Revelation 6, verses 3 to 6, three seals, war and famine

 

Revelation 6:3 ¶  And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. 4  And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

 

The opening of this seal released a red horse. Obviously, there is a rider on the horse and he has power to cause war. This is not the red horse rider in Zechariah as he is observing the world, not causing war.

 

Zechariah 1:8  I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white 9  Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be. 10  And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. 11  And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.

 

We have a conqueror and then war over the earth. Killing by the sword is a characterization of war and not necessarily referring to a specific weapon as people are killed in war by catapults, spears, knives, and clubs among other weapons. Don’t get hung up on God not mentioning AK-47’s or hand grenades.

 

Revelation 6:5  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.

 

The third seal is famine, riding a black horse. So far, we have a conqueror with a bow, war, and famine which follows both. A third of Germany’s population in the Thirty Year’s War in the early 1600’s perished, mostly by famine and disease, as armies raged over the land.

 

A penny represents a day’s wages.

 

Matthew 20:2  And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

 

In a famine the price of food goes up. If we imagine a loaf of bread requiring a day’s wages we can see, for a minimum wage worker today that loaf of bread would cost about $60 according to one source I read.

 

Luxury items are not affected, perhaps? The oil and the wine are not affected?

 

Proverbs 21:17  He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.

 

Could it be possible that this disaster adversely affects the working classes and the poor most of all as disasters like war often do?

 

Let’s move to the fourth seal.