Four angels at the four corners of the earth?

jgr88 · #1 19th May 2009, 01:27 AM

[I hope I have the right forum for this question, there's like a million to choose from

]

I was reading Revelations the other week and a verse in there has been bugging me (besides the obvious ones about death and destruction).
Rev. 7:1 says "1After 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."

Now I'm assuming the culture of that time believed that the earth was flat. So when the Apostle John had this revelation why did he not see that the earth was actually round? Maybe I'm reading too much into this verse and what I think it means when there could really be more than one meaning to it.

Just wondering if someone could set me straight on this =)

Thanks

green wolverine · #2 19th May 2009, 01:45 AM

The book of Revelation is highly metaphorical and this strikes me as a great example of that.

In Isa 40:22 there is a reference to the earth being round:

[It is] he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof [are] as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

pehkay · #3 19th May 2009, 06:08 AM

The winds here are for God's judgment (Jonah 1:4; Isa. 11:15; Jer. 22:22; 49:36; 51:1).

It just means that God's judgment is coming for the people in every direction of the earth (i.e. the whole earth).

marktheblake · #4 26th July 2009, 09:16 AM

Originally Posted by jgr88

Rev. 7:1 says "1After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth

Ihave no issue with considering this as a metaphor meaning the same thing then as it does today. (have we considered that is where we got this metaphor from)

I am sure that that four corners of the earth is also used in Job.

JuliusRaphael · #5 17th October 2009, 06:51 PM

I think its metaphorical as someone said and It might use it because of other verses from the OT.

I had a disscussion with a dude claiming the Bible was wrong because of this in Isiah 11:12:
"And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth."

But then I googled "Israel map BC" and this came up.

http:/ /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Levant_830.svg/545px-Levant_830.svg.png

I Couldn't link it maybe someone else can? Delete the space between the //

The kingdom of Judah looks pretty much as it has four corners. I don't know but to me it pretty much makes sense with bringing the dispersed people of Judah from it's nations corners?

sudzer · #6 11th January 2010, 12:14 PM

Ok follow me and I will show you the four corners. North, South, East, and West. It encompass all the world, and if you write it on the world it makes a cross. As for the Book of Revelation, it is like the Book of Enoch a revelation of what is to come. Take it out of your mind box and put it into God's box and He will show you all that it entails. It will become a two edged sword

Jpark · #7 11th January 2010, 05:37 PM

Originally Posted by jgr88

[I hope I have the right forum for this question, there's like a million to choose from]

I was reading Revelations the other week and a verse in there has been bugging me (besides the obvious ones about death and destruction).
Rev. 7:1 says "1After 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."

Now I'm assuming the culture of that time believed that the earth was flat. So when the Apostle John had this revelation why did he not see that the earth was actually round? Maybe I'm reading too much into this verse and what I think it means when there could really be more than one meaning to it.

Just wondering if someone could set me straight on this =)

Thanks

Matthew 24:31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

If Matthew 24:31 is relevant to Revelation 7:1, then Revelation 7:1 is saying Jesus will send His angels to gather together His people from all over the world.

Protos · #8 5th March 2010, 12:04 AM

The people didn't really believe the earth was flat. Pliny believed in the traditional concept of the universe as a sphere that revolved around the Earth and consequently believed the Earth was a sphere too, and people living on all sides of it. When he noted the objections of some people who asked that if that was true, it would mean some people lived with their feet facing ours when standing, he answered that it must be the natural order of things.

Aristotle concluded that, since the moon was always a circle with a curved shadow, if it were a disc, it would be an ellipse at times and is thus a sphere, much like the earth. Even Thomas Aquinas (13th century), believed in a round earth. Most likely the author of revelation is speaking metaphorically/figuratively even if he personally didn't know.

Touma · #9 8th July 2010, 12:27 AM

I think this is simply a phrase which was known to mean "the whole world"

pilgrimgal · #10 8th July 2010, 08:04 AM

The passage is very symbolic and represents the kind of apocalyptic writing used in other parts of the bible.

It paints a picture (image) and from that we can draw greater meaning. We need to see the greater picture of what is being conveyed. And that is subject to interpretation.

I found this commentary on Rev. 7:1ff from the Life Application Study Bible: New International Version. p. 2311. [commentary at the bottom of the page in the footnotes]

"Just when all hope seems lost, four angels hold back the four winds of judgment until God's people are sealed as His own."

The intepretation here indicates that the four winds were those of judgment..and thus the use of "winds" in this sense is symbolic. So, too, it would seem would be the symbolism of the four corners of the earth..which, as another has said here would likely mean the "whole earth."