Revelation 6:5-6 (NIV)

5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” 

Introduction

Revelation 6:5-6 speaks about a time of economic turmoil in which the cost of living will escalate to catastrophic proportions. It predicts that two pounds of wheat will cost a day's wages, and six pounds of barley will also cost a day's wages. This is unheard of and hard to imagine at the current climate. However, we can be sure that this will happen as the Bible never fails to be true.

As I write this article in September 2025, the UK has had a very dry spring and a summer of four heatwaves making it to be the hottest yet on record. I have heard news of failed crops in various places which will, at some point, affect us all. This is indeed a foreshadow of what the Bible says is coming.

Spiritual Significance - Mercy 

So what is the spiritual significance in the oil and the wine not being damaged? 

The significance of the oil and the wine have to be examined in context - that is, in the context of the wheat and barley being scarce (hence expensive) due to drought. 

You see, God could easily bring severe drought to kill all plants (which He had done in the past, as Haggai stated).

Haggai 1:11

I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.” 

But in Revelation 6, at the opening of the third seal, we see that although the wheat and barley will be scarce (through crop failures), God will not damage the oil and the wine - meaning God still has some mercy at this stage. It is further down the line, around the opening of the sixth and seven seals, the trumpets and the bowls (at His second coming) that His mercy will come to an end, ushering the wrath of God in its fullness, destroying everything in its wake.

Spiritual Significance - Healing and Cleansing

The oil and wine themselves are referenced in the story of the Good Samaritan who helped a man mugged and beaten by robbers:

Luke 10:25-37

33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.  

Here the wine was used to cleanse the wounds that could otherwise be infected, and the oil was used to bring about healing to the wounds. 

Jesus the Good Samaritan

We are like the man who have been mugged and beaten by the robbers / the enemy (Satan and his demons). We have been wounded in many different ways (physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally). Jesus is the good Samaritan that had come to cleanse us from our sins, sins which gave Satan and his demons the rights to harrass and attack us. Jesus had also come to heal us - body, soul, and spirit - from our wounds.