New Testament: Rev 6.5–6

To read the Bible in a year, read Revelation 6 on December 15, In the year of our Lord Christ 2021

By Don Ruhl 

Revelation 4 showed four living creatures in the midst of the throne and around the throne, and each one had distinctive features, including the third living creature, which had a face like a man and spoke like a man. 

When the Lamb of God started opening the seven seals on the scroll that had been in the hand of God, this happened, 

When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard 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 the wine.”

– Revelation 6.5–6 

John saw a black horse with a rider. Black is bad economic times. We use black in this manner. Remember “Black Monday” in October, 1987, when the stock market crashed? There was a Black Friday on September 24, 1869, when falling gold prices created a panic in the market. There was another Black Friday on September 19, 1873, when the failure of a certain company again created a stock market panic. 

American references do not prove that black is economic problems in the Book of Revelation, but it shows we have carried on a biblical tradition by referring to bleak economic times as black (Although if you are in the black in your finances that is good! Now figure that one out! And Black Friday can refer to great sales). 

The rider had a pair of scales to determine the quantity and the price. From out of the midst of the living creatures came a voice giving the prices of staple foods, revealing a day’s wage for these foods, which were exorbitant prices. 

While the gospel spread through the Roman Empire, bringing good things with it, suffering also accompanied the good news. There is good news of salvation from sin and hell, but the bad news is Satan battles against the world as it turns to Christ, and Satan has help in this world. 

Let us keep doing what we need to do, but let us not become discouraged when hard times hit, for surely they will, but the work of spreading the truth should not cease.

Questions: 

• How are you doing economically? 
• What did the rider have in his hands? 

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