Hurt Not the Oil and the Wine

Revelation

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.
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.
...


Jesus opened the third seal of this very important book and the third beast (the one with a face of a man, with six wings and full of eyes like all four beasts had in common) spoke and told John to come and see, to come look. And John was shown a black horse. What is the opposite of white? Black. If white is purity and light, black is impurity and darkness isn't it? White raiment is known as being the righteousness of Christ, if there were black raiment it would be the unrighteousness portray- filthy garments. The white horse traveling through a period of time when the early church prospered without gross persecution. The red horse traveling through a period of time where there was much blood shed for God's people in fact the bloodiest period of time in 303AD to 313AD before Christianity was finally accepted by the mainstream. Now this black horse and a rider with a pair of balances.


Balances- even today we use them to denote what? Justice.

Symbolism-
The scales (specifically, a two pan, beam balance) are one of the traditional symbols of justice, as wielded by statues of Lady Justice. This corresponds to the use in metaphor of matters being "held in the balance". It has its origins in ancient Egypt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weighing_scale


When you have two forces in play a balance can be tipped in favor of one or the other- or remain in it's non-tipped state symbolizing equality. You have two forces good and evil and Christ way overtips the one side of the balance to good so in this depiction along with the dark horse at a time when the Christian church was finally not suffering persecution represents what? The church of good and the church of evil perhaps? With the balance held as such in this time could it denote the birth of the corrupt church that would counter the pure church? It was historically a time when paganisn began to mingle with Christianity making it impure while retaining the title pure. Corruption, deception, darkness winds its way into the church and a corrupt church suits the purposes of Satan rather well. When you add the commerce of goods and payments to the picture we're adding what to the mix? A government, yes? An economy and every economy is ruled by a government. With the balances in the picture we have can imagine that symbol of civil power, of government power because once more meting out justice is government function. The involvement of government with religion - the beginning of the very corrupted pure Christianity began. Christ would have His disciples render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's, and to God what is God's, He did not promote a Christian government or a time when the church would work as any type of civil power, but rather claimed this was not His world, not our world. Yet during this period of time church and state held the beginnings of the formation of the pagan papacy.


...
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.
...


This time it's not saying where the voice is exactly coming from rather from the midst of the four beasts. It's not pinpointing the One Worthy who is opening the seals either. This voice is in the midst of the beasts and thus far 3 of the beasts have spoken as the seals were broken. This additional voice makes it stand out- makes us take notice.


A measure of wheat for a penny. Food = money.
Three measures of barley for a penny. Food = money.
Buying and selling. The great concern here isn't the purity of Christ but rather money, goods.


Yet there's an admonition- see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. Could it be that the wheat and the barley were being hurt? How could such commodities be hurt? For that matter how could you hurt oil and wine? Corruption can hurt it all. Here there is pointed mention of the wheat and the barley being sold and the admonition not to hurt the oil and wine. Nothing about selling the oil and wine but the fact the oil and wine could be hurt. If I tell you not to hurt something then the possibility exists that it can be hurt or else there need be no mention of it, right?


Throughout the Bible oil has had it's special place as well as wine in the service of God. Even Jesus in the parable of the Samaritan helping the wounded man had the man tending him with oil and wine- healing him, soothing him. If the oil and wine are hurt there can be no healing perhaps. Also consider the parable of the virgins and the oil in their lamps- those who brought extra were commended and welcomed to the feast while those who did not bring extra were shut out. Already in the vision of the seven churches the last church was admonished to buy eye salve to see, oil so that their eyes would be open to the truth's of Jesus that there would be Spiritual guidance. Wine as we know Jesus used to symbolize the blood He spilled for mankind. If there is a hurting of the oil an the wine there is a lack of spirit and blood both necessary to be in Christ fully. Those true to Christ while the corruption began in earnest during the time of the third seal needed to guard the truth of the oil and wine, the spirit and blood and hold fast to that truth as it was being corrupted and brought into ruin so easily, so deceptively.


May God keep our eyes and hearts open to Him. May we remember these words and understand that during great famines of a spiritual nature we can hold fast to Christ and His sacrifice for us through the Holy Spirit's comforting, guiding, admonishing. As the end approaches the Spirit of God is withdrawn from the earth and we who long to be His and standfast in Him need to protect the spiritually precious, gifts that cannot be bought but need to be given to us by Christ, who counsels us to buy of Him- Him who has paid the highest price so that we may have the gift of eternal life in Him, now and forever He reigns! All glory to God in the Highest! All praise, all honor, all majesty heavenward. By His grace and mercy. Amen.