3.
THIRD SEAL >
famine,
inflation
“When
He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying,
'Come.' I looked, and behold, a black
horse; and he who sat on
it had a pair of scales
in his hand. And I heard something like a
voice
in the center of the four living creatures saying, 'A
quart of wheat for a denarius, and three
quarts
of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.'”
(Rev. 6:5-6)
The first thing mentioned is that the rider of the black horse holds a pair of scales. What is the purpose for a scale? A scale is used to determine price, value, weight or volume. Then it is your judgment call – Will you pay the price the
scale has determined?
Without realizing it, you do this each time you fill up your vehicle with gasoline. The average price of gasoline in the Pittsburgh area, as of April 9, 2016 was $2.188 per gallon.1
If you don't think the price at the gas station is low
enough, you move on to another station. You will
buy gasoline; it is only a matter of what
you are willing to pay.
In the scales mentioned here, the commodity isn't gasoline but food. Talk about inflation! The verse says that a denarius would buy one quart of wheat (small
amount, higher nutrition) or
three quarts of barley (higher amount, lesser nutrition). You'll agree with me, right, when I say that's not a whole lot? By the way, a denarius is the equivalent of a day's wage (Mt. 20:2).
“If you consider the context of the first century A.D., it is clear that John predicted a very dramatic increase in the price of wheat. A person reading the Book of Revelation in the first century A.D. would have read that a denarius would buy only enough wheat to make 1.5 to 1.875 one-pound loaves of bread instead of 25 loaves of bread . . . This would represent between a 1333% and 1667% increase in price!”2
When there is scarcity (famine) there will also be starvation.
Total
number of people that die every year from hunger3
|
7,665,000
|
Total
number of people who died of hunger today
|
21
thousand
|
Percent
of world population considered to be starving
|
26
percent
|
Time
between deaths of people who die from hunger
|
3.9
seconds
|
Total
number of people who do not have enough to eat
|
945
million
|
Percent
of world’s hungry that live in just 7 main countries
|
65
percent
|
Here is the kicker: While people will experience unprecedented, skyrocketing inflation and increased starvation during the Tribulation, luxuries will still be accessible to the rich but not to the poor. That's what is meant by“Do
not damage the oil and the wine.”
1http://then.gasbuddy.com/GB_Price_List.aspx?cntry=USA#us_cities
(accessed 4-9-16)
3These
statistics were taken from
http://www.statisticbrain.com/world-hunger-statistics/
(accessed 4-9-16).
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