Third Seal – The black horse, Revelation 6:5-6

The black horse brought with it famine and diseases, the results of wars.

Food being weighed means food has become scarce.

The Greek word gnophos means: blackness, darkness or gloom.

The food had become eight times as expensive as normal. The basics were very dear and the luxuries were relatively cheap.

Background Reading:

The Vision of the Third Seal Opened – The Black Horse

The third Seal: famines caused by the first two seals – Matthew 24:7

5 When the lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Go!” I looked, and there was aa black horse! Its rider held a scale in his hand. 6 I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living creatures, saying, “bOne day’s ration of wheat for a cday’s wage, or dthree days’ ration of barley for a day’s wage! But edon’t damage the olive oil or the wine!”
Revelation 6:5-6

a. This is a symbol of famine which is the result of the conquest and wars of the first two seals. Cf Lamentations 4:4-8; Matthew 24:7

b. Bread by measure and weight signifies scarcity of food (Ezekiel 4:10-17)

c. 17c. the daily wage (Matthew 20:1-16)

d. A measure was about 1 liter, a slave’s daily ration, an amount usually purchased for about two cents.
    One could usually buy 8 measures of wheat or 24 measures of barley for two cents, but during this future famine only 1 measure of wheat or 3 measures of barley can be purchased for two cents.
    This will make food 8 times higher than in normal times.

e. The olives and grapes need no cultivation; hence their ruthless destruction is forbidden.


Other modules in this unit: