Poverty, the very word bites our conscience.  It draws out of the dregs of our memory the horrible
recollection of naked children with bloated bellies and protruding ribs.  It chills the spine to hear the cries of
the hungry in the still of the night.  Beggars are a pitiful display of human want.

 The world is full of them.

 It bites the conscience because we have it so good.

 Can you imagine that poverty is a blessing?  Yet, this is exactly what Revelation 6:5,6 tells us,
"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 head 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."

POVERTY
 Since this passage is part of the vision that John received on the Isle of Patmos, it is good to
remind ourselves that as a vision, it must be spiritually interpreted.  The various parts that are seen have
spiritual meaning.  In keeping with this approach to the Book of Revelation, we have noticed that the seals
which are broken are part of the book which was in the "right hand of him that sitteth upon the throne,"
Rev. 5:1.  This is God's book and it represents His plan for all history by which he realized the completion
of  Christ's kingdom, see Rev.4.  The opening of this book, by breaking of the seals, indicates that Christ is
able to realize His kingdom, Rev. 5:6.  This Christ does by releasing the four horsemen which are the
contents of the first four seals.  We noticed that the first horse was white, a representation of the preaching
of the gospel by which Christ gathers His church.  This was followed by the breaking of the second seal and
the releasing of the second horse which was red, a picture of war.  We saw in a previous article that war
follows the preaching of the gospel and serves the establishment of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.  Now we
come upon the third seal and it reveals a black horse which we have called poverty.

 How can we be sure that this black horse is a visible representation of poverty?  We can do this in
two ways.  First, the fact that it is presented as a horse.  Now a horse was an animal particularly suited for
battle, read Job 39:19-25.  The horse represents a powerful force that is able to penetrate the whole fabric of
human life.  Secondly, because the color of this horse is black.  We read in Lamentations 5:10, "Our skin is
black like an oven because of the terrible famine."  Similarly , "Judah mourneth and the gates thereof
languish, they are black unto the ground," Jeremiah 14:2.  This is confirmed by the text itself.  The rider is
carrying a pair of balances, "and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand."  He is pictured as a
merchant who deals in the distribution of material things.  This merchant is instructed, "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
indicates a great lack of food.  Scripture tells us that a penny was a days wages, "And when he had agreed
with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into the vineyard," Matthew 20:2.  Add to that, the fact
that a measure of wheat was the amount that one person would eat in one day or three measures of barley
(since it was cheaper), then we can see that the merchant would take the entire wage which this man had
earned and give him in return just enough for him to consume that day.  He was literally living from hand to
mouth.  This is a picture of poverty.  Still worse however, was the command that the merchant must not hurt
the oil and the wine.  Oil and wine represent riches and people with wealth are compared to a person who
worked all day for a meager portion of barley or wheat.  The poor must live in the world while the rich
continue in their riches.  This is what causes problems.  If everyone were equally poor or rich, one can
easily live along with that, but history shows us that there are both rich and poor and the relationship
between them creates hostility, jealousy , and all kinds of labor and management problems.

 We might well ask, why is this black horse present in the world?  Why are there riches and
poverty, a disproportionate distribution of the earth's resources?  Even though God distributes, the blame for
poverty is not His.  We must need remind ourselves of the beautiful garden and the original creation.  The
earth brought forth all that man needed and there was a perfect supply of all his earthly needs.  The cause of
riches and poverty and its attendant miseries must be laid to man's account.  He sinned against God and the
presence of the black horse in history is God's dealing with sinful man,  God said, "Cursed is the ground for
thy sake, in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.  Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee
and thou shalt eat up the herb of the field in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread till thou return to
the dust," Genesis 3:17.  We can add to this the fact that when man became sinful, he also became greedy,
"The love of money is the root of all evil," I Timothy 6:10.  Surely selfish man is to blame for the problem
of riches and poverty.  This was true in the Old Testament times, the Midianites would greedily come and
steal Israel's harvest.  King Ahab stole Naboth's vineyard.  Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. after the city
was surrounded and the people starved to death.  History is replete with examples of man's cruelty, think of
the feudal system in Europe and its associated miseries of the poor at the hands of the rich landowners.  The
French Revolution freed the human mind which allowed the little man to make headway in the world, and
what did it produce - a proliferation of scientific inventions, advances in agriculture, industrialization of the
world which only enhance this struggle between the rich and the poor.  Today the great world powers are at
variance over a difference of ideology not only, but also of economic policy.  The struggle of the rich and
the poor has produced wars, internal revolution, labor conflicts, turmoil, suffering, and death.  To be sure,
the black horse rides today.

POVERTY - CHRIST'S JUDGMENT ON THE WORLD
 We should ask, where does Christ fit into the vision of the black horse?  Obviously, we must be
careful in answering this question, because it deals with the relationship between Christ and poverty.  Is it so
that Christ wants to remove all the poverty from the earth?  Must the goal of the Church be equal
distribution of the earth's material among all people?

 If so, why does Christ send forth the black horse?  The voice directed to the black horse calls,
"Come!"  As it appears in the vision we notice that it has a rider.  The point of this in the vision is not who
rides, but rather the fact that it is controlled.  The black horse is directed by a rider.  Poverty, famine,
economic imbalance between the rich and the poor does not just happen, it is not mere luck, it is not
determined by man or the forces of nature in themselves.  It is controlled by Christ.  Christ sends forth this
horse to ride.  The third beast calls, "Come", and in answer to that call Christ releases the horse.  He alone
is able to break the third seal and reveal its contents.  He is the exalted Lord to whom all power and
authority has been given.  All things work for the establishment of His kingdom.  Christ is the Lord of
poverty.

 What must we conclude from this?

 First, we should notice carefully that the Bible tells us that Christ is concerned about poor people.
The parable of the Good Samaritan is proof enough.  When thousands of people were hungry, Christ broke
bread and fed them.  He tells us to labor in order that we may have something for the poor, Rom. 15:26.

 Secondly, poverty is a form of judgment upon sinful man.  This does not mean that everyone who
is poor is being judged by Christ.  The judgment of Christ is upon the wicked world.  The nations as nations
belong to Satan, Christ gathers His church from among the peoples of the world.  Because Christ's kingdom
is not of this world, the kingdom of man stands opposed to Christ's kingdom, they persecute the children of
God, despise the gospel which the true church preaches.  The kingdom of man culminates in anti-christ.  In
opposition to the kingdom of anti-christ, Christ sends forth the black horse.  He send poverty and riches
upon mankind.  Neither one is a blessing, both are a curse upon the wicked.  They produce enmity, war,
strife, all kinds of miseries.  In the midst of this turmoil, Christ gathers His Church by preaching the gospel,
the riding of the white horse.  All through history there will be poverty, want, and filthy riches.  Only at the
end of the world will anti-christ be allowed to overcome this by the world-wide sharing of wealth.  This will
not be the kingdom of Christ, it will be the kingdom of anti-christ in which the people of God will not be
able to buy nor sell, Rev. 13:17.

HOLY THROUGH POVERTY
 There is another important reason why Christ sends forth the black horse, it is that the conflict
between the rich and the poor makes the people of God conscious of heaven.  When poverty strikes, it
sanctifies God's people, it is spiritually good even though very difficult.  When we become rich in the
world's goods we usually become poor with God.  God's promises to His people include the supply of their
daily needs, Matt. 6:26.

 What a contrast this makes between the people of God and those of the world.  The wicked set
their heart upon the earthly riches, but die as fools, Luke 12:16-21.  They slave for earthly gain, but perish
with all their possessions in hell, realizing that fire destroyed all they ever worked for.  The children of God
are usually poor in this world.  They struggle along for daily bread and receive their portion from the Lord.
they even deny themselves earthly success because they week first the kingdom of God and its
righteousness, Matt. 6:33.  Since their God is not of this earth, but in heaven, when they die they receive
everlasting inheritance, a new heaven and a new earth in which they worship God forever.

 Evaluate your life in the light of the black horse.