The second seal follows a similar pattern. It is opened by the Lamb and one of the living creatures says "come". This seal saw another horse come out (these are the four horseman of the apocalypse), this time to take peace from the earth and lead men to kill one another. Do note that it is the Lamb and the angels who unleash these. These events are not things that are random events out of the control of God, but are part of the plan.
Note also that these four horseman of the apocalypse are not just associated with the end, we see here insight into what has been happening throughout history. Remember Jesus' words in the Olivet discourse (Mark 13:7,8). Jesus said there would be wars, famine and earthquakes.
The third seal releases a third horse, this time holding scales and talking about barley, wine and olive oil. This indicated famine, with the price of barley, a staple foodstuff, being vastly inflated. Yet the olive oil and wine would not be affected. One way to look at this last aspect is to remember that olive oil and wine are associated with luxury. Have you noticed that in times of trouble the rich often seem to be able to carry on in their own sweet way. In the recent financial crisis the bankers and financiers still seemed to be grossly overpaid. Indeed, for some unknown reason it is "essential" to pay these wonderfully talented people millions in order to do their job. These people who helped bring the world economy to its knees.
Then the fourth horse is released. Our English texts describe this as a pale horse, The Greek actually indicates a yellow-green colour and is the word from which we get chlorine. This horse released pestilence onto the world, killing many, many people.
So we have war, pestilence, famine and economic trouble. All these are part of God's decree, there is a purpose in them. Now let me repeat that this does not absolve man from his responsibility, it is not the whole story, but it is a part of the story that we need need to appreciate.
Happy New Year!
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