^6:5 And when He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." And I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.

And when He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come."

The third living creature has the face of the man if this is the third living creature in Revelation 4:7. Again the same command is "Come" This implies that the living creature leads these horses and their riders into doing their terrible deeds. And this terrible deed will affect all of humanity, as we shall see!

And I looked, and BEHOLD, a BLACK HORSE; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.

The color BLACK is associated with famine; Lamentations 4:1-12 indicates the skin becomes 'blacker than soot'. Christ indicated that famines were to be a part of the tribulation:

Compared to the bow (first horse) and the great sword (second horse), the scales look tame; BUT rationing food can sometimes be the cruelest weapon. It was foretold by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 4:10,16-17, and has been used many times throughout history to defeat, or at least soften, an enemy.

Hunger also is a form of torture. Lamentations 5:1-18 shows that one could kill just to get someone else's bread. Jeremiah (Jeremiah 14:1-9) pleads for mercy from the drought, and as in his time, it will be now, God's judgment will carry on.

It is interesting that, apparently, the conflict brought about by the second horse, is brought to a quick end by the third horse and its rider. It is hard to kill and fight on when one is too weak from hunger.