Kingdom Commerce (4)

When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” Revelation 6.5, 6

Driving toward lesser objectives
In John’s vision, four horses symbolize the primary streams of activity in the course of human history prior to the return of our Lord. The black horse represents economic injustice, a system of commerce which has been corrupted by the rejection of divine standards and ends. Where grace is not the base currency of an economy, greed and self-interest will be. And self-interest always means someone gets left out or oppressed.

That’s certainly what John was shown in this vision of an economy characterized by the blackness of sin.

Wheat and barley – necessities for everyone – were being sold in small amounts for the exorbitant fee of a denarius – about the equivalent of a day’s wage. In such a situation, inflated prices make money increasingly useless, and the needy grow increasingly desperate. John was being shown an historical stream of corruption in commerce, in which economic policies of greed and self-interest on the part of the wealthy would mean that the daily bread of many was practically out of reach.

Meanwhile, the oil and wine – luxuries of the day, which only the wealthy could afford – were not being harmed – they were still readily available to those who could afford them.

In a setting where the end of commerce is not the glory and pleasure of God, and where every transaction is governed by self-love rather than neighbor-love, the engines of commerce will bend toward whatever lesser ends their drivers might dictate. Typically, this is the way the corruption of sin is bred into a system, throttling the divine plan for economic activity and consigning many to lives of suffering and want.

The tenth commandment
Three threats haunt any economy, with the potential to corrupt and drive it into the ground under the hooves of the black horse. The first is simple covetousness. When the tenth commandment is ignored or disobeyed in the world of commerce, greed runs amok. Greed supplants grace as the base currency of a corrupt economy, and opens the door to all manner of sin.

Where greed – mere self-interest – obtains, people spend more than they should for things they don’t really need, accruing debts they can’t really handle, leading to large-scale economic instability. Owners of goods and services, driven to increase their bottom line above all else, make it difficult if not impossible for some to benefit from their products. Society begins to degenerate into a two-tiered structure of haves and have-nots, and covetousness in each sector breeds resentment, jealousy, anger, and at times, even violence. Such a “Let them eat cake” economic situation can lead to cultural decline and social disruption on a major scale.

Greed also gives rise to the second threat to commerce: exploitation. When the only standards that govern economic activity are self-interest and pragmatism, it’s too easy for some people to take advantage of others. Hoarding, price gouging, cartels and monopolies, bribes, price-fixing, political favoritism, and a wide range of scams and scandals can ensue when every man is seeking to do only what is right in his own eyes. Oppression, violence, and the ravaging of peoples and land are more drastic forms of exploitation, all of which we have witnessed – and are witnessing – in our lifetime.

The final threat to commerce carried out “under the sun” rather than “under the heavens” is idolatry – trusting in things, wealth, or experiences to bring happiness and satisfaction in life. Idolatry is merely the other side of the coin of covetousness and greed (Col. 3.5). Idolatry is encouraged by advertising, exacerbated by debt, and institutionalized through the teaching of materialism and pragmatism in the schools.

When people devote their primary attention and energy to the acquisition and consumption of things, they have made idols out of creatures, false gods that cannot deliver the meaning, happiness, and peace all people seek. Governments are aware of these threats, and do what they can to regulate and control them. Yet because government policies are also largely driven by self-interest, typically they tend to do as much – if not more – harm than good.

The heart of the problem
When people’s hearts are not subject to the God of heaven and earth, no amount of external constraints or regulations will keep an economy from becoming corrupt. Greed and self-interest supplant grace and neighbor-love as the base currency of the economy, and the threats of covetousness, exploitation, and idolatry find ways to infiltrate, set up shop, and become institutionalized.

The black horse of corruption and self-interest will not be constrained to discolor and destroy only the commercial lives of a people. Politics, culture, relationships, and traditions degenerate along with economic activity when greed, rather than grace, is the base currency of an economy.

For reflection
1.  What evidence do you see that the black horse of Revelation 6 is raging through our economy?

2.  What would tell you that greed rather than grace was becoming the “base currency” of your own commercial life?

3.  What are some ways that greed becomes institutionalized in an economic system? Is it possible for grace to become similarly institutionalized? Explain.

Next steps – Preparation: Talk with a Christian friend about your answer to question 2. How can you help one another to be more sensitive to times when greed rather than grace is becoming the base currency of your commercial and economic life?

T. M. Moore

This week’s ReVision study is Part 5 of a 10-part series, “The Kingdom Economy.” You can download “Kingdom Commerce” as a free PDF, prepared for personal or group study. Simply click here. Start your day in the Word of God. Study with T. M. in our daily Scriptorium newsletter, as he walks us through the ongoing work of Christ in the book of Acts. You can subscribe to receive Scriptorium each day at 5:00 am Eastern, or go to the website to download each week’s study in a free PDF.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.