SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/7/2015
7:32 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: Wrath Restrained
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation 7:1
Message of the
verse: “1 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.”
We ended looking at the sixth chapter with a question “who
is able to stand?’ and begin chapter seven with the statement “after this,” and
John MacArthur writes that this phrase “usually followed by some form of the
verb eidon (‘to see’), are used
several times in Revelation to introduce a new vision (cf. 4:1; 7:1; 7:9; 15:5;
18:1; 19:1, ‘heard’). The use of ‘after
this’ in this passage signifies that the vision of the sixth seal has ended and
John is about to see a new vision. It
may also indicate that this new vision depicts events that come after the sixth
seal chronologically. The scene now
shifts from judgment on the ungodly to special protection for the godly.”
As we continue to look at the book of Revelation we will
see that angels play a huge roll in what God is going to accomplish during this
time period. The word angel is used some
50 times in the book of Revelation and the word “angels” is used some 22 times
in the book of Revelation, however we have already spoke about the times that
it is used in chapters 2-3 and said that since the word means messenger that it
probably is referring to the Pastors of the seven churches and not what we
would typically refer to as an angel.
Angels are often associated in the Bible with judgment, so let us look
at a couple of times that this is true in the book of Revelation: “And I saw the seven angels who stand before
God, and seven trumpets were given to them (Rev. 8:1).” Now these seven angels were about to blow
their trumpets which will bring the seven trumpet judgments on the earth. As we continue through the book of Revelation
we will see more examples of this. An
example of this in the OT was when the Angel of the Lord killed 185,000
Assyrians in one night as they were about to attack the city of Jerusalem.
What we see here is four angels which are “standing at
the four corners of the earth holding back the four winds of the earth. Let us look at a couple of verses that we can
compare with verse one: “’I will bring
upon Elam the four winds From the four ends of heaven, And will scatter them to
all these winds; And there will be no nation To which the outcasts of Elam will
not go (Jer. 49:36).” “"And He will
send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His
elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other’ (Matt. 24:31).” There are some who think that John’s
reference here refers to those who thought the earth was flat. MacArthur writes “But the phrase actually
refers to the whole earth by designating the four primary points on the compass
(north, south, east, and west), form which directions ‘the four winds’ (i. e.,
all the winds) ‘of the earth’ originate.”
He then quotes Dr. Henry Morris again:
“This verse has long been derided as reflecting a naïve ‘pre-scientific’
concept of earth structure, one that supposedly viewed the earth as flat with
four corners…In terms of modern technology.
It is essentially equivalent to what a mariner or geologist would call
the four quadrants of the compass, or the four directions. This is evident also
from the mention of the ‘four winds’ which, in common usage, would of course be
the north, west, south, and east winds.
“Parenthetically, accurate modern geodetic measurements in
recent years have proved that the earth actually does have four ‘corners.’ ‘These are protuberances standing out from
the basic ‘geoid,’ that is, the basic spherical shape of the earth. The earth is not really a perfect sphere, but
is slightly flattened at the poles. Its
equatorial bulge is presumably caused by the earth’s axial rotation, and its
four ‘corners’ protrude from that.” It
seems to me that many years ago I heard this about the earth after man was able
to send satellites into space and would watch how they rotated around the
earth, which then told the scientists that the earth was not perfectly round. All I can say is that it takes time for the
scientists to catch up with what the Bible teaches for the Bible is never
wrong.
As we continue to look at this verse we see that the
angels stopped the wind from blowing on the earth and again we look to Dr.
Henry Morris: “[the] circulation of the
atmosphere is a mighty engine, driven by energy from the sun and from the earth’s
rotation. The tremendous powers involved
in this operation become especially obvious when they are displayed in the form
of great hurricanes and blizzards and tornadoes. These winds of the earth make life possible
on earth through the hydrologic cycle, transporting waters inland from the
ocean with which to water the earth. Yet
angels—only four of them—had turned off this gigantic engine.” John MacArthur writes of the words “holding
back” “is from krateo, a strong word
that suggests that the winds are struggling to break free from their
restraint. The angelic restraining of
the wind also symbolizes the withholding of the plagues associated with the
imminent trumpet judgments (8:5ff).” God
is putting a hold on these next set of judgments until He accomplishes what He
wants accomplished, and He does it by restraining the four winds by four
angels. We will next look at the second
sub-point which is “Saints Sealed,” which tells us why He is restraining the
wind.
Spiritual meaning for
my life today: Never doubt the Bible
for it is always right. I remember when
the media was saying that olive oil was not good for you, and my thoughts were that
they would learn that it is good for you because the Bible speaks of it in a
good light. Sure enough a little while
later we hear that what was said about olive oil was wrong as it is good for
you.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to love the Lord with all of my
heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to live in and better understand the love
of the Lord.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Mesopotamia” (Genesis 24:10).
Today’s Bible
question: “What aged woman saw the baby
Jesus when He was first brought to the temple?”
Answer in our next SD
4/7/2015 8:24 AM
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