“And after these things [6th seal extinction event] I [John] 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…(Revelation 7:1)
While many of us believe the earth is flattish and not a round ball, I don’t know anyone who thinks it is square. It’s a manner of speaking – all four cardinal directions by which even in our current day the winds are named.
We tend to assume that every reference to “angel” refers to one of God’s servants. In a similar situation described by Daniel, four winds / spirit beings are indeed God’s ministers. This is indicated by the clue given that they are “of the heaven” and confirmed by the account that two of them are Gabriel and Michael who strive with two of the four evil 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” (Daniel 7)
In contrast, the four angels in Revelation are on earth, party to the extinction event of the 6th seal and therefore members of the adversary’s army.
Physically, wind is caused by the uneven temperatures of sections of the atmosphere. An event such as an asteroid hit, a volcanic explosion or a nuclear explosion results in
- a physical shock wave that can level skyscrapers, then
- a searing blast of heat that can vaporize material, then
- a momentary vacuum resulting from the outward expulsion of all air,
- followed by a reactive inward rush of air creating a vast firestorm exceeding the most powerful hurricane winds.
Jack London was on site as a newspaper journalist to describe the winds that followed the 1906 San Francisco great fire, caused when thousands of gas appliances were upturned by a massive earthquake. At the time, San Francisco was the 9th largest city in the United States.
The earthquake shook down in San Francisco hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of walls and chimneys. But the conflagration that followed burned up hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of property. Not in history has a modern imperial city [note the allusion to Rome] been so completely destroyed…
Within an hour after the earthquake shock the smoke of San Francisco’s burning was a lurid tower visible a hundred miles away. And for three days and nights this lurid tower swayed in the sky, reddening the sun, darkening the day, and filling the land with smoke…
I watched the vast conflagration from out on the bay. It was dead calm. Not a flicker of wind stirred. Yet from every side wind was pouring in upon the city. East, west, north, and south, strong winds were blowing upon the doomed city. The heated air rising made an enormous suck. Thus did the fire of itself build its own colossal chimney through the atmosphere. Day and night this dead calm continued, and yet, near to the flames, the wind was often half a gale, so mighty was the suck.
“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.”
“Hail” describes an uncountable number of projectiles “raining” down from the sky, not just objects composed of frozen water. A “hail” of weapons instead of ice is consistent with the description of accompanying fire from the rockets propelling the missiles and/or impact with blood spray.
“A hail of bullets” has often used to describe a battle scenario, as in D-day. Much larger long-range missiles are more likely in our day, as in the battle for Baghdad.
The United States unleashed a withering air assault on Iraq yesterday, striking Baghdad and targets throughout the country with 1,500 precision-guided bombs and cruise missiles in an escalating campaign to drive Saddam Hussein from power…
Hundreds of cruise missiles and high-tech “smart” bombs rained down on dozens of structures that house various government ministries, military and intelligence centers and the headquarters of Hussein’s Baath Party…
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld boasted that there was “no comparison” between the U.S. bombing of Baghdad and the saturation air campaigns of European cities during World War II.
As you read the following, bear in mind that rival military powers are able to compete with the same types and amounts of weaponry.
The Tomahawk has emerged as one of the Pentagon’s most favored airstrike weapons. It can deliver a 1,000-pound bomb as far as 1,000 miles away, with a high degree of accuracy and without putting a pilot and aircrew at risk…
Through yesterday, more than 725 Tomahawk missiles had been fired into Iraq during the latest war, according to Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff…
On one night – the “shock and awe” air attack of March 21 – the Navy launched 320 Tomahawks from 30 ships and submarines.
The Navy brought only about 1,000 Tomahawk missiles to the region in preparation for the war, roughly half the nation’s stock worldwide…
Costly weapon…$1 million price tag…
The Navy has other weapons, of course…
Attack aircraft carry the Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAM, a free-falling, satellite-guided bomb manufactured by Boeing Co. at a rate of nearly 2,500 a month. The company gets unguided bombs from the military and attaches $20,000 guidance systems to them.
American and British forces, both Navy and Air Force, have dropped more than 12,000 precision-guided bombs since the war began, according to the Pentagon.
Unlike the military’s supply of JDAMs, however, the Tomahawk stockpile is not being replenished. The Pentagon stopped buying Tomahawks in the late 1990s, choosing instead to invest in upgraded cruise missiles that can “loiter” over an area and search for targets. Those missiles aren’t expected to be ready for battle until the middle of 2004 at the earliest…
The U.S. Navy has five aircraft carriers in the waters around Iraq – three in the Persian Gulf and two in the Mediterranean Sea. Each of those carriers travels in a group of roughly 10 ships, which includes destroyers, guided-missile cruisers, a frigate, one or two submarines and a supply vessel.
The cruisers and destroyers exist largely to fire missles. They are outfitted with MK-41 vertical launchers, built by Lockheed Martin Corp. in Middle River, and can carry more than 60 Tomahawks at a time.
The “third part” of trees and “all” green grass does not need to refer to the entire earth to be an accurate statement reporting damage against the field of attack. When Gideon requested that “all the earth” be dry, he included only the vicinity of the event.
The reference to trees being destroyed is a clue to
- the location of the 1st trumpet counter-attack
- and therefore the identity of the initiator of the first strike of the 6th seal.
I don’t envision a massive counter-strike being launched against Amazonia, Canada, the Congo, or Southeast Asian Islands.
Russia it is – the initiator of WWIII.
- The loss of so many trees is also a significant factor
- in sudden climate change
- impacting agricultural production
- resulting in famine.
More than 60,000 types of trees cover 31% of the planet, but we’re losing tree coverage at an alarming rate. In tropics regions alone, more than 30 soccer fields worth of trees were lost each minute of 2019 due to deforestation for the sake of agriculture…
Trees play a key role in combating climate change because they absorb carbon from the atmosphere…
Trees act as buffers for extreme weather events…Tree leaves also prevent harsh wind and rain from eroding the soil, while tree roots hold soil in place.
The Europeans killed so many indigenous Americans during the 16th century — through warfare and by causing disease and famine…these tens of millions of people…could no longer farm. The forest then crept in, taking over farmland and doing what plants and trees do best: breathe in carbon dioxide (CO2). This process decreased the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, leading to widespread cooling…during the Little Ice Age, a new study suggests.
Therefore the loss of so many trees would trigger the reverse – warming, with northward shifts in climate zones suitable for agricultural production to the unsuitably heavily urbanized northeast corridor and Midwest. The United States would no longer be able to sustain its own food production needs, let alone garner alliances through supplying other nations’ needs. All nations would be experiencing the same crash in food production.
The loss of “all green grass” also indicates devastated food production in loss of grains as well as grazing areas for livestock supplying meat and dairy products. This would result from burning up in the initial event, as well climate change affecting regrowth.
Maize, or corn, is grown all over the world, and large quantities are produced in countries nearer the equator. North and Central America, West Africa, Central Asia, Brazil, and China will potentially see their maize yields decline in the coming years and beyond as average temperatures rise across these breadbasket regions, putting more stress on the plants
Kingdom Come 