ENTER THE PROPHETICAL BLACK HORSE OF ULTRA INFLATION

Inflation has been making the world’s headline news in recent months. According to the World Bank, surging commodity prices have pushed global food prices up 83 per cent in the past three years - putting huge stress on some of the world's poorest nations. In recent weeks, soaring food prices had led to rioting in Egypt, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Ethiopia. In Pakistan and Thailand, army troops have been deployed to deter food theft from fields and warehouses. Does the Bible have any thing to say about today’s inflation?

In Revelation 6 , the apostle John was inspired of the Holy Spirit to write of the seven seal judgments that precede the visible reappearing of the Lord Jesus. The third seal judgment depicts the prophetic announcement of the black horse as recorded in Rev 6:5-6

“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.”

The rider of the horse holds a pair of balances in his hand as a symbol of commerce and economy. This passage gives us a prophetic glimpse of what ultra inflation is during the end times. What is the significance of the measure of wheat for a penny?

In the parable of the labourers, the wages paid to the labourer for a day’s work was one penny. Hence, in Jesus’ day, a penny (a Roman denarius, a day’s wages in Palestine) would buy eight measures of wheat or twenty measures of barley. In the account of the miraculous feeding of five thousand, when Jesus told the disciples to feed the people, the response of the disciples was “Shall we go and buy two hundred penny worth of bread, and give them to eat” (Mark 6:37 ). From this response, we can inferred that the penny for the day’s wage can buy more than the basic necessities since two hundred penny can buy bread to feed five thousand in Jesus’ day..

But in John’s prophetic third seal judgment, one man’s measure of wheat will take a day’s wage; three measures of barley (the food for cattle and horses) can be bought for a day’s wage. The black prophetic horse speaks of the day of ultra inflation when a day’s wage can barely buy the basic necessities to survive. These are starvation conditions. World Bank president Robert Zoellick warned in a recent speech that 33 countries are at risk of social upheaval because of rising food prices. Those could include Indonesia, Yemen, Ghana, Uzbekistan and the Philippines. In countries where buying food requires half to three-quarters of a poor person’s income, “there is no margin for survival,” he said.

What drives the soaring food prices? One common cause is famine. But in today’s context there is another cause. The cause is driven by the world’s demand for energy. In the recent decade, the enormous demand for energy has been exacerbated by the economic growth of the two largest populations on planet earth; India with a population of 1.15 billion and China, 1.3 billion. With fuel oil prices soaring above the US$120 per barrel, it is not difficult to understand the policy behind the extensive use of agricultural land in US to produce corn-based ethanol and other bio-fuels. Many policymakers at the weekend meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank agreed that the problem is severe. India’s finance minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram commented that in an interview “When millions of people are going hungry, it’s a crime against humanity that food should be diverted to bio-fuels”. Turkey’s finance minister, Mehmet Simsek, said the use of food for bio-fuels is “appalling”.

Wheat and barley are necessities of life, but why the mention that oil and wine shall not be hurt in the seal judgment? Oil and wine are luxuries for the rich. The enormous and insatiable demand for fossil energy and its inevitable depletion will only contribute to its phenomenal price increase which viciously will drive up food prices. The fuel oil prices were about US$40 per barrel in 2004. But now it is predicted that it may hit US$200. With such unprecedented oil prices, the impact on inflation is staggering. The price increase will continue to benefit the rich who are immune to the soaring food prices.

We live in the last days in which the signs of the second coming are being fulfilled before our very eyes. The reality of that impending third seal judgment of the prophetic black horse of ultra inflation has a message for us. Let us heed the injunction of apostle Peter in 2 Pet 3:10-14

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of person] ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”

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