"he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread"
(Psa. 105: 16)
"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. 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." (Rev. 6: 5-6)
This has not yet been fulfilled. Those who think so are simply in error. Notice this commentary (emphasis mine):
"The black horseman of this seal still rides in the world today, the fact being that at perhaps no other time in human history were more people threatened by the specter of starvation than at this very moment. Is the present, therefore, in any exclusive way to be identified with the rider? No. The black horseman has been riding in all generations and will continue to do so until the end." (Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible)
This person sees a continuous fulfillment "in all generations," from the fall of man till the end of time. But, this is totally untenable. The third seal's opening is what brings the black horse rider. That seal has not yet been opened. It was not opened at the beginning of human history, nor is it open now, but will be opened with the other six when the Lord comes again in judgment. Only a Futurist view of this prophecy is justifiable.
Wrote Dr. John Gill:
"or rather of a famine, not in a spiritual sense, of hearing of the word, but in a literal sense; see Lamentations 4:7; not what was at the siege of Jerusalem, or in the times of Claudius Caesar, Acts 11:28; but in the times of the Emperor Severus, and others, as the historians of those times, and the writings of Tertullian show; when the Heathens ascribed the scarcity that was among them to the wickedness of the Christians, whereas it was a judgment upon them for their persecution of them."
Gill, though he does not see a continuous riding of the black horse rider through time, yet he, like others, attempts to find a fulfillment in history. Yet, nothing of the scale of famine under the black horse rider has ever been realized. Again, we must insist that the judgments of the four horsemen are worldwide in scope. They involve the "inhabitants of the earth." That would include all of them. As the flood judgment was universal, so too are the judgments of the Apocalypse.
Wrote Seiss in "The Apocalypse" :
"But the breaking of the third seal starts another horse — “a black horse” — at whose appearance the seer is moved to exclamation: “And I saw, and, behold, a black horse, and he that sat on him having a pair of balances in his hand.”
More feeling is expressed at the appearance of this power, because a more general and unmanageable plague is the subject of contemplation. Long ago did Jeremiah say: “They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger; for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.” (Lamentations 4:9.) Black is the colour of dearth and famine. When Jeremiah contemplated Judah and his gates “black unto the ground,” it was a picture “concerning the dearth.” (Jeremiah 14:1, 2.) The same prophet says: “Our skin was black like an oven, because of the terrible famine.” (Lamentations 5:10.) It is the hue of mourning; and the rest of the description identifies it as mourning by reason of scarcity."
Though the word "famine" is not used in the text about the black horse rider, yet all agree that famine is depicted by the imagery of the scales weighing grains for rationing. Other factors also demonstrate it. Certainly the color black signifies famine and the death resulting from it. This the scriptures cited by Seiss show. Notice these words of the prophet:
"Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil." (Jer. 29: 17)
"Vile" figs are figs that have died and decomposed and in the final stage of decomposition the dead plant (or animal) becomes blackened. Such fruit is not only worthless but repugnant and is put as far away as possible from its rotting smell and putrid sight.
Those who escape murderous death under the judgment of the red horse rider may well die in the famine that will attend the slaughter and the civil upheaval. And, as the prophet said, to die by famine is far worse than being slain by the sword. The bodies of those dying from famine become "nothing but skin and bones." Their bodies become like wilted figs or fruit, and they become ashen or blackened in their color.
Notice also in this passage how the three judgments of sword, famine, and pestilence are the three we see in the red, black, and pale horses. But, more on that later.
Seiss continued:
"The rider of this black horse carries a pair of balances in his hand. There is close and careful weighing: and the things weighed are the common articles of food. John also “heard as if a voice in the midst of the four Living ones, saying: A choenix of wheat for a denarius, and three choenixes of barley for a denarius.” When things are plentiful, exact weight or measure is not regarded. The Spirit, as given to Christ, was given without measure. So, also, in Joseph’s gathering of corn, and in David’s gathering of copper for the temple. And when corn is abundant, it is sold by gross measure, and no attention is paid to a few hundred grains, one way or the other. But when it becomes high in price and scarce, then it is strictly weighed, and every ounce is taken into account. And, in numerous places in Scripture, the weighing out of the bread to be eaten, is given as one of the marks of great scarcity and want. (Leviticus 26:20; Ezekiel 4:10, 16).
But the picture is further shown to be one of scarcity, by the prices of provisions which John heard declared. People do not generally suppose that God has much to do with price lists. They go up and down, and millions higgle over them every day, but no one thinks of anything Divine connected with them. But whether men realize it or not, price lists are made in heaven. John hears the rates of corn and bread announced by the same heavenly powers by which these mystic horses are called into action. Whatever the weather, the crops, the quantities of money in the country, the extent of speculation in the market, or other subordinate causes may have to do with it, the prime and all-controlling cause is the decree of the throne. It is God, from whom we have our daily bread, and it is by His will that it is plentiful and cheap, or scarce and costly."
The awfulness of this final great famine is due to 1) its enormity, involving the whole world, or all the inhabitants of the earth, which is today over 12 billion people, and 2) its severity, cutting the world's supply of basic food stuffs to meagre remnants, and 3) the time in which it occurs, being a time immediately following the greatest time of prosperity the world has ever seen. People go from having plenty to having hardly anything. A time where silver and gold will do one very little good, where the rich are also suffering want of basic needs.
What Seiss says above about how "price lists are made in heaven" is worth considering further. Prior to the coming of the four horsemen, people all over the world will have been enjoying goods plenty, the average person living better than kings have done in primitive times. Russian czars in the middle ages could scarcely eat bananas. Yet, people today in all parts of the world are able to eat food that is grown in other parts of the world. Spices are abundant today as never before in the history of the world. But, men do not generally thank God for such prosperity.
Modern commerce, with its refrigeration and transportation technologies, has not only brought humankind cheap prices for most goods, and liberation from much poverty and famine, but also a dramatic societal change. Before the modernization of our present world most people lived in an agrarian society, living on farms where they produced most of their meats and other food stuffs. Today, however, food production is done by giant corporations for the most part, and individuals are totally dependent upon them and the economic system for their necessary food.
Yes, God is in control of economies. Notice these words of the prophet:
"You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes." (Hag. 1: 6 NKJV)
Because of the judgment of God for sin, Israel suffered economically. Her "harvests" being not blessed, the yield is scant; And, people do not "have enough" means for basic survival, and what little is gained in wages is soon lost, put as it were into a bag with holes, inflation devaluing currency. In Germany in the days preceding the rise of Hitler (1921-23), inflation, or "hyperinflation," was so bad that one had to bring a wheelbarrow full of Deutschmarks just to buy a loaf of bread. Others even burned the money as it was cheaper than fuel in heating! Money does not avail in times of extreme famine. You can't eat silver and gold. No wonder the prophet spoke of people throwing their silver and gold into the streets in such times! (Eze. 7: 19)
Instead of putting wages into a bag with holes, Jesus said:
"Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys." (Luke 12: 33).
The world has rejected heavenly treasure for money and possessions. But, earthly treasures are so far different from heaven's treasures. Recall these words of the Lord:
"And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." (Luke 12: 15)
There is a being "rich in this world" ( I Tim. 6: 17) contrasted with being "rich towards God" (Luke 12: 21), or being "rich in faith" (James 2: 5) or "rich in good works" (I Tim. 6: 18).
God's judgment of nations often involves economic destruction. The ten plagues sent upon the Egyptians certainly wrecked the Egyptian economy. The Book of Joel shows that one of the "armies" of the Lord are the various kinds of locusts, sent by God to destroy the food supplies and the crops, which brings famine and death.
Seiss continued:
"The prices here given, are judgment prices, indicative of extreme scarcity and distress. A choenix is about a pint and a half of our measure, and is the ordinary allowance of wheat to a man for one day’s scanty subsistence. A denarius was the ordinary wages for a full day’s labour. And when a choenix of wheat costs a denarius, it is as much as a man can do to earn the bread he himself consumes, leaving nothing for his family or for his other wants."
"Judgment prices"! Ponder that for awhile!
Seiss continued:
"But even at these ruinous rates, there is not wheat enough. People have to betake themselves to barley — the food of horses and beasts of burden. Yet the barley is as difficult of procurement as the wheat. In ordinary times, a denarius would buy twenty-four choenixes of barley; but here a denarius will buy but three — the scanty allowance for a day’s subsistence for a slave. The arrival of things at such a pass, accordingly argues a severity of hard times, distress, and want, almost beyond the power of imagination to depict. Yet, it is but the natural result of the state of things under the red horse. The two are closely connected as cause and effect. Take away peace from the earth, and inaugurate universal wars, civil strifes, and bloody feuds, and terrible scarcity of the means of subsistence must follow."
One would almost think that the black horse of famine would precede the violent slaughter of the red horse, rather than the other way. Yet, as we have observed, these four horsemen appear rather synonymously or so quickly on the heels of each as to be so for all practical purposes. But, it is rather that widespread lawlessness causes economic chaos, such as we see on a very small scale now with the Coronavirus pandemic and mass rioting. Food chains have been disrupted along with many aspects of the economy so that many grocery shelves are empty.
Consider also that when food becomes scarce, it is fought after. Thus, murder and famine go hand in hand, both promoting the other.
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