Now it’s helpful for us to remember that in the book of Revelation the Holy Spirit, through the apostle John, employs symbolic language, which often draws imagery from the other books of the Bible, especially Daniel, to describe realities that are being or will be fulfilled. Therefore, when John says he saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds, he’s echoing or calling back to something described in Daniel 7:2 as “…the four winds of heaven… stirring up the Great Sea.” Daniel 7:2b NKJV. Then in the New Testament, Jesus Himself uses this same imagery, which is also found in other places in the Old Testament, to describe, with even more clarity, the extent to which His angels will gather up His faithful followers from the earth at His second coming, saying, “…they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matthew 24:31b NKJV. So what we’re discovering is that ancient people of Biblical times referred to “the four corners” or “the four winds” of the earth in the same way we refer to the four directions of a compass today; north, south, east and west. It’s universal language used to cover the span of the entire earth. And “the winds”, described by Daniel as “stirring up the Great Sea” and by John as being held back by four angels, represent the strife of the turbulent human environment that God is restraining or as Ellen White describes it, “… the elements of nature—earthquake, tempest, and political strife…” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 444. In other words, In the midst of the rising turmoil in our world… 

GOD IS ACTIVELY KEEPING THINGS

 FROM BEING FAR WORSE.

God is holding back and keeping in check the unrestrained forces of evil on the earth to a larger degree than we think! It reminds me of the time I got in an accident, which totaled my first car; a white four door Saturn. I was driving in the car with my brother, not too far from home, when as soon as we approached an intersection, the green light turned yellow. And since we had the right of way, with plenty of time before the light turned red, I decided to keep going. However, a woman driving a small minivan, on the opposite side and trying to make a quick left turn, attempted to cross over in front of us before the light turned red. I can still see the scene in my head, like a movie in slow motion. Her van slammed right into the driver’s side of my car where I was seated, shattering my windshield, sending glass flying everywhere and crushing the front of my car. And though my car was totaled, and little pieces of glass was stuck all over my left arm, my brother and I were able to come out of that car alive! I was a little shaken up, would have to do a few weeks of physical therapy and to this day I get a little PTSD whenever I come to an intersection, but had it not been for the airbag and the big steel bar built into the doorframe of Saturn sadan’s, things would have been a whole lot worse! And likewise, God is wanting us to know, with absolutely certainty, that He is on the ground in real-time actively checking and holding back unrestrained evil, while at the same time preserving human free will.

Something else you’ll discover about “the winds” God is holding back is that there are other terms used to express this same time period. Dr. Ranko Stefanovic, who was my professor at Andrews University and who’s also a world renowned scholar and expert on the book of Revelation, points out that the Great Tribulation, the Seven Last Plagues and what the prophet Daniel called “the Time of Jacob’s Trouble” in Daniel 12, are all different expressions used to describe “The Winds”. And we know that our world has not reached this final crisis yet.

This means that though we’re still experiencing the rising turmoil in the world, God is still intervening! He’s still telling the angels to hold back those winds of strife! He’s still putting a check on evil and keeping things from being far worse than they are! The global pandemic isn’t “the winds”, it’s just birth pains. Racial injustice, social and political unrest aren’t “the winds”, they’re just birth pains. You can have the calm assurance of God’s presence and continued, active intervention on your behalf! So keep on praying for God to show up in your situation and keep on patiently enduring, by faith in Christ, whatever difficulties come your way, for our God still sits on the throne! He has everything under control and is passionately committed to bringing us through victoriously!

So then if we haven’t yet reached the time of the loosing of “the winds” of strife and God is still holding them back, then what is He holding them back for? In other words, what purpose is He trying to accomplish between now and then? Well, I’m so glad you asked. Come with me now to verses 2 to 3…

Stay Tuned for Part Three…