Revelation 7:1-3 – Part 3, Four Corners of the Earth

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Rev 7:1-3 – Part 3, Four Corners of the Earth

[Study Aired November 18, 2009]
[Updated May 25, 2024]

Rev 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.
Rev 7:2  And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Rev 7:3  Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

Introduction

We are in chapter 7 of the book of Revelation. Christ has opened six of the seven seals which have the contents of this book closed and hidden from the multitudes who come to Christ. Before we get into the contents of the seventh seal, which consists of much of our judgment being spiritually revealed to us through seven trumpet judgments, the seventh trumpet judgment is the pouring out of the seven last plagues of God’s wrath upon the kingdom of our old man which has been dominated by a great spiritual whore. The Lord knows our frame, and He knows that it is at this point we need to be told that He has chosen us to be His “firstfruits unto God and the Lamb (Rev 14:4) and that through our mercy (Rom 11:30-31), “a great multitude which no man can number… all in Adam” will be dragged to Himself:

Joh 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto men unto me.

This is how we closed our last study:

Comparing the spiritual significance of the things of the Old Testament, with the spiritual significance of the things of the New Testament, we will demonstrate the spiritual meaning of ‘the earth’ and the scriptural meaning of “the four winds of the earth.”

Here is what we are told about the four horses of Zechariah 1:

Zec 1:10  And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These [all four horsemen] are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the [whole] earth.

This is what we are told about the four chariots of Zechariah 6:

Zec 6:5  And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.

There are four horsemen in chapter 1, and there are four chariots in chapter 6. In chapter 1 we are told that all four horsemen “are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.” The fact there are ‘four’ tells those who know the meaning of that number that it is ‘the whole earth’ in which they are walking to and fro.

Now look at what is said of the bay horses of chapter 6:

Zec 6:7  And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth.

This seventh verse of chapter 6 concerning the bay horses tells us that these bay horses are doing the same thing all four horses do in chapter 1:

Zec 1:10  And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.

Applying the principles of ‘the dream is one’ (Gen 41:25-26), the principle of “line upon line and precept upon precept” (Isa 28:9-10), and the principle of “the sum of thy Word is Truth” (Psa 119:160 ASV), we can understand that Zechariah 1:10 does not contradict Zechariah 6:7, but Zechariah 6:7 rather complements Zechariah 1:10. The message of the sum of both chapters and the message of Revelation 7:1 is that the Lord has sent His “four winds [spirits] of the earth (Rev 7:1)… into all the earth” (Rom 10:18) working all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11, Rom 8:28) to the intent that “the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men” (Dan 4:17). What is so powerfully wonderful about the message here in Revelation 7 is that “the four winds of the earth” are working the Lord’s work of dragging all men of all time, the whole of humanity, to Himself:

Joh 12:32  And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

Last week we saw that the spiritual significance of the number four is concerned with the whole of any subject, and we saw that the spiritual significance of the four angels is that the work which they do with ‘the four winds of the earth’ affects the entirety of mankind, both the extremely small number of 144,000 “firstfruits unto God and The Lamb” (Rev 14:4), as well as all the rest of  mankind, who later in this 7th chapter are referred to as “a great multitude which no man could number” (Rev 7:9). Today we will see what the scriptures reveal to be the spiritual meaning of “the four corners of the earth” and “the four winds of the earth.” As always we will do so with a view toward how every word we read and hear can and must be kept and observed inwardly by each of us.

What is the spiritual significance of “the earth?”

What is the scriptural opposite of ‘heaven?” No, it is not hell. The opposite of ‘heaven’ in the scriptures is ‘the earth.’ Notice how the spirit contrasts these two and uses them as a symbol of all that is:

Isa 37:16  O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.

Isa 44:23  Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.

Jer 23:24  Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earthearthythe second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

We saw earlier concerning the “great earthquake” mentioned in Revelation 6:12 that the “earth” is Bible-speak for God’s own people who live in rebellion against Him and His Word. Here are the verses we used to make that point.

Jer 22:1  Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
Jer 22:2  And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:

Jer 22:5  But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.

Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

So the ‘earth’ is all of us as “Jews who believe in Christ, [who see ourselves as] Abraham’s children, but we are seeking to kill Christ… because His words have no place in us” (Joh 8:30-44). “In Adam” (1Co 15:22), the son of God (Luk 3:38), all “in Adam” (1Co 15:22) become “the earth”, all of mankind in rebellion against his Creator.

The Earth is the Potter’s “Vessel of Clay”

We are reading of “the four corners of the earth” here in chapter 7, and because we will be seeing the word ‘earth’ mentioned throughout this revelation of Jesus Christ, we need to take a much closer look at this word. The word ‘earth’ appears more in this one book than in any other New Testament book. The Greek word translated ‘earth’ is the word ‘ge‘ from which we get our English word ‘geography.’ In the entire new Testament, this word ‘ge‘ appears 243 times. Of those 243 entries, eighty entries, or basically one third of those entries are in this one book; the book of Revelation.

A proper, scriptural understanding of what the ‘earth’ is, is pivotal to understanding this revelation of Jesus Christ. Here are just a few of the verses in this revelation of Jesus Christ, which we are yet to cover, which mention the earth:

Rev 8:5  And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

Rev 8:7  The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Rev 8:13  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Rev 9:1  And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

Rev 9:3  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
Rev 9:4  And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

Those are only seven entries from the next two chapters where this Greek word ‘ge‘ appears in this revelation of Jesus Christ. The only time this word ‘ge‘ appears here where it is not translated into the English with the word ‘earth’ is in this verse:

Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

“The earth” is “all the world.”

“Comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1Co 2:13)

In 1 Corinthians 2:13 we are told how the holy spirit teaches us so that the princes of this world cannot see the things we see:

1Co 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Co 2:8  Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

We are all natural “vessels of clay” before we begin to be given “the mind of Christ”:

1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1Co 2:15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
1Co 2:16  For who hath known [aorist tense – we are coming to know] the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have [present tense – we are in this time being given] the mind of Christ [by “the spirit teaching us [how to] compare spiritual things with spiritual”].

God’s dealings with “the earth” are central to this revelation of Jesus Christ. So we definitely need to establish firmly how the holy spirit uses this word ‘earth’, and once again, what we will see is that when “the holy spirit teaches us comparing spiritual with spiritual” using the word ‘earth’, then that word ‘earth’, through the spirit, no longer refers to the physical earth, but becomes the spiritual type of our earthy bodies in which Christ now spiritually dwells. The same holds true when we read about “the Lamb of God, the bride the Lamb’s wife, the firstfruits unto God and The Lamb.” Every word we speak has a primary physical meaning, and yet the holy spirit bequeaths to those whom He chooses the ability to give each of those words a spiritual meaning which can then be compared to other spiritual words to establish through the sum of God’s Word, line upon line and precept upon precept, that the message of ‘the dream is one’ consistent message even though both cows and corn are used to bring us that one single message.

Let’s see just how true this is. The first two verses of all scripture tells those whom “the holy spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1Co 2:13) what God is doing with mankind, both in mankind’s heaven and in mankind’s earth.

Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Gen 1:2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

To the natural man who has no understanding of the ‘is, was and will be’ nature of these words of Christ (Rev 1:8), whose words will never pass away (Mat 24:34-35), these words of the first two verses of scripture are nothing more than a history lesson. To the man who knows that all of Christ’s words “are spirit and life” (Joh 6:63), these words are also spirit and they tell him much more than the simple physical Truth of how “the things which are seen” (1Co 4:18, Heb 11:3) came to be and why the Lord made them in a physical realm first. To the man to whom the Lord has chosen to “teach comparing spiritual things with spiritual”, these first two verses of Genesis tell us what God is, was and will be doing in ‘the earth.’

To the man with spiritual discernment, all of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are merely a spiritual shadow of what God is doing with His ‘earth’ and His ‘heaven’ in which He has placed His ‘earth.’ The first day is merely God showing man that there is such a thing as light and darkness, that there is good and evil and that He, and He alone, is the Creator of both (Isa 45:7, Pro 16:1, Pro 16:4)

Gen 1:3  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Gen 1:4  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
Gen 1:5  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

The second day shows us that God has placed a great expanse between our old earthy man and our new heavenly man. He is showing us that the doctrines of the earthy man are not as high as the doctrines and understanding of the heavenly (Isa 55:9, 1Co 15:46-49).

Gen 1:6  And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
Gen 1:7  And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
Gen 1:8  And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

The third day, like the first day, shows us that while the sea is of the earth, God separates the dry earth from the seas of the earth, and He reveals that the earth brings forth herbs and the fruits that come of the earth for man to eat. God calls that which is just above the waters of the sea, ‘earth.’ However He does not give strong meat to us before we are able to bear it, so while we are yet only on the ‘earth’, He feeds us only with herbs and the fruits of the earth (Heb 5:12-15, Rom 14:1-2, 1Co 3:1-4):

Gen 1:9  And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
Gen 1:10  And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:11  And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
Gen 1:12  And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed [was] in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:13  And the evening and the morning were the third day.

The perception of what is light and what is darkness is greatly increased on the fourth day. Our understanding is now far superior to the mere “knowledge of good and evil” of the light and darkness of the first day. We now understand that our ‘light’ comes from “the Sun of righteousness” (Mal 4:2) in the true ‘heavens”, and we now understand that even the darkness is really just a “lesser light”, and there are “signs and seasons, days and years” to be endured in what God is doing when He “gives us light upon the earth to rule the day and the night.”

Gen 1:14  And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
Gen 1:15  And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
Gen 1:16  And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: [he made] the stars also.
Gen 1:17  And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
Gen 1:18  And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:19  And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

Comparing spiritual things with spiritual we see that God’s work in the earth is far greater on the fifth day when He causes the sea, out of which the dry land came, and out of which we all come (“the dry land”), to bring forth many and various types of life, over which He later commands us to gain and exert dominion. On the fifth day we also learn that the seas and the earth and the heavens are all very intimately connected, and that the sea waters and the heavens both bring forth an abundant variation of life each in its own realm. It is on this fifth day that we learn that the fowl which are created to fly above the earth in the heavens can and do “multiply in the earth.” In other words, we begin to see that there is a ‘heavens’ of our earth, which is a mere “figure of the true” heavens, which is where Christ dwells and from whence He rules our hearts and minds.

Gen 1:20  And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
Gen 1:21  And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:22  And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
Gen 1:23  And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

It is on the sixth day that God reveals to us His crowning but not yet completed achievement. It is really just a marred prototype of that to which He intends to give the true dominion of all the creatures He has placed upon the earth and in the seas and in the heavens of the earth. It is also on this day that the strong meat is created which will later be given to nourish those who will be given to receive it. Strong meat will not be given to mankind until after the baptism of the flood of Noah, but strong meat is created as “the beasts of the earth” right along with the ultimate ‘beast of the field’ which God calls ‘Adam’, meaning mankind.

Ecc 3:18  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men [H120: adam], that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

Gen 1:24  And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
Gen 1:25  And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 1:27  So God created [Qal stem: is making] man in his own image, in the image of God created [creating] he him; male and female created [Creates] he them.
Gen 1:28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Gen 1:29  And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
Gen 1:30  And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
Gen 1:31  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

So the days of creation are a spiritual type of what God is doing with His incompleted, unfinished ‘earth’, which is a spiritual type of our physical bodies. As is always the case, that which is used to typify what is said to be “very good” in Genesis 1 rebels and begins a life of opposition to God in Genesis 3. This use of one symbol, in this case ‘Adam’ (1Co 15:45-50), for both good and evil is continued throughout scripture for all the holy spirit [is] teaching comparing spiritual things with spiritual (1Co 2:13). For example, Pharaoh is a spiritual type of the Father giving the kingdom over to Joseph, who is a spiritual type of Christ, in Genesis 41 to Genesis 50, while in the very next chapter of scripture, Exodus 1, Pharaoh becomes a spiritual type of the ‘seed of the serpent… the man of sin’ who seeks to destroy God’s elect by destroying all of the first born males of Israel. Likewise the ‘earth’ in Genesis 1 typifies the “many called” out of the waters of the sea, who later revert to becoming a part of the sea when it is revealed they “cannot receive” Christ’s Word.

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them [the multitudes (vs 2)]  in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them [His disciples], Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Christ affirms this statement in:

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

In passing, the Hebrew word here translated ‘replenish’ in verse 28 is ‘male‘ pronounced ‘maw-lay’ and means ‘to fill.’ It does not mean to refill as some teach in support of their false gap theory doctrine. God is in the process of making mankind to rule over all the beasts and creeping things and the fish of the sea and the fowl of the air. He will be finished with this work when all of mankind, spiritually typified by “a great multitude which no man could number” (Rev 7:9), has entered with Him into His rest on their own spiritual ‘seventh day.’

Gen 2:1  Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
Gen 2:2  And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

It is in the New Testament where we learn that the work of God really is ended on the seventh day, and only after mankind has entered into His rest and has, with and in Christ, “ceased from his own works as Christ did from His.”

Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

These words of Hebrews 4:10-11 are just one more example of how the holy spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

Now, for the sake of this study, let us ask of what was mankind made? Many people teach and believe that Adam was made an “immortal soul”, a phrase which appears nowhere in scripture. Most Christians believe that mankind is really a spirit which God has placed into a body of clay. Is there any basis in scripture for such a doctrine? What material does God Himself tell us He used to make mankind? What did He use to make Adam? Here are the plain words which have proceeded out of the mouth of God concerning Adam’s composition:

Gen 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Man is not “the breath of life.” Mankind was not made of ‘the breath of life.’ “The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground.” So Adam is “of the dust of the ground.” What happens to Adam when he dies? Is Adam an immortal spirit which needs no resurrection and which goes to his reward the moment of his death, as all of Babylonian Christendom and all Pagan religions teach? What did Adam’s Maker tell Him concerning Adam’s composition and Adam’s fate without benefit of a resurrection from among the dead? What did Adam’s Maker tell him was Adam’s place after his death and until his resurrection from among the dead? Here is what the One who ought to know had to say to Adam concerning Adam’s makeup, and of what sort it was, and what would be the fruit of His transgression:

Gen 3:17  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Gen 3:18  Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
Gen 3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Is that not astounding? Here is our Maker telling us what the wages of our sins are, and He fails to even mention the eternal flames of hell. Instead our Maker tells us that we are “dust … of the ground”, of the earth and we will return to dust, and later we are told that if there were no resurrection, then those who have “fallen asleep in Christ are perished.”

1Co 15:16  For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
1Co 15:17  And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
1Co 15:18  Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
1Co 15:19  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

“If in this life only we have hope in Christ?” Does that not sound like there is hope in Christ, beyond this life? Indeed there is, and it is not even in this life that most men will be saved, because Christ’s Words have no place in the lives of most who believe on Him in this life (Joh 8:37). The reason for this has nothing to do with mankind’s fabled “free will.” The reason most of mankind will be saved after this life is “because they cannot hear Christ’s Words” now.

Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

Here is how the Lord likens giving His Words and His doctrines to His people:

Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

Here is how God explains His dealings with all who are “in Adam.”

Jer 18:1  The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 18:2  Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make [it].
Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
Jer 18:7  At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

So mankind is “of the earth, earthy,” and that is why Jeremiah 22:29 reads “Oh earth, earth, earth, hear the Word of the Lord.” Let’s look at a few more verses which make clear that the word ‘earth’ is spiritual language for mankind in the first Adam. Here are some examples.

1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly [At the resurrection].

Col 3:5  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

Heb 6:7  For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
Heb 6:8  But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

Heb 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Heb 12:26  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

Jas 5:5  Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.

Jas 5:7  Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

2Pe 3:7  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

2Pe 3:13  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

How true are the words of Jeremiah, “Oh earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord.” It is only those who are given ears to hear to can “hear the word of the Lord.”

Here, in conclusion, is the function of “the earth” which is in us all:

Psa 2:1  Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
Psa 2:2  The kings of the earth set themselves,  and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
Psa 2:3  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

This same earthy sentiment is repeated at the end of the New Testament.

Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

We will pause here for now and look more closely a the spiritual meaning of “the four winds of the earth” in our next study.

We have seen that the four horsemen of Zechariah 1 and 6 help us to understand that the four horsemen of Revelation 6 are one and all spiritual types of those things the Lord is doing with the whole of mankind. They one and all ask to do so and they are commissioned to “walk to and fro through the whole earth, working all things after the counsel of God’s will, which ‘will’, as this seventh chapter of Revelation reveals, is the salvation of “all… in Adam” (1Co 15:22). We did not get to the spiritual meaning of “the four winds of the earth”, but, Lord willing, we will do so in our next study.

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