f life may be chosen as a symbol to
represent a destruction to which it is plainly analagous; such as the
destruction of spiritual life, the overthrow of the civil or
ecclesiastical institutions of society, etc. That it is sometimes
employed thus as a symbol will be shown clearly in subsequent chapters.
Hence, in every instance where killing men is the work of a symbolic
agent, the context, or general series of events with which it is
connected, must determine whether the literal or symbolical
signification is intended. In the present prophecy under consideration
it is much more consistent to give it the literal application; for the
devotees of Paganism did not destroy the spiritual life of the church,
which would be an analagous killing; neither did they succeed in
overthrowing the structure of Christianity.

5. 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.

6. 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 symbol is also that of a horseman, differing from the preceding
ones only in his characteristics. He is seated upon a black horse,
denoting something dark or appalling in its nature, the very opposite of
that of the first seal. He possesses no bow nor crown, but instead he
has a pair of balances in his hand for weighing food. This he deals out
only at exorbitant prices--"a measure of wheat for a penny, and three
measures of barley for a penny." The penny, or denarius, is equal to
about fifteen cents of our money, and was the ordinary wages of a day
laborer. In the parable of our Lord recorded in Mat. 20, the householder
is represented as hiring laborers for a penny a day to labor in his
vineyard. The measure, or _choenix_, of wheat was the usual daily
allowance of food for a man. So according to the rate given, it would
require a day's labor to supply food sufficient for one man, which shows
an enormous price placed upon these necessaries of life. In ordinary
times the penny would procure about twenty measures of wheat instead of
one, and fifty or sixty measures of barley instead of three. Surely this
represents famine prices.

The expression "see thou hurt not the oil and the wine" seems to have
some direct connection with the