3. THE THIRD SEAL OPENED Revelation 6:5-6 5 And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, Come.--See the notes on verse 1. And I saw, and behold, a black horse; and he that sat thereon had a balance in his hand.--The significance of the horse has already been explained under the first seal. The difference is that here the horse is black. It should be noted that neither bow nor sword was given the rider, but instead he carried a pair of balances in his hand. The description of the first two visions clearly indicates that both refer to active fighting--aggressive warfare. The first pictures successful warfare for the Roman Empire; the second disastrous. The absence of any expression in the third vision to indicate fighting shows that this symbol should have a different interpretation. This will be evident as we examine the meanings of the various expressions found in it. A surface glance at the terms used suggests that it represents some terrible results that follow in the wake of continued and devastating battles--that is, distress and sufferings because of great scarcity. Death, another horrible result of war, as presented in the fourth vision is attributed to four causes, one of which is famine. The third seal, therefore, is picturing the scarcity of the necessities of life and the difficulty of getting them by reason of high prices. As an emblem the black color represents deep distress manifested in mourning. Jeremiah said: "Judah mourneth and the gates thereof languish, they sit in black upon the ground and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up." (Jeremiah 14:2.) Compare Ezekiel 32:7. The cause of mourning might be deep distress on account of famine, pestilence, death, oppression, or invasion of the country. The, particular thing that causes the mourning in any case will have to be learned from its description in the text. Balances and scales are symbols of justice and exactness. (Proverbs 11:1; Job 31:6.) Things may be weighed because of their intrinsic value or their scarcity. According to the view taken in this commentary there would result from the many devastating wars and internal strife such scarcity of food supplies as would have to be carefully preserved and dispensed with rigid exactness. The rider carrying a balance indicated that the Roman government would cause that state of things to exist. This could have meant that such laws could have been enacted by the government for the common safety of the citizens or the exactness with which the taxes were collected, or both. We should not forget that any distress that came to the empire would directly affect the church, for it was for many centuries within, and subject to, the Roman power. Hence, the picturing of this future fact was intended evidently to warn the churches then about what awaited them when great happenings would take place in countries where they lived--within the bounds of the Roman Empire. Leviticus 26:24-26 and Ezekiel 4:16 both show that bread sold by weight, which indicates scarcity. Doubtless the same was true of other commodities. 6 And I heard as it were a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, A measure of wheat for a shilling, and three measures of barley for a shilling; and the oil and the wine hurt thou not.--John heard a voice that seemed to come from the midst of the four living creatures. It is not stated who spake, but it seemed directed to the rider of the horse. This indicated that his mission in going forth was to produce such a situation that wheat and barley would sell at enormous prices. This does not indicate famine conditions where there is nothing to sell, but great scarcity when extreme and exacting methods have to be used to protect the supply. The word "measure" is equal to about one quart. The Greek term for shilling had the value of sixteen and two-thirds cents. This made a bushel of wheat worth more than five dollars. The purchasing power of money then was probably much more than ours, so the price of wheat in the value of our money would, doubtless, be two or three times that much. These prices show that great scarcity of food products, which is doubtless all that was intended by the expressions. Expositors are hopelessly disagreed about the meaning of "the oil and the wine hurt thou not." It is useless to attempt to state the various views. It is evident, however, that the proper application will harmonize with what has just been said about the wheat and barley. Since the whole symbol indicates the devastating results of warfare and the scarcity of common necessities, the instruction pertains to the extreme care in protecting them. Oil and wine then being necessary articles of food, great care was to be observed not to damage that source of support. Though this command seems directed to the rider, who represented the ruling power of the empire, it may have been general instruction to be carried out by all the people. Perhaps the fulfillment of the symbol need not be limited to the reign of any one particular emperor, since such conditions would follow after internal warfare and oppression at any time. But the rule of Caracalla (A.D. 211-217), both in nature and time, would probably come within the limits required. He is referred to in history as one of the most "blood-thirsty tyrants," giving the empire a reign of terror. Gibbon calls him the "common enemy of mankind," and says: "The most wealthy families were ruined by partial fines and confiscations, and the great body of his subjects oppressed by ingenious and aggravated taxes." (Decline and Fall, Vol. I, p. 160.) Regarding the same Gibbon says further: "In the course of this history, we shall be too often summoned to explain the land tax, the capitation, and the heavy contributions of corn, wine, oil, and meat, which were exacted from the provinces for the use of the court, the army, and the capital." (Ibid., p. 195.) In such conditions the church in all the Roman provinces would suffer with other subjects of the empire. This condition would naturally interfere with the preaching of the gospel.