Revelation 6:5-6

Strauss-' Comments
SECTION 17

Text Revelation 6:5-6

5 And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, Come. And I saw, and behold, a black horse: and he that sat thereon had a balance in his hand. 6 And I heard as it were a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, A measure of wheat for a shilling, and three measures of barley for a shilling; and the oil and the wine hurt thou not.

Initial Questions Revelation 6:5-6

1.

What does the balance symbolize - Revelation 6:5?

2.

Wheat and Barley is very scarce and expensive - Revelation 6:6. What does this imply?

3.

Where in the Old Testament does this symbolism of the scarcity and expensiveness of basic food stuffs originate? (See Ezekiel 4:16; Ezekiel 5:16 f.)

4.

Why the command not to hurt the oil and wine?

Revelation 6:5

The third seal revealed a black horse, and the one sitting on it having a balance in his hand. Black signifies famine and weeping (see Jeremiah 4:28; Jeremiah 8:21; Malachi 3:14 - where mourning is literally in black.) The rider on the black horse carried a pair of scales (zugon). What was the purpose of this scale or balance? John hurries to inform us!

Revelation 6:6

John heard one of the four living creatures saying: a choenix (a measure of some kind) of wheat for a denarius (about a penny), and three measures of barley for a denarius; and the oil and the wine do not harm. Famine is the key to this imagery. Food was scarce, and what was available had an exorbitant price tag on it. Though our present day inflation would make the prices vary considerably, we can see the picture from I. T. Beckwith'S, (The Apocalypse of John, MacMillan, N. Y. 1919, p. 520 - excellent, a must for advanced study.) statement that grain sold at twelve times its regular cost. We can see the picture better when we know that a denarius was a day's wages. Here we clearly see the results of war. Wheat, barley, oil, and wine were the staple foods in Asia Minor and Palestine in the first century. Luxuries were unavailable, and even the staples were not abundantly available. Only those who survived with enough money could purchase the scarce food items. What does this imply for those who could not afford the high cost of famine and suffering? Scarcity is the ultimate cost of human conflicts (See Leviticus 26:26 and Ezekiel 4:16.)

Review Questions

See Revelation 6:12-17.