment was about bringing a famine to the world, a famine that would bring global food shortages and associated inflation.

The scriptures tell us that John heard a voice coming from within the four living creatures that indicated an effect of the famine as people would have to use an entire day’s wages just to purchase a small amount of food.  

One proclamation set the standard of “two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages”, the specificity of the weight telling us what the scales that the rider held would be used for. It’s important to note here that two pounds of wheat, the prized grain in biblical times, would be just enough for a single person. It wouldn’t feed an entire family.

The less nutritious barley was almost as bad. For the voice declared that “six pounds” of it would be sold for the same day’s wages and this amount would barely feed a small family.

So it wouldn’t be bad enough that war was raging on the earth with its associated bloodshed for the people would be starving at the same time. And perhaps then some of the motivation that would cause “people to kill each other” (v.4) might involve fighting for food to stay alive.

Of interest, we also find the voice calling out from among the living creatures placing some restrictions on the extent of the famine judgment. For the rider on the black horse was commanded to “not damage the oil and the wine”, the more luxurious commodities of the day. The already expensive items, items most people wouldn’t be able to afford easily, would remain out of reach and the daily food staples would elevate to a level of unaffordability as well.

When Jesus breaks the third seal, the earth will become a global food desert and perhaps there could be no more terrible way to die than from starvation. My prayer is that this won’t be something you will need to be concerned about but that will only happen if you have believed in Jesus as your Savior. For He will rescue His beloved disciples from the terrible judgments before they happen in what is called the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). If you have rejected Him to this point in your life, please make today the day of your salvation, especially since you are learning what will happen to all those who are left behind.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at the fourth and final horseman that will be unleashed when Jesus breaks seal number four.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.