re: four winds

The following I posted here a couple years back... from the pen of Bro Russell...

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THE PLOWMAN OVERTAKES THE REAPER

Illustrating the Divine methods and the rapid following of events in the Divine Program, the Lord through the Prophet tells us that "the plowman will overtake the reaper." (Amos 9:13.) SO ACCURATELY TIMED IS EVERY FEATURE OF THE DIVINE PLAN THAT PART FITS TO PART AND WORK TO WORK CLOSELY. *THE HARVEST OF THE PRESENT TIME IS THE GATHERING OF THE FRUITAGE OF THIS GOSPEL AGE. --the gathering of "the Church of the First-borns, whose names are written in Heaven"--those who have made a covenant with Jehovah by sacrifice.
The Head of the saintly Messiah, developed and glorified eighteen centuries ago, is Jesus. The members of the Body of this Messiah have been gathered from every nation, first from the Jews and then from all nations. God's call and selection of saintly sacrificers in this Gospel Age ignore all sectarian, all denominational, all national lines--"The Lord knoweth them that are His." The winds of violence, "the powers of the air," which will shortly be loosed, and which will produce the terrific "storm," ARE BEING HELD BACK UNTIL THE SEALING OF GODS SERVANTS IN THEIR FOREHEADS SHALL HAVE BEEN ACCOMPLISHED
This sealing in the forehead implies an intellectual appreciation of Heavenly things, and is intimately associated with the Harvest work * THE SEALED ARE THE RIPE WHEAT BEING GATHERED for the Heavenly garner. AS SOON AS THE SEALING WORK SHALL HAVE BEEN ACCOMPLISHED THE WINDS OF STRIFE AND TROUBLE WILL BE LET LOOSE ACCORDING TO THE MASTERS DECLARATION, and the result will be a "Time of Trouble such as never was since there was a nation"--no, nor ever shall be the like again. The awful lessons which will then be learned by humanity will be sufficient for all time. The strife, the hatred, the malignity, the anarchy of that day of trouble are depicted in various places in the Word of God.--Rev. 7:1; Matt. 24:21; Psa. 46:8-10.

Pastor Russells Sermons 188-89

jon:

*notice the harvest is the gathering of the fruitage of the Gospel Age... not a time of waiting for more fruitage to be born... those harvested were already ripe... i.e. between 1878 and 1914...

he taught clearly that once the trouble began the forehead sealing would be complete
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WINDS--Re The Four of Heaven.

QUESTION (1911)--1-- In Revelation we read about the four winds of heaven being holden by four angels that they should not blow upon the earth nor hurt the trees and grass, etc. What do we understand these winds to signify and how soon may we expect them to be let loose?

ANSWER--It is a symbolic expression, of course, dear friends. All the book of Revelation is symbolic. The four winds we understand to represent the completeness, as we speak of a square as being complete, and as the four corners of the earth; and again we speak of north, south, east and west, thus giving the four corners of the earth, figuratively. And it is represented that the angels are holding the winds. What winds? Well, certain winds are represented in symbolic language as being false doctrines --as, for instance, "be not carried about by every wind of doctrine." Here false doctrines are symbolically spoken of, winds that carry about some that are unstable, that do not understand the divine plan; they never get settled as to what anything means, because they have never had a right understanding of the matter. They have never had the solidifying influence of the truth upon them. Then again winds are used to represent strife. And winds again are used to represent war and trouble and confusion. And four winds let loose would represent a whirlwind, you see, as the four would come together; and so the Scriptures represent that in the end of this age, the time of trouble that will come on the earth will be as a whirlwind from the four corners of the earth. Now what will cause this whirlwind of trouble? I will remind you that Satan is said to be the prince of the power of the air, and otherwise he is said to be the prince of demons. These powers of the air, we believe, are the demoniacal powers, the powers of the evil spirits, and our thought respecting the letting loose of those four winds is that it will mean a time of the breaking loose of the fallen angels from the restraint which has been upon them for now about four thousand three hundred years, since the time these fallen angels sinned, as Saint Peter says, when the ark was preparing--going back a long ways to the days of Noah; they were then shut up on account of their disobedience to God; they were restrained in chains of darkness, Saint Peter says, and Saint Jude also, and this restraint of chains of darkness was to be until a certain time, namely, until the judgment of the Great Day. Our thought is that this text of Scripture has reference to this same power of the air. The same fallen angels; and the breaking loose or letting loose of these from restraint means that the time will come when * GOD WILL NO LONGER RESTRAIN THESE EVIL SPIRITS, AND THAT THERE WILL BE A GREAT TIME OF TROUBLE COME UPON MANKIND AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THEIR BEING PERMITTED TO INTERFERE WITH THE HUMAN RACE. We cannot doubt that certain spirits that worked havoc back in the days of our Lord would have done still worse if they had had an opportunity. We cannot doubt they would do the same today if they were permitted. Evidently, to my mind, the fallen angels have been restrained for all these centuries. THE WIND HAS NOT YET BEEN ALLOWED TO BLOW, THE GREAT STORM WHICH THEY WILLINGLY WOULD BREW HAS NOT YET BEEN ALLOWED TO COME TO PASS, AND WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO COME TO PASS UNTIL THE 144,000 SHALL HAVE BEEN SEALED IN THEIR FOREHEADS; THAT IS, UNTIL THE ELECT SHALL ALL HAVE BEEN RECOGNIZED OF GOD AND IDENTIFIED AND COMPLETED. Then suddenly these evil influences will be allowed to come upon the earth, and a time of trouble will ensue such as never was since there was a nation. Jesus says, "Neither will there ever be again such a time."

From Q738

jon:

* clearly equates the loosening of the spirits and the beginning of the Great Time of Trouble

written in 1911... he shows clearly he held that once the 144,000 were sealed (completed) the wind of war would begin to blow...note the language... "recognized of God and identified and completed"...

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We are not to forget, however, that the inauguration of the Messianic Kingdom is to be in the midst of the Time of Trouble, and that Christ will have to do with the bringing, or at least the permitting, of that Trouble. Apparently mankind will be permitted to bring the great trouble at the end of this Age upon themselves. There are forces of evil, Satan and his angels, ready to do us harm and, through human forces, sin-forces entrenched in human nature, ready to do harm to the social fabric. * THE BIBLE REPRESENTS THAT DIVINE POWER HOLDS THESE IN CHECK THE FOUR ANGELS HOLDING THE FOUR WINDS THAT THEY SHALL NOT BLOW UPON THE EARTH TO ITS INJURY UNTIL THE APPOINTED TIME, UNTIL ALL OF GODS ELECT CHURCH SHALL HAVE BEEN SEALED IN THEIR FOREHEADS THEIR INTELLECT WITH THE TRUTH.

At the appropriate time those "winds" of strife will be let loose, and great will be the trouble, until in due time the King of kings and Lord of lords shall intervene to rescue the race from itself and from the Adversary. Then Satan shall be bound for a thousand years, and Messiah's Kingdom shall be established for the blessing of all the families of the earth.

From R5506

jon: * note: many say that the sealing would be complete when the winds are released and then try to argue that they are not released... Bro Russell noted that the manifestation of the Trouble and the Great War are the evidence that the sealing of the Elect is done... quite the opposite... i.e., that he taught the visible proves the invisible... while Bible Students wait for the invisible to prove the visible...

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THE DARK NIGHT ALREADY SETTLING

"According to the Bible, God foreknew the conditions of our day as we are now reviewing them; and in our text He gives a key to the situation--elsewhere in the Scriptures made very plain. Through the Prophet, God tells of the dark Night coming--after the Morning Dawn had been well ushered in--a dark storm-cloud just at sunrise. This dark hour is described in the prophecy of Daniel, and also in that of our Lord Jesus, to be 'a Time of Trouble, such as never was since there was a nation.'

"BIBLE STUDENTS SEE THE GREAT TIME OF TROUBLE ALREADY BEGINNING IN THE LETTING LOOSE OF THE WINDS OF STRIFE IN EUROPE. IN THE LIGHT OF THE BIBLE THEY PERCEIVE THAT THE RESULT OF THIS PRESENT WAR WILL BE THE GREAT WEAKENING OF THE NATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE EARTH AND INCREASED KNOWLEDGE AND DISCONTENT AMONGST THE PEOPLE.

"The next phase of the Trouble, according to the Bible, is to be the 'great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.' (Revelation 16:18.) This is not a literal earthquake, but a symbolic one--revolution. Then the third phase of the calamity--the darkest of all--will be the symbolic fire of anarchy, which will utterly destroy our present civilization. Then, in the midst of that most awful Time of Trouble, Messiah, the great King, will take His great power and will exercise it, with the result that the raging waves of the sea of human passion will all be quieted, the fires of anarchy will all be extinguished, and the Reign of Righteousness and Peace will begin.

From R6014

jon: this one is self explanatory

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We are not able to see behind the veil; we are not able to know the things progressing under the direction of our glorious Lord and the members of His Church already glorified. Our thought is that somehow the Lord is taking a hand in the affairs of the world now as He did not do in times past. We do know that the great Time of Trouble, which has begun, very closely corresponds to the Divine declaration respecting the time and conditions of the establishment of Messiah's Kingdom. The Lord Himself informs us that, at the time He shall take to Himself His great power and reign, the nations will be mad and the Divine wrath will come. A little later on the time will come for the judging of the dead, and the giving of the reward to God's servants, small and great, leading on finally to the destruction of the incorrigible, who would exercise a corrupt influence upon the earth. Revelation 21:8
All over the world people knew of the expectations of Bible Students in respect to the year A.D. 1914; and * WHEN SO STUPENDOUS A WAR AS THE PRESENT ONE BROKE LOOSE, WHEN THE WINDS OF STRIFE BEGAN TO BLOW with such fury and destruction, THOUSANDS REMEMBERED WHAT THEY HAD HEARD AND READ RESPECTING THE END OF THE GENTILE TIMES. Thousands today have come to fully appreciate the times in which we are living. The influence is very helpful and inspiring. A realization that we are in the Day of the Lord, and that very soon all of His saints will be gathered to Him by the resurrection change, has a stimulating and encouraging influence upon Bible students, separating them from the world and its fears and ambitions and fixing their eyes upon the Crown of Life, which the Lord has in reservation for them that love Him most.

From foreward of Volume 2

jon:

* again he equates the outbreak of the War with the breaking loose of the winds

here he speaks of the Lot class remembering what they had heard and read from this worldwide ministry... and after the war broke out (fire and brimstone falling) came into the truth as a result...

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LOOSING THE FOUR WINDS OF HEAVEN

OUR recent visit to Europe revealed no more unrest amongst the people than our previous one. Indeed, we were surprised to find so many evidences of prosperity everywhere and so few manifestations of violent discontent. Some residents confirmed this view, while others thought that there is a deep undercurrent of discontent not manifest on the surface. Our readers know that for some years we have been expecting this Age to close with an awful time of trouble, and we expect it to break out with suddenness and force not long after October, 1914, which, so far as we can understand the Scriptures, is the date at which the Times of the Gentiles --the lease of earth's dominions to the Gentiles--will expire; the time, therefore, when Messiah's Kingdom will be due to begin its exercise of power, which the Scriptures declare will dash the nations in pieces as a potter's vessel. * BY THAT TIME WE THINK THE SCRIPTURES INDICATE THAT THE CHURCH WILL BE COMPLETE and will have passed beyond the second veil into the "most holy" and to perfection of spirit nature by a share in the First Resurrection. Nevertheless, HOW THIS IS ALL TO COME ABOUT, as we have heretofore declared, IS NOT PLAIN TO US --how it will be that all of the Church class will die before that date, changed in the moment of their dying, "in the twinkling of an eye."

But while considering these perplexities, and considering also the fact that WE HAVE NO FAULT TO FIND WITH THE CHRONOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE BIBLE, our mind is directed to an old Scripture which suddenly seems to have a new importance. We refer to the statement, "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....Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads."--Rev. 7:1-3.

WE HAVE LONG SEEN THAT THESE SYMBOLIC WINDS REPRESESNT STRIFE, ANARCHY, THE GREAT TIME OF TROUBLE WHICH IS HELD IN CHECK BY DIVINE POWER UNTIL THE COMPLETION OF THE HARVEST WORK THE SEALING OF THE LIVING MEMBERS OF THE ELECT CLASS WITH PRESENT TRUTH. We long ago pointed out that these four winds, let loose, coming together, will constitute a whirlwind, which is the symbolical figure used in the Bible to represent the great time of trouble approaching. And this whirlwind corresponds to the typical one by which Elijah, the prototype of the Church, was taken away. Winds also represent false doctrines.-- Ephesians 4:14.

From R4822

jon:

* shows he taught beginning of the Trouble meant the completion of the church
- his difficulty and doubt was how they would all be taken by then... then he states that 'all is not plain to us'.

he still had no qualms with the Chronology... he stuck to the date to the end

*** he equates the start of the Trouble with the completion of the forehead sealing again... and "the completion of the Harvest Work".

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LOOSING THE "FOUR WINDS"

"And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation."--Daniel 12:1.

THERE is something peculiarly forceful about this statement. We have known some to lay stress upon the word such in this verse of Daniel's prophecy and to suggest that this might mean, not that the trouble will be greater, but that it will be of a different character than any previous trouble. We do not share that view. Our thought is that it will be the most intense, as well as the most widely diffused trouble, the most general trouble ever known. We see a great many things which corroborate this thought. We can readily see that anarchy at this time would affect mankind more than at any previous time of the world's history.

In the past the cities were supported by a large farming element; and each farmer was accustomed to keeping his stock on hand, selling more directly to the consumer. Today the cities are large, more massed together than ever before. Food is shipped to these cities in large quantities. Additionally, the people have become extravagant; we probably eat much more food as a people, and of a daintier kind, than ever before. We would feel ourselves starved by what people ate in former times.

Our Lord fed the five thousand with bread and small fishes. Now the people would not be satisfied, as they were then, to sit down on the grass, with a piece of bread in one hand and a piece of fish in the other. Now they would want five dishes, at least--and knives and forks, etc. They would think that they were starved if they had only a piece of fish and a piece of dry bread. And now, instead of gathering up the fragments, they would feel like throwing the fragments away.

SYMPTOMS OF THE COMING TROUBLE

We are reminded of the strike of last year in some of the large cities of England. In Liverpool, it was only by having Government troops on guard that food could be distributed to keep the people from starving. So we can see how soon whole cities could be put into confusion and everybody go hungry to bed; and they would soon starve, if supplies were cut off.

We have reason to believe that this trouble in some respects will be accompanied by A FEROCITY NEVER SEEN IN THE PAST. True, there have been atrocities committed in every age of the world's history. And it is true that we now have a veneer that goes by the name of Christianity; but there is no Christianity about it. We see more and more clearly how easy it would be to scratch off this veneer and get to the savage nature below it. This being so, we can see how the rendering of assistance of one part of the world to another part would be at an end. WE ALSO SEE HOW THE EVIL SPIRITS WILL BE STIRRED UP. We have every reason for believing our Lord's words to be literally true--that the severity of the coming trouble will be such as never before has been known.

Then again, we understand that the trouble at the end of the Jewish Dispensation was a type, or foreshadowing, a PARALLEL, of the great trouble coming at the end of this Dispensation. The trouble that then came upon the Jewish nation was reckoned as having been the most severe in the world's history. The trouble at the close of this Age will be on a vastly larger scale--world-wide.

CHRIST'S KINGDOM THE ONLY HOPE

As to the Socialistic movement, it is our thought that the Socialists will fail entirely in their attempt to carry out their ideas. Some of the ideas are good; some of them are medium; and some of them are bad. But they can never carry out the best of their ideas, because those who are controlling capital and managing the world's affairs will never give them the opportunity. Whether it will be the socialistic, the anarchistic or the capitalistic element that will bring about the anarchy, will depend upon which obstacle will be the most difficult to move.

All parties are very earnest, very intense, very obstinate. The capitalists fear that the whole country and every other country would "go to the dogs" if Socialism were in power. Therefore they would be ready to put it into the ditch rather than give it a trial. And so we do not expect that the Socialists will get sufficient power to take the reins of government. We think the attempt would result in anarchy, until Divine Power shall set up the Kingdom which has been promised.

And by this we are not accusing any party in particular. We believe that under stress of failure either side would be ready to see the streets run with blood rather than see the other side win--they would be ready to go to any length to maintain their purpose and ideas. Each party is sure that it knows what it is doing. There can be no possible settlement. All parties are sure that they are right and are sure that they will succeed. When the crisis is reached, which seems nearing, the great whirlwind will come, which will sweep all civilization before it. Thank God, that the Kingdom of God's dear Son will end it when men shall have learned their own impotency!

THE FOUR GREAT WINDS

In Rev. 7:1, St. John mentions this whirlwind: "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 winds should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree." The winds of the earth referred to here are, of course, symbolic. The thought is that the winds from the four quarters--North, East, South and West--are being held back, and that when the restraint is withdrawn they will rush together, and the result will be a whirlwind. Certain Scriptures tell of a whirlwind that will be raised up from the coasts of the earth. See Jer. 23:19; 25:32,33; 30:23,24. We do not understand that this will be a physical whirlwind, but this symbolic expression is used to convey the thought of a severe strife of the powers of the air.
These "powers of the air," or "winds," are not powers of natural air, but are the powers referred to by St. Paul when he speaks of Satan as "the Prince of the power of the air." (Eph. 2:2.) Those spirits who have been under the control of Satan--the fallen angels--were to be restrained in chains of darkness until the Judgment of the Great Day. (2 Peter 2:4.) The letting loose of these winds, or air powers, would seem to show that God has let go His hand of restraint; that He will have to do with the permission of the terrible trouble that will come upon the world as a great cataclysm, which will result in the complete overthrow of the social order in anarchy.
We find that in spite of the many advantages of our day and the blessings showered upon the world, people are unthankful and ungrateful. Discontent is growing; and the result will be a great strife, and the complete fall of present institutions. Our text seems to imply that this outside influence will exercise a baneful effect upon men, when finally granted the liberty. These fallen spirits have been under restraint for these many centuries, but they have exercised their influence to whatever extent they have had permission. If they had had unlimited power they would have wrecked the world long ago; but they have been restrained in chains of darkness.

FALLEN ANGELS SOON TO BE LOOSED


Apparently God will soon cease to restrain the fallen angels, and they will then proceed to vent their fury upon humanity, so that the whole earth will be full of violence, the same as in the days of Noah. "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man."--Luke 17:26.
It is true that the Savior gave the thought that at His Second Advent He would be present, unknown to the world, doing a work of gathering the Church--of making up His "jewels"--and that the world would not know of His presence until the Time of Trouble was upon them. He said that they would be eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. (Luke 17:27-30.) And this is true. The world is going into large contracts, etc., quite unaware of how near we are to the new arrangement, the incoming Kingdom. But we believe that the very near future will be a time of great crime and angry passions.
We read of the time that God beheld the thoughts of men, that man's heart was evil and only evil continually-- a very desperate condition. Our thought is that the loosing of these "four winds" is still future. The power manifested by the demons when loosed, will, we believe, be with a view to the injury of mankind. We do not know but that many of our readers will have a share in that injury. We have every reason to suppose that, if these fallen angels shall get loose, they will vent their first anger upon the Lord's people. We are not to fear this, however, but to take whatever the Lord's providence permits to come, knowing that everything shall work for our good. "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof," the difficulty thereof. Let us leave the whole matter in the Lord's hands and trust in Him.

R5469

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GENTILE TIMES EVIDENTLY ENDED

It still seems clear to us that the prophetic period known as the Times of the Gentiles ended chronologically in October, 1914. The FACT that the Great Day of Wrath upon the nations began there marks A GOOD FULFILLMENT OF OUR EXPECTATION.. The Gentile nations were guaranteed a certain amount of possession and control for a certain period of time. That time having expired, dispossession proceedings are now in process. The winds of strife, winds of war, ARE LET LOOSE with great damage to the whole world, weakening the kingdoms of Europe in respect to their best blood and their financial strength.

FROM R5950

jon: from the infamous article which some claim denounces all of the above...yet he states that the chronological fact of the trouble marks a good fulfillment of our expectation... what was his expectation? go to the top and begin reading again...

respectfully submitted...

bro jon