We Cannot Manipulate the Wind
Proverbs 30:4 – “Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?”
In the Bible, there are many references to the wind. Sometimes the wind that we see referenced in Scripture is gentle that blows in the evening, and other times, it is roaring like a whirlwind. The wind appears in the Bible over and over. It first appeared when the flood came and God sent that wind that began to trouble the waters. But then He remembered Noah, and what did He do? He sent the wind to pass over the Earth, and all the waters began to recede. We later see a mighty wind that opened a path through the Red Sea, so that the children of Israel could walk through on dry ground. That wind that kept them also protected them, because when Pharaoh and his army made it into that sea, what did God do? He allowed that wind to subside, and the waters come crashing in.
We find that many times, the wind not only helped and aided but also protected David as he marched to battle against the Philistines. He marched, unsure of whether God was going to deliver them or bring about a victory. In 2 Sam. 5, he heard the rustling of the wind, and the mulberry trees began to flutter. David knew this was the promise that God was going to give them victory. It was also a great wind in the wilderness which smote the four corners of the house that his children were in; those walls fell, and they were instantly killed.
We see a young man by the name of Ezekiel step out in the valley of dry bones. The question is asked, “Will these bones prophesy?” Ezekiel begins to call forth and says to the four winds, “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live,” and there stood upon their feet an exceeding great army. So the wind brought forth life out of dry bones, according to the will of God.
Winds appear for the very last time in the Bible, during the interlude of prophetic judgments which fell upon the earth when the seven seals were opened. John saw these winds as for angel standing at the four corners of the Earth holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor over the sea, nor move any tree.
The wind is a very powerful thing that is always mentioned throughout Scripture from Old Testament to New Testament. What do these winds mean? In Scripture, the wind is a type of the Spirit of God. The wind is that complicated phenomenon that seems to go and do of its own will, with its own mind and timing. We cannot control the wind. We cannot manipulate the wind. We cannot control what we cannot even harness, nor predict. May we always remember that this principle is also true of the Spirit. We cannot afford to believe that we can manipulate the Spirit in any capacity.