To me it seems that events named in the Olivet Discourse has parallels with the events named in Rev 6.
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I would like to know which arguments are in favor of this concept and which are arguing against this...
I wouldn’t necessarily argue against the concept you have in the grid but the third seal representing famine in my opinion has to be incorrect. I studied this some time ago and this is what I came up with.
Since only 4 types of food are mentioned in Revelation 6:6 I’m not going to speculate here on what happens to other types of food; it is likely that if wine and olive oil are available then grapes, raisins, and olives would also be available, but I will only include the foods that are specifically mentioned. Also we only know the cost of wheat and barley; if famine is assumed then we also have to assume that oil and wine are readily available for a nominal amount since they are not hurt.
First off, some information on the nutritional value of wheat, barley, olive oil, and grape juice or wine (if grape juice is made into an alcoholic beverage the sugar is what is converted into alcohol). Serving size is 100 grams; all measurements are in grams except calories. Different web sites have slightly different values but they are all very close.
Nutritional value of wheat
Calories 340
Fat 2.5
Protein 13.2
Carbohydrate 72
Sugar .4
Nutritional value of barley
Calories 354
Fat 2.3
Protein 12.48
Carbohydrate 73.4
Sugar .82
Nutritional value of olive oil
Calories 881.5
Fat 103.7
Protein 0
Carbohydrate 0
Sugar 0
Nutritional value of grape juice
Calories 60
Fat .13
Protein .37
Carbohydrate 14.77
Sugar 14.2
Amount of nutrients needed per day for the average active adult male, amounts are less for women and children
Calories 2700 (this can be easily obtained from olive oil, no wheat or barley needed)
Fat 88 (this can be easily obtained from olive oil, no wheat or barley needed)
Protein 63 (would require 4.7 gallons of grape juice, so a person would need some amount of wheat or barley to reach 63 grams)
Carbohydrate 410 (would require less than 1 gallon of grape juice, an average person can drink 1 gallon per day so wouldn’t necessarily need wheat or barley to reach required amount of carbohydrates)
Sugar 37.5 (this is easily obtained from grape juice, no wheat or barley needed)
I Googled “which is more nutritious wheat or barley” and looked at foodstruct.com. This site had a very good break down of wheat vs barely. Based on 300 grams of product, vitamins and minerals are scored on how much the food fulfils a person’s daily need.
In vitamins Barley=27 Wheat=25.
In minerals Barley=52 Wheat=67.
In protein Barley=75% Wheat=82%.
In carbohydrates Barley=73% Wheat=71%.
In fat Barley=11% Wheat=11%.
According to many commentaries a measure of barley or wheat is about 1 quart or 907.2 grams (1 ounce = 28.35 grams). To be conservative let’s just call it 900 grams. If 1 measure is enough to feed 1 person for 1 day, then 900 grams of barley or wheat would give a little over the amount of calories needed, also an excess amount of minerals, protein, and carbohydrates, but not enough vitamins, fat, or sugar.
My first observation is that barley and wheat are so close to being equal nutritionally that if there was a famine and a person could purchase 3 times as much barley as they could wheat, most everyone would be purchasing barley. I am not sure why some commentaries state that barley is so much less nutritious than wheat, it’s just not true.
Second, all of the 5 basic nutritional needs can be easily obtained from grape juice and olive oil with the exception of protein (it would be physically impossible for most people to drink nearly 5 gallons of grape juice or wine per day due to the rate at which the kidneys can process).
If, as many commentaries suggest, a penny was a day’s wages for a laborer then a laborer could purchase 2700 grams of barley per day. That’s enough protein for 5.35 days if barley was the only source of protein. If a person would drink 1 gallon of grape juice per day, they would get about 13 grams of protein. That leaves 50 grams of protein a day needed from barley; which comes out to 400 grams of barley per day. That means that a day’s wages could buy enough barley to supply 6.75 days’ worth of protein. If instead of grape juice it was alcoholic wine, a person could let the alcohol along with some of the water evaporate away so they wouldn’t become alcoholics or have to consume as much sugar or liquid. If the grape juice or wine was reduced due to evaporation it’s easy to come up with 1 days’ work supplying the 3 measures of barley needed per person for 1 week.
If a laborer had a family of 5 people, including himself, and he was the only provider then he would perhaps have to work 4 days (women and children require less food) just for the barley to feed his family. This wouldn’t include the cost of the oil and wine. If he worked 6 days a week then they would probably be just barely getting enough food, depending on the cost of oil and wine. If however the wife or children were able to glean fields, make bread to sell, or some other economic activity (Aquila and Priscilla were both tent makers Acts 18:2-3 and Lydia was a seller of purple Acts 16:14) then they could very well be able to survive in the first century. From ancientcoinsforeducation.org it’s estimated that about 50% of income was spent on food in ancient Rome, the time when Revelation was written.
The penny being a day’s wages is often referenced using Matthew 20:1-16 which is the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. The problem with some commentaries is that they assume everyone’s wage is a penny. It certainly was true in the parable that all who worked in the vineyard received a penny; but during the first century there were carpenters, scribes, physicians, and many more professions. It’s still the same today; someone who picks fruit is considered a laborer and makes some of the lowest wages.
Conclusion; in order to have the third seal represent famine a person has to ignore the actual nutritional value of wheat, barley, oil, and wine or ignore the amounts of nutrients needed for a person to live.