The Revelation of Jesus Christ
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the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him-a great sword'' (verses 3, 4). . 3. The Third Seal-The Black Horse and Famine (verses 5, 6). · · "And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo _a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances m his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures 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:• Jesus, in the Olivet discourse. as you will remember, said that "there shall be famines." We have seen famine on a small scale; but in that day bread will be meted out by measure, and a measure is just sufficient for a meal. D~ring the World War, I remember going to the grocery store where we traded. I had a list of things I wanted. The groceryman was a member of my church, and he said, "Mr. Talbot, you can get only a certain measure of this, and that, and the other thing." We knew, during those days, some~ thing of what it meant to have our food measured out to us. We had our meatless days, our wheatless days, our breadless days; but those days were only a faint shadow of what the world will see when the church has been taken away, and the Son of God opens the seals, setting in motion the forces that will bring upon the earth such misery as it has never seen. "A measure of wheat for a penny and three mea_sures of barley for a penny." A penny in that day was a day's wages; a measure was sufficient wheat or barley for one meal. So in that day, the famine will be on such a scale that it will take a day's wages to get sufficient wheat to furnish one meal. And if a person is to subsist on barley, which is inferior to wheat in food value, then he will be able to get three meals for a day's wages. Wheat and barley are the foods of the common people. You will notice that the "voice in the midst of the four living creatures" said, "See thou hurt not the oil and the wine." Oil and wine are luxuries of the rich, and it appears that the judgment connected with the opening of the third seal does not affect the rich man. But never fear; their judgment will come later on. "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you," says James.
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