Read with Me
Revelation 6:5-6 (NET)
When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come!” So I looked, and here came a black horse! The one who rode it had a balance scale in his hand. Then I heard something like a voice from among the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat will cost a day’s pay and three quarts of barley will cost a day’s pay. But do not damage the olive oil and the wine!”
Listen with Me
The breaking of the third seal of the scroll and the command to “come”, brought forth a rider on a black horse carrying a set of scales. This would instantly call to the minds of John’s readers the image of famine.
Today it is hard for people to understand the horrors of famine. In those days when the rain was held back bringing crop failure, or when plant diseases or insect infestations consumed the crops, there were no relief agencies to bring food into the affected area, no transit system to allow goods to be flown in or trucked in. People simply had no food, and many starved to death.
The fact that the rider carried scales in his hand gives the idea that rather than simply eating what one wanted, the available food would be rationed, carefully weighed out to make it last as long as possible. This was a common practice in times of famine or during sieges.
This judgment of God on the food supply would not be a complete famine with a total destruction of all crops. Instead, it would be a severe shortage of food that would drive the cost of food steeply higher. A quart or a liter of wheat would sell for a day’s wage. That was enough for only one person, not for a couple or a family. During the shortage, people could afford more barley, enough for three people for the same price. But barley was a poor-quality food, not very nutritious, and mostly used by the extremely poor, or for animal food.
At the same time, God determined that He would not damage the olive trees or the grapevines. These were luxury items in times of famine, not staple foods. The fact that those two crops would still flourish in a time when real staple food was scarce would be a sign that this was no “natural disaster”, but that it was a judgment that had come from the hand of God.
Pray with Me
Father, You are right in pointing out that we are more insulated from things like famine today. It takes huge crop failures over an incredibly large area to make food completely unavailable. But at the same time, we have a small experience of shortages driving up prices, so we have an easier time understanding this as a time of shortages that cause suffering because real food is simply unaffordable for the average person. This would cause alarm among the government leaders because those kinds of shortages quickly lead to death and disease from malnutrition, as well as to growing civil unrest as the hunger and death grows more widespread from the bottom up. Thus, by bringing on this strategic shortage, You would be attacking the whole stability of the Empire, not just causing inconvenience. Lord, You are so wise in how You deal with us, whether it is for our good when we are obedient, or for our correction and even our harm when we are rebellious. Help us to stay obedient, so that we can experience Your blessing rather than Your correction. Amen.