“Do not harm the land or sea or trees until we have placed a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
Here we have, I. An account of the restraint laid upon the winds. By these winds we suppose are meant those errors and corruptions in religion which would occasion a great deal of trouble and mischief to the church of God.
Commenting on Revelation 7:1-12
Saying, hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees,.... That is, as yet, for their commission was not contradicted, nor taken away by Christ; and at the time appointed, at the blowing of the several trumpets, they let loose the winds, and let in the Goths, Hans, and Vandals, the Saracens and Turks into the empire, and after that poured out the vials...
Verse 3. Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, etc. Let the winds be restrained until what is here designated shall be done. These destroying angels were commanded to suspend the work of destruction Until the servants of God could be rendered secure. The division here, as in , of the "earth, the sea, and the trees," seems to include everything--water, land, and the productions of the earth.