June 10: CHOICE: NOURISHMENT OR STARVATION
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
Wheat and barley are two types of grains from which bread is made. Jesus, the living bread (John 6:51), taught in simple terms as well as complex. The mature student of His word is continually led into deeper and greater understanding, and his life is a continual blessing to others. Paul referred to spiritual nourishment as both milk and solid food (see 1 Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:12-13).
The third living creature had a face like a man (4:7). The black horse and its rider holding a pair of scales immediately suggests shortages and rationing among men. Compromise with the principles of the world leads to this rationing, and may even be self-imposed. A person with one foot in the Word and the other foot in the world will unwittingly ‘ration’, both to himself and to others. He may pat himself on the back for a certain good quality or attitude, but is entirely unwilling to yield to Jesus in the very area that His Spirit highlights to him in the Word.
It is interesting that Jesus identifies Himself in the third letter (to the church at Pergamos) as He who has the sharp two-edged sword, another well-known symbol for the word of God. By this early time in the history of the church, Satan had entered in among the faithful (2:13). False teachings were obscuring the original gospel message, its purity and power being displaced with rubbish. As a result, there was a famine for the bread of life. “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius…”
The white horse of the first opened seal, symbolizing the pure gospel surging forth into the world, contrasts dramatically with the black horse of the third seal, a symbol for an impure and ineffective, supposedly “Biblical” message. The quantity of grain that a denarius would buy in this verse denotes hyperinflation. The voice in the midst of the four living creatures is decrying the message borne by the rider on the black horse, for it is a compromised message. The threat of spiritual starvation is a real and present danger. But that same voice orders that no harm should come to the oil and the wine. In spite of the compromise being “sold” by the church or an individual, the Holy Spirit (symbolized by oil) and gracious salvation in Jesus Christ (symbolized by wine) are nevertheless available. The mishandling of His word notwithstanding, the Holy Spirit continued working to woo and win hearts as the third seal was opened. Know that the black horse and its rider still gallop over the world even now.
Spiritual growth heightens discernment of what is happening in the world and within your heart. But failure to be obedient to what the Lord is showing you will inevitably have the opposite result. Do not limit, or ration, the power of God’s transforming work in your life.
Solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Hebrews 5:14