Revelation 7:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree.

NIV: After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.

NASB: After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.

CSB: After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.

NLT: Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so they did not blow on the earth or the sea, or even on any tree.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.

In this verse the apostle John reports that he saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. Just as it is used today, the phrase "four corners of the earth" is not meant to suggest the earth is literally square. It means the angels had taken up positions at the points of the compass. They stood at the north, south, east, and west. They exercised authority to hold back the four winds.

The four winds represent God's judgment. In His pledge to destroy Elam—another name for Persia—God said, "I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven. And I will scatter them to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which those driven out of Elam shall not come" (Jeremiah 49:36). Like John, Daniel also saw in a vision the four winds of heaven. He states in Daniel 7:2 that they were "stirring up the great sea," which meant the Mediterranean Sea. During the four angels' delay of judgment no wind would arise to shake a tree.

Revelation 7:1–4 contains another highly symbolic vision from John's vision. Four angels stand at the extreme points of the earth. He sees another angel ascend from the rising sun and hears him command the four angels to withhold further judgments until he has sealed God's servants on their foreheads. The number of those sealed by this angel is 144,000. This event comes as an interlude between the opening of the sixth and seventh seal judgments. God is preparing to send His servants into the known world to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom.

Revelation 7 occurs after the opening of the sixth seal, and before the seventh. John sees four angels standing at the four corners of the earth and another angel ascending from the rising sun with the seal of God. He seals 144,000 saved Jews on their foreheads. These 144,000 sealed servants of God are instrumental in leading a great number of people from all parts of the world to faith in Jesus Christ. This multitude of believers have passed through the tribulation and will serve God perpetually in the millennial temple. Their troubles and tears will be behind them.

The last and largest section of Revelation began in chapter 4, where John is shown events yet to come (Revelation 1:19). Chapters 4 and 5 describe what John saw in heaven, including a scroll of God's judgments. Chapter 6 focused on the events that transpire when Jesus opens six of the seven seals on that scroll, one at a time. Now, in chapter 7, an interlude occurs between the opening of the sixth seal and the seventh seal. In the interlude an angel seals 144,000 saved Jews as God's servants. Chapter 8 will describe the seventh seal, and the beginning of the ''trumpet'' judgments.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''