So far we have discussed the opening of the first two seal judgments of Revelation 6 in prior blogs. Remember, these mark the beginning of the Tribulation period, a period where God will pour out his wrath on the unbelieving world. Also remember, the church will not be present for this, because Jesus will have raptured the church beforehand. Remember with the opening of the first seal the Antichrist rises to global leader and deceives many by claiming that he is the Christ. With the opening of the second seal judgment we have war and bloodshed across the globe. Now we come to the opening of the third seal judgment.
This can be found in Revelation 6:5-6, which says, “When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ‘Come!’ And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”
This horseman represents famine, hence the color of the horse being black. According to Dr. David Jeremiah, “black is often connected with famine in the Bible.” If you notice, this rider is carrying a pair of scales indicating two things: First, the scales indicate that the price of food will be inflated. Secondly, the scales indicate that food will have to be carefully weighed or divided due to scarcity, famine, hunger, and distress across the globe. In other words, not only will food prices be significantly higher, there will also be a significant food shortage during the Tribulation period. How expensive will food become? How bad of a food shortage will there be?
Notice what a voice among the four living creatures said, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius.” In ancient Israel one denarius was the standard wage for a day, which was enough to buy food for at least three people per day. During the Tribulation, many believe the price of food will be inflated as much as 8 to 10 times the normal. With food being globally scarce, what this means is that it will take a day’s wage to supply enough food for just one person for one day. So imagine if you were going through the Tribulation with a family of four, you have worked all day, and you can only buy enough food for one of your family of four each day. Essentially, what is going to happen is people will be starving during the Tribulation, and some will likely die as a result of starvation.
What’s interesting about this is that the more luxurious things are not affected. Notice the voice among the four living creatures also said this, “and do not harm the oil and wine!” So, while the necessities of food like wheat and barley are being affected, the more expensive items like oil and wine are not. There are two reasons for that: Reason # 1) People will be struggling just to buy basic necessities like wheat and barley, they will not even be considering attempting to purchase the more expensive items like oil and wine. Reason #2) It will further prepare for the Antichrist’s global rule. Later in the Tribulation the Antichrist will require people to receive his mark. This mark will allow people to buy and sell.
Why does the price of food inflate so much and why will there be a food shortage? Food will be inflated because food will be scarce. Food will be scarce because of the global war that takes place with the opening of the second seal. And the global war results from the Antichrist rising to power. So, all of this is happening as the Antichrist rises to world leader, according to God’s unfolding and sovereign plan.