"I beheld … a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 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 KJV.)
Bible scholars say this black horse described in the Book of Revelations represents famine and poverty perpetrated by the rich who refuse to share with those in need.
Oil and wine, throughout the Scriptures, symbolize abundance or luxury. The fact that the oil and wine (as in the above passage from Revelation) were “hurt not” indicates a situation where wealth and luxury exist alongside famine and poverty — and the gulf between rich and poor is only growing.
By one interpretation this black horse’s rider "with the pair of balances in his hand" symbolizes the rich capitalists who have had a major impact on world conditions through their manipulation of national economies. Only one other verse in the Bible pictures a man with balances or scales: "The merchant uses dishonest scales; he loves to defraud" (Hosea 12:7 NIV).
Another prophet of old, Amos, also said the merchants — the wealthy capitalists of his day who were robbing the poor instead of helping them — "set forth wheat, making the ephah [unit of measure] small, and the shekel [price] great and falsifying the balances by deceit ... that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail" (Amos 8:4-6 KJV).
Sounds very much like the situation today.
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