Clarke's Bible Commentary - Revelation 7:1
Verse 1. And after these things] Immediately after the preceding vision. I saw four angels] Instruments which God employs in the dispensation of his providence; we know not what.
On the four corners of the earth] On the extreme parts of the land of Judea, called h gh, the land, or earth, by way of eminence.
Holding the four winds] Preventing evil from every quarter. Earth-sea, nor on any tree; keeping the whole of the land free from evil, till the Church of Christ should wax strong, and each of his followers have time to prepare for his flight from Jerusalem, previously to its total destruction by the Romans.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 1. And after these things , etc.] After the opening of six of the seals of the sealed book, and after the demolition of Heathen deities, and of Heathen worship, and of Heathen magistrates, in the Roman empire, and the representation of these to John, he had the following vision; and which therefore does not refer to the preservation of the Christians, before and at the destruction of Jerusalem, which was under the first seal; nor to the security of the saints from the wrath of the Lamb, when it fell upon the Pagan worshippers, of all ranks and degrees, which was under the sixth seal, and was now over; but rather it respects an intermediate space of time between the sixth and seventh seal, as reaching from Constantine to Theodosius; for upon Constantine's being sole emperor, the church enjoyed great peace and tranquillity after the blustering storms of Pagan persecution ceased; and great numbers of God's elect were converted and sealed, and the winds of Heathen persecution were held, and blew no more, unless for a short time under the Emperor Julian; though the church was not free from the wind of error and heresy; and the storms of contention which arose about them, nor from the tempest of Arian persecutions, which were very grievous; wherefore this refers to what should be between the sixth and seventh seal, which brings on the seven trumpets: and now, before John sees that seal opened, a pause is made, and this vision is shown him, to fortify his mind, and all other saints, that are observers of these things, who by the opening of the following seal would see what judgments and plagues would come upon the empire, now become Christian, and what changes and revolutions would be made in it, and might fear that the church of God would be wholly swallowed up and lost; wherefore this vision is exhibited to show, that notwithstanding the devastations by the Goths and Vandals, and the rise, progress, and power of Mahomet, and the dreadful apostasy of the church of Rome, and all the miseries of it, and the plagues that should come upon the church for it; yet God would have throughout all this, and in, every age of time, a sealed number, a true church, hidden and secured, even until the seventh angel has sounded his trumpet, and time shall be no more, and the mystery of God will be finished. 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 trees . Four angels are mentioned, in allusion to the four spirits of the heavens, in ( Zechariah 6:5); and though the earth is not a plain square with angles, but round and globular, yet it is said to have four corners, with respect to the four points of the heavens; and though there is but one wind, which blows sometimes one way, and sometimes another, yet four are named with regard to the above points, east, west, north, and south, from whence it blows. These are commonly called the four winds of heaven, ( Daniel 8:8 11:4); but here, of the earth, as in the Targum on ( Isaiah 11:12), and he shall bring near the captivity of Judah, a[ra yjwr [bram , from the four winds of the earth. And such things as are chiefly affected with winds are particularly observed, as the earth, upon which buildings are thrown down by them; and the sea, in which ships are wrecked; and trees, which by the violence of them, are blown down, and torn up by the roots. Some by these angels understand evil angels, who are sometimes called angels, without any additional epithet to distinguish them, and that because a desire of hurting seems to have been in them, as well as a power, ( Revelation 7:2,3); and who are, in every part of the world, seeking to do all the mischief they can; and may be said to hold the winds, not in a literal sense, for God only gathers the wind in his fist, and holds it there, and lets it loose at his pleasure; but in a mystical sense, as these may refer to the word, and the ministers of the word, whose progress and success are often hindered by Satan and is emissaries; and some particularly understand by them the four monarchies of the Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman; others the four emperors, after that Dioclesian and Maximianus had resigned, as Maximinus, Galerius, Maxentius, and Licinius; others Mahomet, or the Turk, in the east, who hindered the Gospel by his wars and devastations, as well as by false worship; the kings of France and Spain on the west, by fire, and faggot, and sword; and the pope in the south, by bulls and excommunications; and the empire and emperors of Germany on the north, by public edicts; or, in general, all the Popish tribe, popes, cardinals, bishops, priests, monks, and friars, by their decrees, anathemas, sermons, writings, and lying miracles, did all they could that the Gospel might not be preached neither in the earth, on the continent, nor in the sea, or in the islands of it; or that any of the saints, the trees of righteousness, who lived in woods and mountainous places, or were forced to fly into woods, might have any advantage by it.
But, after all, rather this is to be understood of good angels, and either of their restraining evil angels from doing mischief, (see Daniel 10:13,20,21) ( Revelation 12:4,7); or keeping back the winds of false doctrines and heresies from the churches of Christ, in the several parts of the world; or rather, and which is the true sense, of their holding in the storms of calamities and war to the destruction of kingdoms, provinces, islands, and the several inhabitants of them, and intends a general peace throughout the world; (see Jeremiah 49:36 51:1,2). This mystical way of speaking seems to agree with the notions of the Jews, who speak of angels standing at the gates of the four winds, jwr yjtpmw and the keys of the wind in their hands, whose names they give us f214 ; and make mention of ajwr ykalm , the angels of the wind f215 ; and the Magi among the Persians call the angel of the wind Bad, or Badran f216 .
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-8 - In the figurative language of Scripture, the blowing of the four wind together, means a dreadful and general destruction. But the destructio is delayed. Seals were used to mark for each person his ow possessions. This mark is the witness of the Holy Ghost, printed in the hearts of believers. And the Lord would not suffer his people to be afflicted before they were marked, that they might be prepared agains all conflicts. And, observe, of those who are thus sealed by the Spirit, the seal must be on the forehead, plainly to be seen alike be friends and foes, but not by the believer himself, except as he look stedfastly in the glass of God's word. The number of those who wer sealed, may be understood to stand for the remnant of people which God reserved. Though the church of God is but a little flock, in compariso with the wicked world, yet it is a society really large, and to be still more enlarged. Here the universal church is figured under the type of Israel.
Greek Textus Receptus
και 2532 μετα 3326 ταυτα 5023 ειδον 1492 5627 τεσσαρας 5064 αγγελους 32 εστωτας 2476 5761 επι 1909 τας 3588 τεσσαρας 5064 γωνιας 1137 της 3588 γης 1093 κρατουντας 2902 5723 τους 3588 τεσσαρας 5064 ανεμους 417 της 3588 γης 1093 ινα 2443 μη 3361 πνεη 4154 5725 ανεμος 417 επι 1909 της 3588 γης 1093 μητε 3383 επι 1909 της 3588 θαλασσης 2281 μητε 3383 επι 1909 παν 3956 δενδρον 1186
Vincent's NT Word Studies
1. These things (tauta). Read touto this.Holding (kratountav). Holding fast or firmly. See on Mark vii. 3; Acts iii. 11.
