So here we are at the third and fourth seals. In the first two seals we saw the beginnings of God's curses on mankind released upon the earth. They are partially revoked in the covenants God makes with His people Israel at Mt Sinai, a conditional vassal/suzerain covenant in the form of a Hittite land grant/treaty. Conditional because the covenant is in the form of if... then..., IF the people keep the covenant THEN God will bless them. IF they do not THEN He will curse them. And the curses listed in Deuteronomy 28 are quite disturbing but stand in opposition to the blessings. How long have such curses been around? Are they unheard of? Certainly not, we can turn on the television at night and see it in full color. We must assume that war, famine, disease and death have been dominant themes in human culture since the beginning. So why should we assume that these are only released at the end time? The answer is we shouldn't assume such a thing. Zechariah 6 tells us that the curses of the four riders were released upon Israel from between the two mountains (Ebal and Gerizim) of bronze (firmly established) on which Israel stood and swore to Yahweh that they would keep the words of His covenant.
The third seal, the man (Aquarius, the water man of the winter rains) calls forth the black rider who holds a pair of scales. This has been traditionally interpreted as famine and the color (black) certainly represents death and despair. I see no reason to alter this interpretation but the command to this angel is interesting. He is to measure out the wheat and the barley but not the oil or wine. Of course the wheat and barley were harvested in the spring, while the grape and olive harvest was late summer/early fall. A shortage of wheat and barley could seriously impair the ability to bake bread throughout the entire year = starvation. From a spiritual perspective wheat has been associated with the lives of the righteous as they appear on the earth. This decree represents the ability of the earth to bring forth righteous men. Wine symbolizes a couple of things. First is human blood, second is God's wrath, which are linked. Oil is symbolic of God's representative authority in the earth. His ability to anoint specific individuals, and to guide and direct the affairs of men. It is His presence among us.
Of course the identification of Christ is as the one who feeds His people. He will heal the earth which was cursed in Gen 3 and the abundance will be more than enough. Of course there is also an alternative interpretation for this third rider. Scales have also been used in scripture to measure the works of a man. Christ is the one who has our reward in His hand. He is the judge of men and the one who will bring justice. He judges the works of men and gives out rewards based on those works. I wont go into more than that at this point because it isnt productive at this point. But there certain MAY be more than one applicable interpretation for a single image presented in scripture.
The fourth seal is probably the worst. Death and Hell! The eagle (Aquila) calls forth the angel of finality, who has the authority to take a man's life from his body and reserve his soul in hell. Why isn't this the black horse? Why should this horse be green? Because of the association of death with the putrid decay of a dead man's body. It is also certainly linked to many of the diseases that manifested themselves on the flesh of a man, open sores, rotting flesh and oozing discharges, thought to be the workings of death upon a man before his breath had been taken from him. Christ is the resurrection and the life!
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