In today's study the Lord opens the third seal and the third horseman rides out.
"When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, 'Come!' I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in its hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, 'Two pounds of wheat for a day's wages, and six pounds of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!'" (Revelation 6:5-6)
The rider on the black horse brings famine. Famine often follows war and, as we learned yesterday, the red horseman brought war with him. The peace the rider of the white horse promised was nothing but an illusion. The people of earth have endured war and are now faced with something as deadly as war: hunger.
The prices the voice quotes are heavily inflated. It will take all that most people earn each day just to put food on the table. Similar situations have followed wars mentioned in the Scriptures. For example, after Jerusalem fell to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, those who were not killed in the battle or who were not taken captive to Babylon were barely surviving. Their circumstances were so dire that the prophet Jeremiah said they'd be better off dead, "Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of famine; racked with hunger, they waste away for lack of food from the field." (Lamentations 4:9) Another Biblical example of severe famine is when Samaria, the capital of Israel after the ten northern tribes split from the two southern tribes, was besieged by the king of Aram. The people trapped inside the city were so hungry that they resorted to cannibalizing their dead, and we are told that food prices were so heavily inflated that "a donkey's head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab of seed pods for five shekels". (2 Kings 6:25)
The rich will not suffer during the famine of the Great Tribulation to the extent that the middle and lower class will suffer. The voice speaks of not damaging the oil and the wine. These represent luxuries, and luxuries will still be available for those who can pay the price. But eventually even the wealthy will not be able to buy or sell anything under the rule of the Antichrist unless they are willing to submit to him and receive his mark on their right hands or on their foreheads. We will study this in more detail when we reach Chapter 13 but will briefly speak today about the cashless society that's going to come about during the Great Tribulation.
We are already moving toward a cashless society. All manner of ideas are coming out of the woodwork for paying for goods and services without using cash, checks, or credit cards. Plus, identity theft is an ever-growing concern, so banks and medical facilities are continually having to upgrade the security measures in their computer systems in an effort to prevent the theft of funds and private information. The perfect setup is already in place for the Antichrist to move the world to a cashless society and to promise to protect our money and our private information at the same time. I believe he will do this by requiring the citizens of earth to be implanted with a microchip.
We have this technology now. For many years we've been implanting microchips in our pets in case they are lost or stolen. It has even been suggested by some law enforcement agencies that it might be a good idea to start implanting babies and toddlers with microchips in case they go missing or are kidnapped. Such perilous times will come upon the world in the last days that implanting children with microchips may seem like a logical safety precaution. With inflation rising to such unprecedented heights, unscrupulous people might be tempted to kidnap a child for ransom.
Because it will be so difficult to purchase basic necessities in the last days, thieves will have to constantly come up with newer and better ways to hack into people's bank accounts or to steal their identities to obtain credit. It's not much of a stretch for us to imagine the Antichrist presenting the world with a microchip that is able to protect the financial information of every citizen. This information will be stored, not in some huge database somewhere, but in the person's own body. If that person wants to buy something at the store, he simply allows the cashier to scan his forehead or his right hand.
This technology will work for medical needs as well. If a person has to go to a doctor or hospital, the doctors and nurses can find out his medical history, his current medications, his allergies to any medications, his blood type, and anything else necessary to treat him by simply scanning his forehead or his right hand.
The Antichrist may ask, "How better to protect your financial and medical information than to carry it in your own body at all times?" He might promote this technology by assuring people it will save time when it really counts in an emergency. And while they are at it, why not protect their identity and their money in the same way they're protecting their medical information?
I can almost picture the commercials that will run on TV for this theft-deterring technology. The Antichrist will explain how good it is for everyone. Never again will anyone have to worry about identity theft. People won't have to ever see or touch their money. It will be electronically deposited into their accounts and all they have to do is be scanned at the checkout and the money will be electronically transferred to the store's bank account. Payment for medical services will work the same way. The Antichrist will stress the ease and convenience of this technology. People will start lining up in droves to be implanted with the microchip. At first they will do it because it seems like a practical idea. Later they will do it out of necessity. The cashless economy of the Antichrist will become the only way to obtain any type of goods and services. What better way to control the citizens of the world than to control the money? As his true motives become more and more apparent, people will be presented with only two choices. They can take the chip and continue to have access to money, food, and medical care. Or they can refuse the chip and face the wrath of the devil himself.
I am so thankful that our faithful Bridegroom has promised to take us---the bride who loves Him---out of the world before the Great Tribulation. I wouldn't want to be here when the most wicked man of all time controls the financial system. I wouldn't want to be on the earth when the one whom the Apostle Paul called the "man of sin" (2 Thessalonians 2:3) controls access to basic necessities like food and medicine. We are already seeing conditions in the world becoming right for these things to take place, but thanks be to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, He is going to call us out before the most dreadful days ever known befall the earth. He promised our present church age in Revelation 3:10 that because we have kept hold of Him, He will keep us from the "hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world".
Since we know perilous times are coming, what should we---the church---be doing before Christ calls us out of the world? We should be fulfilling the great commission, which is to share the gospel with as many people as possible. (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Acts 1:7-8) We should live our lives in such a way that unbelievers see the love of Christ in us so that they will want to know Him for themselves. We should testify to the goodness of Christ and tell others how He has changed our lives. Time is short and it's growing shorter each day. We don't know how much longer we have to be the "light of the world". (Matthew 5:14-16) While we are here, let's shine as brightly as we can.
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