And they were saying to the mountains and rocks, Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of the One sitting upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of His wrath is coming, and who is able to stand? Rev. vi 16, 17.

[2] But now to the exposition. By 'the four winds' is signified the influx of the heavens; by 'the land', 'the sea' and 'every tree' are signified all the lower regions and the things that are there; by 'land' and 'sea' all the lower regions, and by 'every tree' all the things there. That 'a wind' signifies an influx, properly an influx of truth into the understanding, can be established from the following passages:-

The Lord Jehovih said, Come from the four winds, O spirit, and breathe into these slain, that they may live Ezek. xxxvii 9, 10.

Four chariots were seen, for which there were four horses, these are the four winds of the heavens Zech. vi 1.

You must be born again. The wind breathes where it wishes, and thou knowest not whence it comes and whither it goes John iii 5-8.

The Maker of the land prepares the world (orbis) by His wisdom, He brings forth the wind out of His treasures Jer. x 12, 13; li, 15, 16; Ps. cxxxv 7.

Jehovah causes His wind to breathe, and the waters flow, He proclaims His Word, His statutes and judgments Ps. cxlvii 17-19.

Let it praise Jehovah, the stormy wind, doing His Word Ps. civ 3, 4.

Jehovah makes His angels winds Ps. cxlviii 8.

Jehovah carried upon the wings of the wind Ps. xviii 9, 10 [H.B. 10, 11]; civ 3.

The 'wings of the wind' are the Divine Truths that inflow; therefore the Lord is called the 'breath of the nostrils' (Lam. iv 20); and it is said that 'He breathed into the nostrils of Adam the soul of lives' (Gen. ii 7), and also that 'He breathed upon the disciples and said, Accept the holy spirit' (John xx 21, 22). [3] The Holy Spirit [or breath] is Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, the influx of which into the disciples was represented and consequently was signified by His breathing upon them. That 'wind' and 'breathing' (respiratio) signify the influx of Divine Truth into the understanding, results from the correspondence of the lungs with the understanding, about which [something] may be seen in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (n. 371-429). Inasmuch as a nearer and stronger Divine influx through the heavens scatters the truths with the evil, therefore 'wind' signifies the scattering of the truth with them, and as a result their conjunction with hell, and ruin, as can be seen from these passages:-

I will bring upon Elam the four winds out of the four ends of the heavens, and will scatter him Jer. xlix 36.

Thou shalt scatter them, that the wind may carry them away, and the storm may dissipate them Isa. xli 16.

The blast of Jehovah, like a stream of sulphur, kindles them Isa. xxx 33.

The contrivers of iniquity perish by the blast of God, and by the breath of His nose are they consumed Job iv 8, 9.

The foundations of the world (orbis) were revealed by the rebuke (increpatio) of Jehovah, by the blast of the breath of Thy nose Ps. xviii 15 [H.B. 16].

Seeing, I was in a vision, and behold the four winds were rushing upon the great sea, and four beasts were coming up Dan. vii 2, 3 seq.

Out of the storm of Jehovah anger has gone forth, it shall rush upon the head of the wicked Jer. xxiii 19; xxx 23.

O my God, pursue them by Thy storm, terrify them by Thy tempest Ps. lxxxiii 15 [H.B. 16].

The way of Jehovah, in storm and tempest Nah. i 3;

besides elsewhere, as Jer. xxv 32; Ezek. xiii 13; Hosea viii 7; Amos i 14; Zech. ix 14; Ps. xi 6; l 3; lv 8 [H.B. 9]; Ps. cvii, where these words are:-

He has spoken, so that the wind of the storm may blow, God has caused the storm to subside, that its waves may be still vers. 25-29.

[4] It is plain from this what is signified in the spiritual sense by these words:-

Jesus in the ship rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Become silent, and it kept quiet Mark iv 39, 40; Luke viii 23, 24.

By 'the sea' here is signified hell, and by 'the wind' an influx therefrom. Nor is anything but a strong influx signified by an 'east wind' (Jer. xviii 17; Ezek. xvii 10; xix 12; Hosea xiii 15; Ps. xlviii 7 [H.B. 8]), nor by that same wind 'by which the Red Sea (mare Suph) was dried up' (Exod. xiv 21), concerning which Moses [spoke] thus:-

By the blast of Thy nostrils were the waters heaped up, Thou didst breathe with Thy wind, the sea covered them Exod. xv 8, 10.

From these things it can now be established that by 'holding back the four winds so that the wind should not blow upon the land' is signified to hold back and restrain a nearer and stronger influx into the lower regions.