THE THIRD VISION.
Chapter Revelation 7:1-8 An Interlude. The Sealing of God's People.
‘After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, in order that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.'
‘After this' signifies a new vision. The timing of this vision is before the seventh seal is opened. As the seventh seal runs parallel to the first six seals this means that its occurrence is seen as immediate. John is assuring God's people in his day that God has sealed them prior to the events ahead.
‘The four winds of the earth'. In Jeremiah 49:36 ‘the four winds from the four quarters of heaven' cause desolation to Elam and in Daniel 7:2 ‘the four winds of heaven broke forth on the great sea' resulting in the emergence of the four beasts which represented world empires. In those cases they represented the activity of God. Those were from heaven. But these are the four winds ‘of earth' which suggests that they are to be seen as representing the activities, not of God, but of the forces of earth ready to bring desolation to the earth. How satisfying that they are seen as controlled by God through His angels. Compare how in Revelation 20:8, the nations gathered to war come from the four corners of the earth. But here at this stage they are restrained by the four angels.
‘In order that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.' What is also being restrained is what occurs on the sounding of the first four trumpets, for it is they which cause the attack on the earth, the trees and the sea. Thus they are restrained until God allows. The number four is the number of earth. The stillness on earth resulting from their restraint may parallel the silence in Heaven of Revelation 8:1. John saw them as ready to become active in his day.
(For ‘corners' see Nehemiah 9:22; Jeremiah 9:26; Jeremiah 25:23 where it is quite clearly used for furthest sections with no suggestion of a ‘corner'. It is not intended to suggest that the world is square, but to mean all four sections to the furthest points (compare Jeremiah 49:36)).