Revelation 7:1

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. AND. So B, Syriac; but A C, Vulgate, Coptic, omit. AFTER THESE THINGS. A B C 'Aleph ('), Coptic, read, 'after this.' The two visions come in as an episode after the sixth seal, before the seventh. Though "Israel" may elsewhere designate the spiritual Israel, "the elect (church)" here, where the several names of the tribes are specified, these can only have the literal meaning. The second advent will be the time of the restoration of the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6), when the times of the Gentiles shall have been fulfilled ...

1-8 In the figurative language of Scripture, the blowing of the four winds together, means a dreadful and general destruction. But the destruction is delayed. Seals were used to mark for each person his own 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 against 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 by friends and foes, but not by the believer himself, except as he looks stedfastly in the glass of God's word. The number of those who were 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 comparison with the wicked world, yet it is a society really large, and to be...

CHAPTER VII. _The four angels holding the four winds of heaven_, 1. _The angel with the seal of the living God, and sealing the_ _servants of God out of the twelve tribes, whose number_ _amounted to one hundred and forty-four thousand_, 2-8. _Besides these, there was an innumerable multitude from all_ _nations, who gave glory to God and the Lamb_, 9-12. _One of the elders shows who these are, and describes their_ _most happy state_, 13-17. NOTES ON CHAP. VII. Verse Revelation 7:1

AND AFTER THESE THINGS - After the vision of the things referred to in the opening of the sixth seal. The natural interpretation would be, that what is here said of the angels and the winds occurred after those things which are described in the previous chapter. The exact chronology may not be always observed in these symbolical representations, but doubtless there is a general order which is observed. I SAW FOUR ANGELS - He does not describe their forms, but merely mentions their agency. This is, of course, a symbolical representation. We are not to suppose that it would be literally fulfilled, or that, at the time referred to by the vision, four celestial beings would be stationed in the four quarters of the world for the purpose of checking and restraining the winds that blow from the four points of the compass. The meaning is, that events would occur which would be properly represent...

EXPOSITION REVELATION 7:1 AND AFTER THESE THINGS. Μετὰ τοῦτο, or, as some cursives read, μετὰ ταῦτα_, _is generally regarded as denoting the close of the sixth seal and the commencement of a new subject, interjected by way of episode between the sixth and seventh seals. But, even if not looked upon as an integral part of the revelations made under the sixth seal, the connection is so close that the two must be regarded practically as one. The incidents of the seventh chapter are evidently the complement of those narrated in the closing verses of the sixth. They take up the question with which that chapter closes, "Who is able to stand?" and afford comfort and help to those suffering Christians who were so sorely in need of a renewed assurance of the certainty of their final reward. It seems better, therefore, on the whole,

AND AFTER THESE THINGS,.... 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 number...

Revelation 7:1. _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._ A perfect calm there must be till God's people are saved. Not a leaf shall stir to do them damage. Not a dash of foam upon the waters no movement of wind, or sea, or tree. Revelation 7:2. _And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with aloud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea. Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads._ Everything exists for the servant of God. Creation is

ANGELS (_ See Scofield) - (Hebrews 1:4). _...

CHAPTER 7 Revelation 7:1 . This is the first parenthesis. It must not be taken chronologically. The six seal judgments extend over the entire period of the ending age. The rider upon the white horse will be on the scene to the end, wars will continue to the end, and culminate in the battle of Armageddon, and so do the famines and pestilences. And the sixth seal brings the end in view. We shall see the correspondence with the seventh trumpet and seventh vial later. The trumpet and vial judgments are more intense and more terrible than the seal judgments. In a certain sense they are parallel; the effect of each is continuously felt. The parenthetical vision of the seventh chapter also covers the entire period of the last seven years and brings before us even the vision of what will be after the great tribulation. How much confusion would have been avoided if expositors an

THE SEALING OF THE HUNDRED AND FORTY FOUR THOUSAND. Revelation 7:1. Four angels are here represented as holding the winds, which are to bring disaster upon the world, in leash, until the seal of protection has been placed upon the Christians. Revelation 7:2. The object of the sealing may be to protect against (_a)_ physical dangers, or (_b_) apostasy, or (_c_) demoniac activity. Probably all are included, for all may be connected with the breaking of the last seal. _Cf._ Ezekiel 9:4 *, where the mark on the foreheads protected from death. Revelation 7:4. 144, 000, _i.e._ 12, 000