Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he (John 13:19).
….and He [the Holy Spirit] will show you things to come (John 16:13).
And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads (Rev. 7:1-3).
The so-called ‘heretics’ throughout centuries opposed the Roman Catholic Church for nothing less than biblical grounds. Among them were professing Christians called Waldenses, Albigenses, Cathars, Wickliffites, Lollards, Protestant Reformers, Puritans, etc., etc. All came to the same judgment. The Roman Church was the fulfillment of Mystery Babylon, the Papacy Antichrist, his body those who persecuted and killed the so-called ‘heretics.’
Paramount of the many decrees which condemned the ‘heretics’ to imprisonment, proscribing buying and selling with Catholics, denying them burial on consecrated church lands, confiscation of their goods, banishment and even death, were those which forbade the reading of the Bible, as well as the preaching of the Gospel. This fact is fully documented in my posts regarding the Inquisition.
Without this basic historical knowledge, Christians attempting to decipher the mysteries of the Revelation are grasping at straws.
Like the Apostles who were at a loss to understand Christ’s explanation as to His death and resurrection (Mark 9:31-32) until after the fact, we, too, cannot rightly understand prophecies which have yet to be fulfilled (John 12:16).
But enough Church history had been fulfilled for the so-called ‘heretics’ to rightly understand much of the Revelation.
Interpretation of Rev. 7:1-3
Armed with the facts of history one can now give a credible interpretation of the passages in question.
1. The winds are not literal. Although they may, according to context, be interpreted as evil doctrine (Ephesians 4:14; Hebrews 13:9), in this context the winds are righteous and virtuous. They are symbolic of the Gospel preached with the power of the Holy Spirit:
For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost (1 Thess. 1:5).
The Holy Spirit is frequently symbolized by the wind (John 3:8; Acts 2:1-4; Ezekiel 37:9).
2. To ‘hold back’ is to hinder, restrain, impede, and stop. The forbidding/prohibiting of Bible reading and Gospel preaching is tantamount to the same thing.
3. This was fulfilled by the Roman Catholic Church and her members.
4. Thus, the 4 angels are symbolic of the Catholic leadership, speaking in the name and service of God, forbidding that which is commanded by Christ:
Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15).
Furthermore, the lack of true Gospel preaching and Bible reading by so-called ‘Christian’ priests and friars was a most serious sin against which Wickliffe, Lollards and Reformers were constantly railing.
5. The angel having the seal of the living God must be Christ, the sun of righteousness, in His members who preach the light of the Gospel to those who live in darkness:
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13).
The 4 winds are of the same Spirit, no matter where the true Gospel is preached (Ephesians 4:4).
NEXT: The sea, earth and trees interpreted.
Click on the links below to continue essay. Hit your Back button to return to this page.