PROPHETIC SIGNIFICANCE:
A lack of food is the direct result of prominent End-Times predictions: wars, political upheaval and natural disasters. Famine is listed by Jesus as a sign of the times in the period leading up to the Tribulation. He said, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places." -Matthew 24:7

According to the Book of Revelation famine will be intense after the great war of the second seal during the Tribulation. John wrote, "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. 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!" - Revelation 6:5-6

Today's statisticians are reluctant to label situations where people are hungry as "famines" until the death rate is quite high. It is difficult to get accurate statistics, but somewhere between 1/9 and 1/3 of the population of the earth is hungry.

But during the Tribulation Period, after the great war of the Second Seal, the planet will face its greatest famine of all. This is symbolized by the rider on the black horse, holding scales to measure small portions of food, and proclaiming that the price of food will be prohibitive. A quart of wheat will cost a denarius. The New International Version interprets this statement this way: "Two pounds of wheat for a day's wages." A loaf of bread typically weighs about two pounds. At today's prices it costs almost two dollars. So, a person earning today's minimum wage would be able to buy 29 loafs with a day's wages. How will people survive in that dreadful future when all they can buy with a day's wages is one loaf of bread?