The black horse would seem to represent mourning. (Jeremiah 4:28) Food is sold by weight, with enough wheat for one man for one day selling for a day's wages. (Matthew 20:2) He could buy three times as much barley for the same price and thus be able to feed his family, but what of life's other necessities? The fact that oil and wine are not to be hurt may suggest God placed limitations on a famine. However, Hendricksen says no famine existed since a man evidently could get all the wheat he wanted if he had the money. In that case, the oil and wine would represent luxuries which would not stop flowing. The rest of Revelation seems to bear out deprivation especially for those who followed Christ.

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