a revelation behind the drapery economic

pay no attention to that man behind the curtain

“When [the Lamb] broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature call out, ‘Come!’  I looked, and there was a black horse!  Its rider held a pair of scales in his hand, and I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a day’s pay and three quarts of barley for a day’s pay, but do not damage the olive oil and the wine!’”

This is from the book of Revelation, chapter 6, verses 5 and 6.  The book is filled with visions given to John, who has been exiled to the island of Patmos “because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (1:9).  According to the authorities, he needs to shut up.

I won’t stray into the weeds regarding the numerous ways this book has been interpreted.  Suffice to say, I understand Revelation—regarding its initial audience—as a picture of the Roman Empire and its persecution of the church.  But it also transcends history in applying to empires and to world systems throughout time.  In the text, the Lamb, the risen and glorified Christ, is opening the third of seven seals on a scroll given by God.

I don’t believe I am being (too) paranoid, but I see this image as describing a tool wielded by the powers-that-be, whether Roman or otherwise.  I’m tapping into a common observation made down through the centuries.

Wheat and barley are necessary goods for the ordinary people, the masses.  Scholars estimate the prices mentioned reflect an average of possibly 800 to 1000 percent inflation.  We know what happens when runaway inflation takes over.  Money becomes practically worthless.

We’re looking at an economy in free fall.  I think it’s safe to say this isn’t due to natural causes.  Is it deliberate?  Is it a weapon?  Is it a means of control?

We see a prohibition against damaging “the olive oil and the wine.”  As with much else in the book of Revelation, there is no obvious consensus on the meaning of those two products.  However, given the economic tenor of the scripture, it is not unreasonable to see the shielding of those products as benefiting the upper class, even helping them prosper.  It would hardly be an isolated event for the rich to benefit from the misery of the poor, to put it lightly.

The narrative context is the four horsemen of the apocalypse.  There’s the rider of the white horse, who comes conquering.  The rider of the red horse comes to take peace from the earth.  We then have the rider of the pale green horse, bringing sword, famine, pestilence, and wild animals gone wild!

We’ve become so used to thinking of these events as heralding the end of time, or at least the end of civilization.  Even the word “apocalypse” conjures up images of a dystopian future.  There is an entire genre of literature and film dedicated to that theme.  Here’s a fun thought experiment: start naming titles of book and screen that come to mind.  (That is, if naming stories with world-ending scenarios can be considered “fun”!)

For those who don’t already know, “apocalypse” means “revelation” or “uncovering.”  Limiting these, let’s call them colorful, images to the past, as meaningful as that is, or confining them to the future, as speculative as that is, is to do injustice to their timeless greatness.  What do they say to us, right here and right now?

Certainly, the takes on “revelation” and “uncovering” are plentiful.  One scenario I believe a vast number would hold to is the advent of artificial intelligence (AI).  This need not be of the Terminator variety!  As we continue to develop AI to a human-like sentience, we can see AI beginning to ask us to prove we are human.

Throughout the book, economic power continues to be referenced.  In chapter 18, we see the fall of Babylon, often said to represent the Roman Empire.  Verses 11 to 13 report the disaster.  “The merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo any more, cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, choice flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, slaves—and human lives.”

If the financial system was in free fall earlier, here we see it crashing to the ground.  Babylon is built on a house of cards.  Its soulless nature is especially noted with the final two commodities of the inventory: slaves and human lives.  “Slave” in Greek is σωμα (sōma), which means “body.”  Think of our word somatic.  A “human life” is ανθρωπος (anthrōpos).  Think of our word anthropology.

Here’s a point of interest. Have we ever considered how dehumanizing it is to be referred to as “consumers”?

Historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari, commenting on the exponential growth of AI and the vast majority of the global population who will be locked out of the emerging new world, has spoken of “useless eaters.”  Whether that is a benign analysis or a sign of hubris, it still is likely a warning to be heeded.

And yet, according to Revelation, that isn’t the final word.

“Then the angel [referred to earlier in the book] showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city.  On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.  And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.  No longer will there be any curse…  There will be no more night” (22:1-3a, 5a).

This is a purified environment, without any of the plagues borne by the four horsemen, such as famine and pestilence.  It is an economy of unlimited profusion.  The fertility of the planet seems boundless.  Imagine crops bearing fruit every month!

The leaves of prosperity, of shalom, promise the healing of the nations.  Swords are beaten into plowshares.  Wisdom is in the very atmosphere we breathe.  No curse is weighing down the human spirit or the spirit of the earth.  The darkness of folly and fear is banished by the light of endless joy.

At the end of the book, we have come full circle with “testimony.”  In chapter 1, it was John.  Now, in the next to last verse, it is Jesus.  (Actually, there’s a lot of testimony in the book.)  The final invitations and final warnings have been issued.

To say the book of Revelation concerns economic realities is a grand statement.  Economy is central to human life.  The word “economy” comes from the Greek oikonomos “household” and nemein “to manage.”  Thus, economy in the macro sense is how our home planet Earth is managed.

That applies to both enormous empire and next-door neighbor.

Most people know from Revelation the presence of the beast, whose number is 666.  We are told, regarding this one, participation in the economy requires “that no one can buy or sell who does not have the brand, that is, the name of the beast or the number for its name” (13:17).

Blessed are they who resist the mighty pull to be so marked, be it physical like an imprint or implant, or some sort of conditioning.  Without that, one might be considered a threat to the safety of society—or to grandma!

Wasn’t the idea of manipulation already proposed?

[Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!]

The machinations of those behind the curtain will soon see their cloak of secrecy snatched away.  It might seem impossible, but that is the meaning of resurrection: life from death.

“The one who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’

Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus!”