The Tribulation Revelation 6:5-6

To see Revelation 6:5-6 without my comments click HERE.

Next, the Messiah opened the Third Seal, and John then saw a black horse. The rider had a set of scales and there came a voice from the midst of the four beasts saying “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.”

Every commentary I have looked at states that the black horse represents a famine. Of course in this context it would mean a worldwide famine. There has been and always will be famines as recorded throughout history and they are promised in Matthew 24:7. Some of the severe historical famines of the world are recorded in the Bible. The worldwide famine as mentioned in Revelation 6 can be easily brought about by one or more of the following reasons: crop damage, defoliation, contaminated water supply, destroyed livestock, and of course a high demand from a standing army as mentioned in the preceding two verses.

The origin of the reasons for a world wide famine come directly as a side effect from not following the laws of Yahweh. Although some think that America is protected by God and that a famine could never happen here, because in the past we have fed the entire planet, so we can't fail. However, I can assure you that a famine can and will happen here.

For Israelite America to be able to feed ourselves and anyone else on the planet, as they have in the past, we need to be in control of our own land and follow Yahweh's laws. Right at the moment, the people who are true Israel are being walked on, and in some cases ran out of their own country by people who are not of Israel. This is not the plan of God, but rather is directly opposite to Gods desire for both Israel and the rest of the world; Genesis 2:5, Deuteronomy 28:13, Romans 8:19. The promise of a famine and other penalties for disobedience are guaranteed in Deuteronomy 28 starting in verse 15, and again in Levitucus 26 starting in verse 14.

The severity of this coming worldwide famine is shown in the Bible by men being able to buy a measure of wheat for a penny. “The penny in this passage would have been a better translation if the translator would have used the word denarius”, as stated in the King James Study Bible. A denarius is the average pay for a days worth of work. A measure (about a quart) of wheat, is considered the minimum amount of food to keep a man alive for a day. In other words, you will only be able to purchase a days worth of food for a days worth of work, or you can buy 3 measures of barley for the same price. Barley is the type of grain that you use to feed animals.

The oil and wine in this passage will be untouched. Oil and wine are, and always have been, considered luxury items. This shows that the people that are rich will not be effected by the severity of the coming worldwide famine. It's as the story goes the rich get richer, while the poor get poorer.

The important thing to keep in mind during the time of the tribulation (the testing of your faith), is that God is in control of everything even though we do not know if it will happen during our lifetime or not. The natural instinct for some that know a famine is coming, will be to save food. Although I do think it's a good idea to save some food (especially in Connecticut the snowstorm capital of the world), we must realize that God is in control of all. Food is not the sole thing that will keep you alive during the Great Tribulation, but rather the most important thing to keep you alive is following the direction of Yahweh.

If you are not directed to save food it may be because of a reason like not being able to secure it properly and it would fall into the hands of someone that is working against God's coming kingdom here on earth. The Father does know all. When we talk to Father Yahweh, he talks to us and will direct us what to do. The first thing to do is pray and he will let you know what your specific course of action should be.

For those who are to save food, I am not an expert on saving food. There are many books available that are well written about this subject at your local library anyway...

If you are on a Babylonian diet, and everything you eat comes from a box or can, you will not know how to feed yourself without super Wal-mart during a famine and you have a lot of planning to do.

If you follow the laws of God and try to stay true to his word the best you can, then you should be eating your own organically grown produce already, and not relying on others to feed you. Just the simple act of producing your food at this time may be enough for you to avoid the world wide famine in the future. As Christians we will go through the Tribulation, but, we are not meant to be exposed to the wrath of God.

Some of the problems to keep in mind is that if Yahweh tells you to actually store food are: it takes up a lot of space to save many years worth of food. The space to feed two people for a year will fill a two car garage to about 75% capacity. Another problem is that canned food only lasts for a year and will not last for the whole time of the Great Tribulation. It's possible to get two years out of some products if you turn the cans over frequently. Freeze dried foods will last longer, but then you will need to store a lot more water than normal and if all you eat is freeze dried food then your digestive system will stop working (you have to eat some greens).

Either way you will have to plan for a way to subsidize or replenish your supplies if you actually go this route by Yah's direction.

If you begin to save food, the easiest thing one can do on a budget is to save beans and rice. The storage of beans and rice will bulk up any other food supplies that you have and will make your regular food last twice as long if you mix these items 50/50 with the other foods. Dried beans and rice can be bought very cheaply in 50 lb. Bags, and can be stored quite easily in used beverage containers.

Another option that costs little to nothing is knowing what types of plants in your area are edible, this would also help to supplement any available food supplies. Probably 99% of us wouldn't have a clue of what edible foods we have available to eat even if we were standing on top of it, so a good book on this subject would be a good idea.

If you still don't have a clue, dandelions and acorns grow everywhere on the planet and are edible. Everyone knows what dandelions and acorns looks like, they will keep you alive even if you just eat them and nothing else. You will be alive, but very miserable. Both acorns and dandelions are bitter and have to be soaked in water to remove the bitterness for a day or two minimum. Boiling dandelions will speed this process up.

To make acorns palatable you must crush and soak them in water for days to leach out the tannic acid, while constantly changing the water. To speed up the process, you can put the acorns and a rock into a bandanna or cheese cloth and put them in a river over night.

It's my prayer that all of Israel will depend solely on the Father and not their own personal feelings to guide them through life during times of tribulation and not!