Revelation 6: The Third Seal

The third seal is the repetition of the Church of Pergamum in more detail.

🔹The black horse

Historical events:

• The white horse: describes the early church's victories (Ephesus: The Apostolic Church).

• The red horse: describes the early persecutions (Smyrna: The Persecuted Church).

• The black horse: Infiltration of pagans in the church (Pergamum: The Compromising church).

🔹Satan’s two methods against God’s people:

• Persecution – The devil will attack Christians by trying to kill them.

• Infiltration - When Satan cannot defeat the church through persecution, he corrupts it from inside. 

🔹Relation of the third seal and the third church:

• The third seal corresponds to the same period as the third church of Pergamum (the compromising church).

• The teachings of Balaam and Nicolaitans in the 3rd church emphasized compromise.

• The throne of Satan was in Pergamum (Revelation 2:13). 

• Pergamum is the connecting link between the pagan Roman Empire and papal Rome (Revelation 13:2). 

• During this time, the restrainer was lifted (Romans 13:1–5), allowing the pope to reveal himself in his entirety.

The black horse depicts the church when paganism and the gospel were blended together. The historical period begins when Constantine was "converted" to Christianity in 321 A.D. and ends about 538 A.D., when Pagan Rome became Papal Rome (the Papacy is under the authority of the Roman Catholic Church). Black, the opposite of white, is associated with darkness and represents people who have strayed from the gospel. Satan attempts to keep us in darkness by hiding Jesus, the light. People who compromise the purity of the gospel prefer darkness to light. This is the time of compromise (mixing Christianity and Paganism). Constantine became a "Christian" and switched the Sabbath to Sunday. The official date for Sunday's "birthday" is March 3, 321 AD. 

Revelation Chapter 6 - Verse 5 to 6

5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts 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.

🔹The color black

Jesus is the manifestation of God's Word (John 1:1–3), and where the Word is, there is light and life (John 1:4-5; I John 1:5-7). 

The Bible equates the color white with light. God's written word is likewise light (Psalm 119:105). 

During the time of the white horse, God's people preached the world-changing Word of God (John 9:5; Matthew 5:16). When God's Word shines on His people, they spread the light to others. In contrast, the absence of God's Word results in gloom or full darkness.

The Bible uses the color black to represent darkness.

The black horse contrasts with the white horse. During the time of the white horse, God's people shined brightly with the light of His word. The black horse symbolizes the darkness resulting from the rejection of God's Word. Where God's message is missing, there is darkness or total obscurity. Black represents sin, heresy, apostasy, and human customs and traditions.

Proverbs 4:18-19 - “18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.”

The rise to power of the Roman Church marked the beginning of the Dark Ages. As her strength grew, the darkness became darker.

🔹Bread

Bread is another symbol for God's Word (Deuteronomy 8:3, 4; Matthew 4:4). During the third seal, there was no light and no bread. This explains why wheat and barley were so expensive during this time.

When human traditions block the truth of God, darkness or obscurity develops, followed by starvation and plague.

Both light and bread represent God's Word (Matthew 4:4; Isaiah 55:2, 3, 10, 11; John 6:48–58, 63). Without food and light, death will occur. Amos 8:11–12 foretells a day when the nation will experience a famine, but not of bread, but of God's Word.

🔹Scales

The scales in the third seal were intended to measure grain. The scale or balance can represent judgment elsewhere in the Bible (for example, Daniel 5:27), but not in the third seal.

Israel used barley (early spring harvest) and wheat (late spring harvest) to make bread. Throughout the reign of the third horse, these grains were particularly scarce throughout the third horse's reign. During the fourth horse's reign, hunger would worsen, ending in famine and death.

🔹Oil and wine

The wine represented the blood of Jesus, while the oil represented the Holy Spirit.

To harm God's people is to dishonor Jesus' blood and offend the Holy Spirit (Zechariah 2:8; Matthew 25:40; Mark 9:41; Acts 9:4, 5).

Zechariah 2:8 - “For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.”

🔹Compromise during the dark ages

Idolaters accepted some aspects of the Christian faith while rejecting others. They professed to accept Jesus as God's Son and believe in His death and resurrection, but they had no conviction of sin and saw no need for repentance or heart transformation.

However, there is no alliance between the Prince of Light and the Prince of Darkness, and their followers cannot unite together. When Christians agreed to cooperate with others who had only partially converted from paganism, they started straying from the truth.

Next: Revelation Chapter 6: The Fourth Seal (The Pale Horse)

Previous: Revelation Chapter 6: The Second Seal