‘Do Not Harm the Oil and Wine’

The Four Horsemen Are Riding — But You Are Sealed

The Book of Revelation, a first-century tapestry of apocalyptic visions leading to the Second Coming, is thick with allegory. Its four horsemen (Conquest, War, Famine, and Death) embody the total collapse of order at humanity’s final reckoning. In 2026, it increasingly feels as though all four are riding together.

Over the past two thousand years, no other biblical book has spawned more fear, more heresies, more cultic movements, or more failed predictions than this encrypted prophecy. For the tiny faithful through the ages — those who kept their lamps constantly lit as instructed by Christ — the expectations were both high and immediate, as they eagerly awaited the moment of divine redemption (Romans 8:19–23).

It is natural to be curious about the manner and sequence leading to the end of the age. Even the apostles were not immune to this innate expectation. Christ, however, gave them two final milestones, woven into a single narrative when asked about the end. One dealt with the final milestone regarding the end of the Old Covenant — cryptically referring to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE — and the other dealt with the Second Coming (Matthew 24).

Apocalypticism breeds more curiosity and heated debate than reading the Bible itself, walking the mundane walk along the narrow and winding road, or taking up the daily cross. In recent times, prophetic interpretations, and the fate of the world, have increasingly been tied to two nations and their leadership: the United States and the modern state of Israel. I have read eschatological tracts since I was a teen, and every single one of them either carried the arrogance of foreknowledge or was written to promote the electoral fortunes of a political faction that routinely led the church astray. President Donald J. Trump, in my opinion, was elected by the forces of apocalypticism.

This brings us to the latest geopolitical escalation. It is a pivot that admittedly ticks many boxes in the apocalyptic sequence, particularly that concerning the four horsemen of Revelation.

The US-Israel war on Iran and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz have severed global energy and fertilizer supply chains. A “Super El Niño” spell threatens to bring drought to Asia and Australia. Locust swarms are already breeding in Yemen and Somalia. And the cumulative effect of these simultaneous shocks is pushing the global food system toward a structural crisis not seen in generations. What makes 2026 different from past crises is not the severity of any single shock but their convergence, and the rapid erosion of institutional buffers that once prevented such convergence from becoming a global catastrophe.

But let’s recap what each horse and its rider represent.

The Four Horsemen

The first horseman unleashed in Revelation 6 represents conquest. The horse was white, and its “rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer” (verse 2).

Since a crown was given to the rider, he would have little restraint in waging wars through his earthly minions. Sounds familiar?

Just as the white horse and its rider wage war, another horse — this time a red one — and its rider were permitted “to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.”

For any student of geopolitics — even those who do not believe in any religion — the sequence is logical. There are a few chokepoints on earth with global ramifications. The Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf is one of them. Strangle one or two chokepoints simultaneously, and nations will rush to secure resources to maintain internal stability. A prolonged, multifaceted shortage of essential items would lead to further erosion of the current international order, resulting in a resource stampede that inevitably leads to wars and rumours of wars.

Once again, this is a sequence that is a no-brainer to the casual peruser of daily headlines. Here is a snapshot of the existential stakes at the time of writing.

Both horses and their riders are released in rapid succession, but it is the next horse, and its interpretation, that has puzzled theologians for centuries.

In Rev 6:5, we read that a black horse was released, and its rider “had a pair of scales in his hand.” In the ESV edition, the next sentence is translated as:

“And I heard what seemed to be 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 wine!’”

Other English translations of this verse convey the same meaning. Yet this verse has always puzzled me. According to conventional interpretations, oil and wine represent wealth and luxury, and the verse seems to indicate that while the poor suffer, the rich will be shielded by their wealth. That appears to be the case today, as wealth fractionation has concentrated riches in the hands of the few like never before in modern times. These are the kind of people who can afford to spend tens of thousands on groceries, if needed, in a hyperinflationary world.

But why should God allow the poor to be punished? It simply does not make sense to me. They did not engineer this chaos. They are the victims. Their only crime or sin has been believing in, or resigning themselves to, all the lies spewed by the global oligarchy and their political and religious minions. Surely, it is the puppet masters who must be punished first and foremost?

I therefore decided to delve deeper and tasked AI to retrieve the oldest Greek rendition (Nestle‑Aland, which includes the Codex Alexandrinus) of this verse. I will copy and paste them here:

καὶ ἤκουσα ὡς φωνὴν ἐν μέσῳ τῶν τεσσάρων ζῴων λέγουσαν· χοῖνιξ σίτου δηναρίου, καὶ τρεῖς χοίνικες κριθῶν δηναρίου, καὶ τὸ ἔλαιον καὶ τὸν οἶνον μὴ ἀδικήσῃς.

And here is the literal word‑for‑word translation:

“And I heard as a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying: A choinix of wheat for a denarius, and three choinikes of barley for a denarius; and the oil and the wine you should not harm.”

What exactly is a choinix (χοῖνιξ)? This is a specific dry measure used for grains. A choinix was roughly the amount of grain needed to make enough bread for one person’s daily meal (approximately 1 liter or a quart). Two millennia ago, wheat was considered a luxury of sorts while barley was known as the “poor man’s grain” or “horse food” because it was hardier, tolerating poorer soils and drier conditions. It ripened earlier than wheat and was significantly cheaper. Hence the same day’s wage bought three times more barley than wheat.

The dynamic equivalent (meaning‑based) translation therefore reads:

“Then I heard what seemed to be a voice coming from among the four living creatures, saying: ‘A day’s ration of wheat will cost a full day’s wage, and three days’ rations of barley will cost a day’s wage. But do not damage the olive oil and the wine.’”

Once again, the conventional prophetic interpretation held ground. It does not matter which Bible edition is used. But the oil and wine part continued to vex me until I had an epiphany.

Elaion (ἔλαιον) was the standard Greek word for olive oil. In the ancient world, olive oil was used for cooking, lighting lamps, anointing, and medicine. In Scripture, it routinely represents anointing, the Holy Spirit, and divine blessing. It also represented a state of readiness in the End Times.

In the Parable of the Wise Virgins (Matthew 25), Jesus used the metaphor of oil and lamps to describe a state of readiness in the End Times. It describes how the wise ones took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. Only the virgins who stored their oil for their lamps were allowed to accompany the bridegroom to the wedding. The passage ends with a warning: Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (Matthew 25:1-13).

Are you getting the picture now? Now, let’s get to the wine part.

Oinos (οἶνος) is the common Greek word for wine made from grapes. Wine was a staple beverage in the ancient world, often safer to drink than water.

Wine also represents joy, covenant blessing, and more specifically, the blood of Christ which is the supernatural mark of divine ownership over the believer.

It is also worth noting that Revelation 6:6 is the only verse where a divine interjection breaks the prophetic sequence. “A voice in the midst of the four living creatures” interjects to warn the Black Horse and its rider not to “harm the oil and wine.”

In my opinion, it is a firm declaration that God’s elect would not be harmed during this turbulent period. They have been anointed with oil and have been sealed by the blood of the lamb, represented by the wine. They will face much buffeting and persecution, but their godly fate is sealed as long as they keep their lamps lit with the oil God provides.

When the next, most dreadful horse (Pale/Green) and its rider (Death) enter the scene, with “authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth” (Rev 6:7-8), those marked by the oil and wine can expect supernatural protection. They can reflect on the fulfillment of the following promise (read Psalm 91):

A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

You will only look with your eyes

and see the recompense of the wicked.

(P.S. As I concluded the first draft of this essay, it occurred to me why the five foolish virgins did not have oil at the appointed hour. But next time)

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