<p>6:5 <i>And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying: Come And I looked and beheld a black horse, and he that sat thereon had a balance in his hand- </i>The black horses of Zech. 6 were sent into &ldquo;the north country&rdquo;, associating this horse with the invasion from the latter day Assyria / Babylon. It could be that the message is simply that there will be terrible famine in the land, and tiny amounts of food will cost much money. But the rider has the balances in his hand, as if he is the merchant and seller. We think of the prediction that none will be able to buy or sell without the mark of the beast; the suggestion may be that the invading power sells food to some within the land for high prices.&nbsp; Islamic militants insist upon conversion to their form of Islam but will make concessions if a <i>jizya </i>tax is paid. So it may be that we have here a description of how famine will come about for God&rsquo;s people as a result of such actions.</p>