The Third Seal

2005-4-16 05:53:00

Sorry Ruth I overlooked your post. We'll highlight your interpretation first.

"Perhaps the black horse is the veiled intelligence of the man who must balance the two scales, right and wrong, and not be weighted down by either in his desires or emotions... Is the oil and wine the soul and spirit?

Is not that famine already here, and has been here for a long, long time, in that, there is an extreme scarcity in the World of Soul-infused humans, or rather, humans with true soul contact? Unless there are more humans with this in our times now who have overcome all Maya, Glamour and Illusion?

Susan C:

The third chakra is the solar plexus chakra the seat of most human emotion. Everything is seen as either good or bad (pair of balances), something desired or something to avoid. The voice in the midst of the beasts may also refer to the fact that emotions can lead us to our soul or the inner voice. Barley, wheat, oil and wine were major staples in the day Revelations was written. Perhaps the saying of the "voice in the midst" refers to the Christ within with oil and wine. Jesus Christ made his greatest sacrifice (wine represents blood of Christ) on the Mount of Olives (the oil spoken of is most likely olive oil) in the Garden of Gethsemane. It sounds like the wheat and barley may refer to our life on earth, our physical and emotional needs, but don't let them overpower our inner spiritual need, which is to contact the voice within.

Good points all for the scripture under discussion which is:

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. Rev 6:5 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. Rev 6:6

What happens at the third seal? A beast who has a face as a man calls us to come and see. Why is this the beast for this seal?

Because this seal signifies the emotional world and nothing represents the current condition of humanity (face of a man) more than the world of feeling. It is when we learn to feel and relate with feeling that our real humanity begins to develop. As we develop emotionally we develop high ideals and expect that one day everything will fall into place and we will live in emotional bliss forever.

But then we have bad news. A black horse comes forth and the rider has a pair of balances in his hand amidst a voice saying: "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."

Such scarcity is coming that the disciple will have to measure out the grains of wheat with a scale, but there will be an abundance of oil and wine if you do not "hurt" it.

What does it all mean in the life of one who walks the same path as Christ did before us?

At the first seal the disciple decides to become self reliant and basically exclaims "I will be that which I decide to be."

At the second seal he encounters turbulence, persecution and friction and must find the eye of the hurricane.

At the third seal he, at first, feels he has reached a dead end. He has tried to follow the path of Christ and what has it got him? Instead of happiness he has encountered an emotional famine. He has lost friends who used to give him emotional warmth and support. His spouse and family desert him. Activities that used to give him enjoyment seem a distant memory for he has little time for them or has lost interest.

On top of all this he suffers financially. He has had so much attention on following the path of spirit that he can barely feed himself (a measure of wheat for a penny). If he pulls attention from the path and focuses on mammon he can at least have enough to eat (three measures of barley).

For many years the disciple suffers the famine until he hears the solution: "See thou hurt not the oil and the wine."

Yes, even in famine oil and wine are available. The oil represents the call to do the works of Christ and the wine represents the spirit and soul energy which will fill him when he does such works.

For a long time he has been downcast and rejected but in this rejection he must not hurt himself, his spiritual standing or his sacred honor. Now he can go forth in the midst of emotional famine to do great works which will stand the test of time because he has continued to follow the highest he knew.

As he does the works of a Christ he finds the memory of any famine fades away. The sorrow he felt in the emotional body is replaced by a fullness of joy in the spirit. During the famine he sometimes wished he could go back in time and keep his emotional attachments but now there is no turning back for his desires are only to go forward.

He becomes a true servant in the vineyard of the Master.

Let us go to the next seal:

And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. Rev 6:7 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. Rev 6:8

This seal is represented by the lower mind. Study and contemplate.

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890)