What does the Bible mean when it refers to the four winds?

The subject, then, of the first vision was four great beasts: "Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another" (vv. 2, 3). The sea, a mass of waters, will mean, as often in Scripture (see Rev. 17:1-15) peoples and nations; and, in the case before us, there is a state of anarchy and confusion, inasmuch as "the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea." The winds are various disturbing influences, ordered of God in a providential way, and in judgment, for the accomplishment of His purposes in the government of the earth. Thus, in Rev. 7 we have angels holding back the four winds of the earth from their judicial mission until the servants of God should have been sealed in their foreheads. It is the winds of earth there, because the earth was the object of their visitation; whereas in Daniel they are the winds of heaven, as indicating the source whence they were directed to issue.

The subject, then, of the first vision was four great beasts: "Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another" (vv. 2, 3). The sea, a mass of waters, will mean, as often in Scripture (see Rev. 17:1-15) peoples and nations; and, in the case before us, there is a state of anarchy and confusion, inasmuch as "the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea." The winds are various disturbing influences, ordered of God in a providential way, and in judgment, for the accomplishment of His purposes in the government of the earth. Thus, in Rev. 7 we have angels holding back the four winds of the earth from their judicial mission until the servants of God should have been sealed in their foreheads. It is the winds of earth there, because the earth was the object of their visitation; whereas in Daniel they are the winds of heaven, as indicating the source whence they were directed to issue.

The "four angels standing on the four corners of the earth" are the ministers of God's judgments, occupying even the remotest regions of the world. The "four winds of the earth" are those disturbing elements existing in all quarters, which God can at His will let loose in judgment. Thus Gog, the great hostile hewer named in Ezekiel, is said to "ascend and come like a storm" (Ezek. 38:9); and Jehovah, when delivering Israel from her enemies, is described "as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest." (Isa. 32:2.)

Angels, as ever, are the ministers of God's providential government. Here they are seen in the character of the executors, of His judgments. (Compare Matt. 13:41-42, 49, 50; Isaiah 37:36, etc.) They are presented here indeed as the restrainers of the powers of evil, as well as the executors through these, in God's own time, of His vengeance. They stand upon the four corners of the earth, the whole earth (the number four being the symbol of earthly completeness) being under their delegated control. Remark also that they hold ("hold fast") the four winds of the earth, etc. The four winds are symbols, as one has written, "of those disturbing elements, existing in all quarters, which God can at His will let loose in judgment." Daniel thus said, "I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea." (Rev. 7:2.) The sea in this scripture, as in our chapter, represents the nations in a state of tumult or commotion (compare Rev. 13:1), while the earth sets forth rather the nations in the enjoyment of ordered government. Trees are often used in Scripture as figures of the great ones of the earth. (See Daniel 4:19-22; Ezekiel 17, 31, etc.)

Angels, as ever, are the ministers of God's providential government. Here they are seen in the character of the executors, of His judgments. (Compare Matt. 13:41-42, 49, 50; Isaiah 37:36, etc.) They are presented here indeed as the restrainers of the powers of evil, as well as the executors through these, in God's own time, of His vengeance. They stand upon the four corners of the earth, the whole earth (the number four being the symbol of earthly completeness) being under their delegated control. Remark also that they hold ("hold fast") the four winds of the earth, etc. The four winds are symbols, as one has written, "of those disturbing elements, existing in all quarters, which God can at His will let loose in judgment." Daniel thus said, "I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea." (Rev. 7:2.) The sea in this scripture, as in our chapter, represents the nations in a state of tumult or commotion (compare Rev. 13:1), while the earth sets forth rather the nations in the enjoyment of ordered government. Trees are often used in Scripture as figures of the great ones of the earth. (See Daniel 4:19-22; Ezekiel 17, 31, etc.)

Verse 2 is very instructive. What he saw was produced by the striving of 'the four winds of the heaven … upon the great sea'. Now the sea is used figuratively as indicating the masses of mankind, as are the 'many waters' of Revelation 17:1 and 15, which represent 'peoples, and multitudes, and nations'. So also, 'wind' often represents the power of Satan, for he is 'the prince of the power of the air' (Eph. 2:2). What Daniel saw was, in figure, the forces of darkness working on the masses of mankind, and as a result producing, as we shall see, the four world-empires that fill up the times of the Gentiles. Israel is the only nation that has been raised up by God to a place of supremacy; but, while it is set aside, four world powers arise as a result of the striving of Satanic forces, and not of the working of God's power.

(V. 2). In his vision Daniel sees the great sea agitated by the four winds of heaven. The sea is used in prophetic scriptures to set forth "peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues" (Rev. 17:15). The four winds of heaven would seem to indicate that from every quarter of the globe there was a providential dealing of God allowing the world to fall into a condition of anarchy and revolution.

186 The four winds, blowing on the earth and sea, shew the disorder and tumult of the spirit of nations. Here, not merely on the sea, wherefrom, consequent on it, Daniel saw the four great beasts or kingdoms emerge; but on the earth, here, because there was already a settled and ordered system which was effected by them as well as the mass of unformed nations - the sea. This was arrested till it was shewn how effectual the word of God had been in spite of opposition.

(a) Four angels are now seen standing upon the four corners of the earth, holding in restraint the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow upon the earth, nor upon the sea, nor upon any tree. Manifestly here again all is symbolic. The winds of the earth are the various influences which from outside affect it; surely not divine influences, or they would not need to be restrained, but rather the power of the enemy working: for Satan, as we learn elsewhere, is "the prince of the power of the air," and the course of this age is thus under his control. God is above all, as we see now. Nothing is but as it is permitted to be, and this is the security of His people, whatever may be the adverse circumstances through which they pass. The earth seems always to speak of that which is settled under government, as we may say, as the sea cannot be, which speaks in general of unrestrained will — thus of the nations, looked at as away from God. The tree is individual, one specially prominent, rooted in the earth, as it might seem. A time is coming which shall test all this.

Verse 1. Winds of the Earth. — Universal troubles and political tumults. Satanic agencies. (Job 1:19; Jer. 49:36; 51:1; Dan. 7:2.)