6 Then I heard something like a voice among the four living creatures say, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius—but do not harm the olive oil and the wine.”
The Seraphim declared that in the time of the third seal there will be a great famine because the destruction that takes place on the earth (wars, plagues, and drought) will affect food growth and production (Matthew 24:7).
A denarius was a silver coin and it was a day’s wage (Matthew 20:1-2).
Food will be very expensive in the end times for the lack of it and those who will suffer the worst will be the poor and middle class.
7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”
The Lord opens the fourth seal and the Seraphim tells John to come and see the next judgment that takes place.
8 And I looked, and there was a pale green horse. The horseman on it was named Death, and Hades was following after him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague, and by the wild animals of the earth.
The phrase “a pale green horse” resembles the color that a dead body gets after a person has been dead for 24 hours.
A fourth of the earth’s population (25%) will experience death (1.8 billion people will perish), which includes animals as well. To reach such high casualties would most likely include a nuclear exchange (Zechariah 14:12) in a very big war (Ezekiel 38-39) by multiple countries. Plus, the high prices of food that almost no one can afford will cause people to die of starvation along with plagues that we will get into the further we get into the chapter that talks about the remaining seals.
9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the people slaughtered because of God’s word and the testimony they had.
The fifth seal reveals the saints who died in the great tribulation (Revelation 7:9-14) by the hands of the Antichrist and the false prophet for refusing to worship him and the image of the Antichrist. Their heads were cut off (Revelation 20:4) who did not denounce their testimony in Jesus Christ or the Word of God but died because they were Christians who loved the Lord more than their lives.
10 They cried out with a loud voice: “Lord, the One who is holy and true, how long until You judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?”
The believers were in the presence of the Lord, which after the death of a believer he/she will immediately go to be with Jesus according to 2 Corinthians 5:8 which says, “8 and we are confident and satisfied to be out of the body and at home with the Lord.”
The believers cried out to Jesus for justice because they were put to death but were innocent, they did not commit any crime deserving death. They were asking the Lord God when Lord will you avenge us?
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