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Revelation 6:6
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6 And [kai] I heard [akouo] a voice [phone] in [en] the midst [mesos] of the four [tessares] beasts [zoon] say, [lego] A measure [choinix] of wheat [sitos] for a penny, [denarion] and [kai] three [treis] measures [choinix] of barley [krithe] for a penny; [denarion] and [kai] see thou hurt [adikeo] not [me] the oil [elaion] and [kai] the wine. [oinos] KJV-Interlinear
6 And I heard as it were a voice in the center 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." NASB
Shortages of every type of goods and services are on the horizon. When a given geographical area experiences repetitive catastrophes, then shortages are inevitable. Now we see in the breaking of the third seal, that just to be able to feed ones self for one day only, it will take a days wages. Can't get ahead when you work all day to feed only yourself. Nothing mentioned concerning the care of ones family or even the cost of maintaining a home, transportation, etc. Times will be extremely tough.
The third creature is that with a face of a man. The four living beasts correlate with each of these seals.
Man in all his glory and grand legislation and schemes, seem to mess things up economically. We'll set tariffs here and there, we'll raise taxes, we'll lower interest rates or raise them. We'll offer tax incentives, tax credits, and manipulate the deductible items a little here and there. Man has a multitude of rules and regulations aimed at controlling the economy, generating government revenue, financing public programs and such.
But as these layers of bureaucracy increase so does the complexity of economics. And so does the burden on peoples ability to even make a living, increase to beyond tolerable.
One set of regulations may 'seem' to solve or control an economic problem, but other problems arise and yet more regulations are added to the books of government, and the spiral of disaster continues. The Tribulation will be no different, and even more so, it will see the added burden of regulation of the economics of everything that a person can do, with the recording of all persons identifications and the requiring of ID cards of some type, thus preventing some people from doing business unless they have the proper ID, to the regulation of what one can own, buy and sell. More on this commerce regulation in chapter 13.
This attempt to regulate commerce, but with the intent of controlling peoples religious beliefs, will fail horribly. When laws become unfair and burdensome on the population, then underground markets open up, and generally thrive, especially when there is little if any monitoring of the whole process. We have already seen that the problems in the world will compound upon themselves. Because of the massive disruptions by violence, crime, and government regulation (not to mention storms and natural disasters – which we have not yet studied), communications are down, transportation is down, law enforcement is down, so the mandated commerce controls will be difficult to maintain, but they will at the same time become a huge burden on the population, as government regulation, or attempts to regulate will almost always end up in disaster for an economy.
We see even today, the monster of government control trying to gain a foothold on the nations. Our Trojan Horse seems to be in the form of health care and global warming. Something that can appeal to people in concept, but when you look inside, evil runs rampant.
All of the faces of the creatures of God, have been taken and distorted. Authority has been perverted. Power has been abused. Now free enterprise or the free thinking of man has been undermined. This destroys innovation and true competition in the market place.
The result, 'A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.'
Shortages occur and inflation takes over.
A denarius is the reference for a days wages. Often translated as a penny or a shilling, the denarius was the typical days wage of the Roman soldier, or perhaps a common laborer.
The dry measures of the wheat and barley, and the extra care for the oil and beverage indicate that nothing is to be wasted. The quart of wheat, when ground up into flour will not yield a quart of flour, but perhaps a couple of cups, and only a very small loaf of bread is available from that. If a person eats three meals a day, with the family, there won't be any leftovers for the fridge. There won’t even be enough to go around.
While in todays world a person can buy a loaf of bread for less than an hours wage (typical labor), this increase in prices is dramatic. I know that there are a lot of bread loaves and sizes and so forth, but a typical loaf may cost one or two dollars. If a person is earning ten or twenty dollars an hour, than one could buy lots of loaves for only one hours work.
However, when the cost of common bread (not fancy bread) soars to require a whole days wages, what does that tell you about wages? They do not keep pace with rising costs. Likewise, when bread costs go up, that means shortages and rising costs exist everywhere else. Needless to say, times will be extremely tough. Emphasize the extreme.
And one more principle is revealed here. The voice, this time, does not come from one of the four living beasts, who represent the very foundation of life. But the voice comes from an unidentified source within their midst.
This indicates that all of the fundamental rules of life have been violated, and that live and its foundations have no part in this very bad situation in which the world will find itself. On their own, people by their continued indifference to truth, will bring this disaster upon themselves. They have no excuse, they have no one to blame, but themselves.
This principle applies to everyone, even you.
Now that we have seen inside three seals, and have four more to go, we should probably begin looking at another Biblical principle - God controls history.
Note that the sequence of the events begins with the revelation of the event in heaven prior to its occurrence on earth.
Nothing in history, nothing in life, happens without Gods prior knowledge. He is ahead of us all when it comes to knowing what will happen and when. Whether it is impending disaster on a world wide scale, or whether it is what you will have for breakfast tomorrow, nothing happens that God does not know about.
God knows every thought, every decision, every event in history.
Who breaks the seals? Jesus Christ. Who imputes human life into each and every infant born in this world? Jesus Christ. He controls every aspect of ones life. He has made provision for every circumstance that might occur in each persons life.
Down here on earth, we may be caught by surprise as events unfold, but in heaven, there are no surprises. God in eternity past, made a decision as to the events of history, and recorded them down in what theology calls the Divine Decrees. Nothing ever happens unless it is first revealed in heaven.
'Seal up the scroll, for its time is not yet.'
'Break the seal and reveal its contents.'
'Only the one who is worthy (the lamb), is able to break the seal'.
Jesus Christ controls history. For every person who resides inside His sphere of power and protection (fellowship), there is no danger, only blessing.
For those who reside in the jungle, that is, outside His sphere of protection (out of fellowship for believers, and for all unbelievers) there is misery and disaster.
Though the world during the time of the Tribulation is falling apart, it is in no danger of self-destruction.
Though your life may seem like it is in the self destruct mode, you too are in His hands and you do have some degree of protection. Though, if you are negative or disinterested in Bible study, that protection may be only to pile on more misery and discipline in order to wake you up.
So you still have some control over your miserable future. You can maintain that misery by ignoring your daily Bible study, or you can turn that little light on in your head and get with a program of daily Bible study.
We learn that not only will there be terrible trouble in the Tribulation, but this also helps us to see that our individual lives are under some protection, as well as design.
History is not spontaneous, nor haphazard. Nothing happens by surprise. Now your life may be somewhat haphazard, but that is entirely up to your decision making process. God is not the author of confusion. Even in the worst of times, there is always a means of escape for the believer in fellowship, for the believer advancing to spiritual maturity.
If you haven't already done so, you may want to review, or re-review the special study on fellowship. Find it in the Special Study Library online. That is presuming that you even have the inclination to pursue your spiritual learning process, without someone getting it for you.
Earlier, John cried tears of sorrow. One of the many reasons for those tears, is because people are their own worst enemies. People do not go after truth, but disregard it, and end up in a life of great distress.
It would be nice if God hit you in the head every time you did something wrong, but that will not happen in this dispensation. Your resource for self discipline and self control is your own volition.
If you have been with this study for very long, you know a little of your history.
When peoples in Mesopotamia came under oppression, they moved into Europe, Africa, and Asia. They had a frontier to escape to. When the Old World became over populated and oppressive, the Americas were discovered and masses or people made the exodus to the New World.
God gave man frontiers as an escape from oppression.
But by the time of the Tribulation, the One World concept will give people nowhere to run, except one place – the spiritual life of Christianity. That frontier is vast and endless and secure because it is protected by God. Evil cannot enter into it.
But unfortunately, people will make their own misery, because they will ignore God, Christ, and their spiritual life. They pretend and pursue the rah rah rah’s of Christianity, but not the substance of doctrinal instruction.
When you are attending a school event, you can sing your songs and shout your chants of loyalty and support, but those are not an education. That comes not at the celebration but in the class room, where homework and study are required.
It is no different with the spiritual life. Sing your favorite songs and recite your favorite verses, of course, but those only help shore up your emotional feelings. You must pursue a daily study, so that you can learn and gain an orientation to life and the world around you.
Without a foundation of doctrine inside of your soul, you will have no protection from the worlds influences and thus will fall flat on your face when the times get really tough.
We are now only two verses way from the first of three of the worst disasters the world has ever seen. And in that future day, it will not be pleasant.
Thus John’s tears. Mans decisions (your decisions) make or break your entire life and future. Unfortunately for most, they just do not think that this is really going to happen, nor do they believe that any of these principles apply to them.
And so, indifference, disinterest, and the refusal to knuckle down to learning and growing and obeying Gods principles, will lead to massive sorrow. And that is something that you can count on, regardless of what you think.
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