A number, read soberly
Four
Four is the number of the created world in its fullness, the four corners and four winds that reach across the whole earth. It gathers up the totality of the created order under God.
“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 wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.”Revelation 7:1
The pattern Scripture draws
The pattern Scripture draws. Four often stands for the created world in its wholeness, spread out in every direction. Scripture speaks of "the four corners of the earth" and "the four winds" (Isaiah 11:12; Revelation 7:1), a way of naming the whole world by its full compass. A river went out of Eden and "became into four heads" watering the earth (Genesis 2:10). The visions of Ezekiel and Revelation feature four living creatures around the throne (Ezekiel 1:5; Revelation 4:6), and four horsemen ride out over the earth (Revelation 6). Daniel sees four winds striving upon the great sea and four beasts, world empires, rising from it (Daniel 7:2-3). The consistent sense is universality and the created order, the earth in every direction and the powers that move across it. This meaning is not read into the text from outside; it comes from the Bible's habit of using four to encompass the whole of the created, geographical world.
The myth to clear up
The myth to clear up. Four is a good place to keep restraint, because its symbolism, though real, is easily inflated. It is tempting to pair four with three or seven and spin out schemes, or to insist that every four in Scripture points to the world or the elements. Yet four often just counts: four generations, four days, four sons. The genuine pattern, universality and the created realm, appears where the text is clearly speaking of the earth's compass or the created order, as in the four corners or four living creatures. It should not be stretched into a master key. Reading four as a symbol everywhere it occurs replaces the passage's meaning with a formula, which is exactly the habit this whole subject warns against. Take the plain count first, and receive the fuller sense only where the imagery invites it.
How it points to Christ
How it points to Christ. The four corners of the earth become the horizon of Christ's mission. He commands that the gospel be preached to "all nations" (Matthew 28:19), and the risen Lord promises witness "unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). The four winds, which scatter, will one day gather, for the Son of man shall "gather together his elect from the four winds" (Mark 13:27). Around the throne the four living creatures never rest from praising the Lamb who was slain (Revelation 5:8-9), and the song declares that he redeemed people "out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation." So the number of the whole created world points to the universal reach of Christ's rule and redemption, a salvation as wide as the earth he made.
Questions people ask
What does the number four represent in the Bible?
Four frequently stands for the created world in its wholeness, seen in phrases like the four corners of the earth and the four winds, and in visions of four living creatures. It suggests universality and the created order.
Is every four in the Bible symbolic?
No. Many fours are plain counts of days, people, or generations. The sense of universality appears where the text clearly speaks of the whole earth or the created order, not everywhere the number occurs.