Third Seal

Links to other articles in the series This article is one in a series of studies on the Seven Seals - you are currently on the topic that is in bold: Introduction First Seal Second Seal Third Seal Fourth Seal Fifth Seal Sixth Seal Seventh Seal Videos An Analysis of William Branham's Plagiarism Each seal opens a new chapter in the book sealed with seven seals. The contents of the book under the third seal are revealed in symbol form in the fifth and sixth verses of Revelation Chapter 6. Revelation Chapter 6 Verse 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. The Lamb opens the third Seal The Lamb of God, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, opens the third seal. The third beast The third six-winged beast, which has a face as a man, says "Come and see." Like the Gospel of Luke the physician (the third of the four gospels protecting the testimony of Jesus Christ, and giving witness to the book of Acts), the man testifies of the humanity and wisdom of Jesus Christ. Under the anointing of the man, the Medeival Christians passively resisted the spread of Catholic Orthodoxy, changed the course of history by preparing the world for the emergence of Luther, and spread the message of the Reformation. The Black Horse A horse represents power, and black represents blindness. After the fall of the Roman Empire, much of Europe became illiterate, with only the rich and the priests having time for education. It was during these turbulent years that the fame of Columba and the Celtic Christians spread throughout Europe as they evangelized and taught the peasant people from hand-copied Bibles. By the 1200's the Cult of Columba had spread across Europe, and many independent Christian groups were reproducing scriptures of ancient Celtic origin as they found the means. The Roman Catholic Church followed a distinctly different pattern. The First council of Nicea in 325 A.D. condemned the writings of Arius (his book "Thalia") in the Church's first official act of censorship. By the end of Medievel times, the Catholic Church had gone so far as to condemn the reading of the Bible in the vernacular - the language of the peasants - in decrees from the synod of Toulouse (1129), Tarragona (1234), and Oxford (1408) [Censorship of Books, New Catholic Encyclopedia, www.newadvent.org]. This censorship of scriptures is the darkness of the black horse, which was conquered only by the Spirit of God moving through the wisdom of man: the invention of the printing press and mass-production of the Bible. The Rider with balances The Rider on the third horse is the same rider that came on the white horse and the red horse. The Antichrist Spirit of the white horse became the false prophet of the Red and the Black Horses. The balances in the hand of the rider represents economic control, and substitution. After the fall of the Roman Empire most economies were barter societies. It was only after 1000 A.D. that the merchant economy of the Muslims began to heavily influence trade in Europe, re-creating the monetary society of the Roman Empire. Instead of trading goods for goods, money was again substituted for everything. The Catholic Church also picked up this advancement, and began selling indulgences for money (i.e. I'll sell you my extra good works to cover your sins) until this practice caused Martin Luther to nail 95 thesis on the door of a Catholic church demanding an end of this practice. In addition to substituting salvation for money, the Catholic Church also substituted the Holy Ghost with traditions, grace with judgement (the Inquisition), revelation for political power, and the Bible for "mystery religion". With regards to political power, the feudal system of Medieval Europe began with the rule of Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor, and gave the Catholic Church the authority over the people through the ignorance and economic chains that held the peasants. To object to this system was considered blasphemy, as the kings were ordered by God, and this sustem supported the "Millenium" of the Catholic Church. Revelation Chapter 6 Verse 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. (Revelation 6:5-6) The Voice in the midst The four beasts guard the throne of God. The voice in the midst of the beasts is God himself. The Wheat and the Barley Wheat and barley was the staff of life for the Children of Israel. They were harvested at different times during the year (Barley at the start of the year, and wheat at the end of summer) and required the former and latter rain to mature. For the Christians, the wheat and barley represents the staff of eternal life, which need the presence of God to mature. In order to mature properly, a Christian needs both prayer and scripture. By controlling access to the scriptures, and access to God (saints serve as mediators instead of Jesus Christ himself, who is the only true mediator between God and man), the black horse creates a famine for the Word of God. A penny We can scarcely get anything from Christ's ministers but for money, at bishopping money, at marriage money, for confession money - no, not extreme unction without money! They will ring no bells without money, no burial in the church without money; so that it seemeth that Paradise is shut up without money. The rich is buried in the church, the poor in the churchyard. ...The rich man may readily get large indulgences, but the poor none, because he wanteth money to pay for them." (Juan de Valdez, a Roman Catholic and brother of the secretary of the Emperor Charles V) [Professor Arthur Noble, European Institute of Protestant Studies, The Resurrection of Indulgences or Is Tetzel really dead? 1/15/1999, http://www.ianpaisley.org] In the Old Testament, the book of Job records that God set barriers that Satan could not cross in his persecution. God's word in the third seal also set barriers for Satan to work within: he was free to rule the economy and charge for prayers and salvation. The Oil and the Wine The oil represents the Holy Spirit (Lev 8:12, Zach 4:12, Mat 25:3-4), and the wine represents stimulation by revelation (Acts 2). Touching the oil and the wine would result in pollution. God's decree for the Black horse rider not to touch the Oil and the wine has a two-fold meaning: first the rider does not have the Holy Spirit or stimulation by revelation, and secondly, he is not allowed to take the Holy Spirit or the stimulation by revelation from anyone. The Catholic Church without the Holy Spirit: The lives of the Popes in the Dark and Medieval Ages and the Reformation age are mainly secular, and highly immoral. For example: Pope Benedict IX (d. 1048)was pope three times (abdicated for money twice), and was perhaps the most morally perverse of any other pope. Pope Nicholas V (d. 1445) Legitimized the slave trade of "unbelievers" Pope Boniface VIII (d. 1303) imprisoned the previous pope, who died in custody, and wrote that "is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman pontiff" and "The Christian religion is a human invention like the faith of the Jews and the Arabs." (Based on a posthumus investigation held from 1303-1311 republished by J. Coste) Pope Clement VII (d. 1534) (caused the English schism (and the Anglican Church) by denying the divorce of King Henry VIII - yet he was the illigitimate child of Giuliano de' Medici and was also the father of an illigitimate child whom he installed as the Duke of Florence. The Catholic Church without stimulation: While many of the Protestant and pre-protestant churches were lively, musical, and demonstrative in praise, the Catholic Church praised the glory of form, tradition, sanctity (in public), and hierarchy. As evidence of the lack of "stimulation" in the Catholic church, from 800 A.D. to 1300 the music of the Catholic Church was the plainsong and Gregorian chant. In 1364 Pope Urban officially sanctioned polyphony for use in sacred music; however, even after this time the worshiper and the musicians were separate - one part listened, and the other party played. While the Catholic Church does integrate musical worship in its congregations today, it also accepts non-Christian forms of worship. For example, Pope John Paul invited Bob Dylan to sing at the Vatican in an act of acceptance of Rock and Roll. But music only represents stimulation, it does not represent revelation. The Catholic Church without revelation: Bishops, Cardinals, theologians and all church members are censured by the Vatican as to what they can say or do, or face excommunication. This form of discipline is most commonly exercised over priests and bishops. As an example, Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church very soon after he was given the revelation that the "Just shall live by faith." The Catholic Church not able to take the Holy Spirit or Revelation from the people: The Catholic Church did set up the Inquisition to examine and reconvert "heretics". However, this was a slow process, and the majority of the martyrs during this time were not given the option to recant prior to their execution. For example, in 1209 the crusader army attacked the Cather town of Béziers. Instead of separating the Catholic faithful from the Cathar "heretics", the papal legate Arnaud-Amaury, Abbot of Cîteaux, declared “Kill them all, the Lord will recognise His own”. Arnaud, later wrote to Pope Innocent III and declared: "Today your Holiness, twenty thousand heretics were put to the sword, regardless of rank, age, or sex". These "heretics" therefore died in the faith, and were not given space to recant as was given the early Christian Church during the reign of the pagan Roman empire. Navigation Home Our Podcast The List of Problems Life Story Prophecies & Visions Seven Seals Was William Branham Honest? Doctrines Church Ages Jesus Languages Videos Print Resources Help! Facebook Contact Us