Revelation 7:1

After this I saw four angels stationed at the four corners of the earth, firmly holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind should blow on the earth or sea or upon any tree.

• 4 in prophecy can represent everywhere. So we are once again shown that the events of the end times affects the entire world.
• Wind represents war. Think of this spiritually. If there was to be a major war, would people be marrying and saying peace and safety? But if it was a war for our souls, and it was because the world was doing great, then they would be acting in such festive ways. 
• Look at Revelation 18:7. The world will be glorying in how great it is during the end times. They will think things are great, but they will be terrible because they will not be including our Father. The flesh is not what is eternal, it is temporal it is our souls that are eternal.
• So the four angles, or messages, will not allow the last spiritual war to break out until God allows it to. This could very well be a time of prosperity as the world has never seen, that allows most people to forget about needing God. 
• The events that we are shown in Revelation are not always presented to us in straight chronological order. Jesus keeps taking John back and then He builds on what He has already showed Him; so the Revelation builds on itself, the Truth is further exposed. First, John was shown the Four Horsemen being empowered by our Father and he was shown exactly what they were empowered to do. Next, John was shown the Truth that the Horsemen cannot do what they are called to do, until our Father permits them to. The Seven Seals that we have studied, the Seven Trumpets that we will study, and the Seven Plagues that we also will study, are all happening pretty much at the same time. Jesus will show us later that all of these events take place in a short 3 1/2 year period. The Four Horsemen, are carrying out our Father’s wrath at the same time that the Seven Seals are being opened. The Seven Trumpets are being sounded, and the Seven Plagues are being released at the same time as well. These Four Winds in verse 1 are all part of our Father’s plan. This is why it is called the great Tribulation, because there is just so much hitting the world all at once. 
• Something really strikes me about this first verse of chapter seven, and it is this, the Four Winds who have been given charge to harm the earth have to be held back. There is an eager desire by the beings of Heaven for our Father’s Kingdom to come into its full power. There is an intense desire in Heaven for wickedness to be destroyed and for Jesus to begin His Millennial Reign, which will ultimately bring in the New Jerusalem and the New Earth. Yet none of the events of the great Tribulation can happen, not one little bit of it can take place, until our Father allows it to! This is why these winds have to be held back by the four angels.