Posted on 11/17/2001 6:23:08 PM PST by Ironword
“After the Declaration of Independence was signed, Virginia statesman John Page wrote to Thomas Jefferson: ``We know the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong. Do you not think an angel rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm?”
WHEN in his Inaugural Address President Bush spoke the poetic “angel rides in the whirlwind” phrase, drawn from a letter written to Thomas Jefferson by John Page following the signing of the Declaration of Independence, I thought it was a verse of scripture that I had somehow missed or forgotten. Indeed, though he spoke this phrase twice, I didn’t later bother to locate the text of the phrase in the Bible.
Upon seeing the phrase recently recalled again in a brief piece written by a well-known commentator, I broke out a concordance and began searching for either a direct or similar text in the Bible.
There is none that I can find.
Some who have previously commented on this phrase have claimed that Page’s inspiration was the manifestation of the Almighty (i.e., theophany) as He led the Israelites out from the land of Egypt. However, while it may have been Page’s inspiration (and that is not certain), it is not exegetically accurate, as the Almighty was present in the “pillar of cloud by day” and in the “pillar of fire by night” -- there was no whirlwind in the desert, neither a storm.
With two exceptions, “whirlwind” when appearing in scripture (i.e., the Old Testament, as the word never occurs in the New Testament) is associated with providential judgment, as in the following (Nahum I:2,3):
2 God is jealous and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. 3 The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
The two exceptions to the use of “whirlwind” as a portent of judgment are when Elijah is carried up “into heaven by a whirlwind,” and when “the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind” following Job’s trials. Here, regarding the communication to Job, it is the Almighty directly speaking out from the whirlwind (i.e., another theophany), and not an angel (i.e., a divine messenger) sent to speak on His behalf.
Angels are occasionally the instruments of the Almighty’s judgments -- for example, the “destroying angel” or the various angels discussed in the Apocalypse (Book of Revelation).
What Page was likely trying to communicate to Jefferson was the perception of a providential hand guiding the events that ultimately led to the creation of the United States of America. With this perception I would completely agree, yet not with its expression in the context of an angel riding in a whirlwind and directing a storm, which connotes the execution of judgment.
Yet what was the president trying to communicate with this phrase? Probably, the thought that a providential hand had guided the contentious presidential election of 2000, along with an allusion to the contentious presidential election between Jefferson and John Adams. I would agree that a providential hand guided the election of 2000, for God is sovereign over the affairs of mankind, but would not agree that the potential unsettling of our typically routine transfer of power was a pouring out of gracious blessings from heaven upon a righteous nation.
It is a peculiar phrase, one of unknown origin that does not on its face suggest blessing; rather, a providentially directed whirlwind of judgment or chastisement.
What think ye?
But they don't have wings . . . .
Yes, but what does it mean?
Never tiring, never yielding, never finishing, we renew that purpose today, to make our country more just and generous, to affirm the dignity of our lives and every life.
This work continues. This story goes on. And an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm.
I think he was making a reference to the struggle of good over evil, and that this Nation was founded on what is good for the common man and the freedom of religion.
Just my 2 cents
John Page to Thomas Jefferson (July 20, 1776)
But tumult also has a cause, which can be active or passive (witholding of grace).
Job 38:1-7
My conjecture is that in the Old Testament, angels are sometimes the messengers of God, but sometimes also they are God Himself speaking.
We are told in Exodus that no one can look upon God and live. So the Jews speak about the Shekinah, the manifestation of the Glory of God, but not the actual appearance of God himself. Such are the pillars of cloud and fire in Exodus, similar to the ones that appear between the divided sacrifice of Abraham in Genesis.
When the Three Young Men appear to Abraham in Genesis and tell him that Sarah will have a son before a year has passed, before they go down to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, the text sometimes seems to speak of them as angels, and sometimes as God himself. Take a look at the text and you will notice this. The later Christian interpretation is that the three young men represent the Trinity. The Jews believed in the existence of angels, but sometimes the Bible also uses angels when speaking about God himself as He appears to the prophets.
(Which CONTINUES!...)
My wild guess -- there are two sides to every struggle. Perhaps it was a whirlwind of judgment he spoke of -- against the British.
I don't see it as a reference to the election.
Never tiring, never yielding, never finishing, we renew that purpose today, to make our country more just and generous, to affirm the dignity of our lives and every life.
This work continues. This story goes on. And an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm.
I see it as a reference to keeping America the greatest country in the world.
You write well,that big word got me.
I had to look it up.
ex·e·get·i·cal [èks jéttik'l ] adjective 1. of textual study: relating to the study and interpretation of texts, especially religious writings
2. explanatory: intended to explain or interpret something, especially a written text (formal)
Learn something new every day.
I have, over the years, marvelled at our country's ability to have the right people at hand just when their skills become absolutely necessary to the survival of our country. The Founding Fathers, Lincoln, Grant, Sherman, General Eisenhower, Patton, Truman, Martin Luther King ...
An angel in the whirlwind, directing these events, is a valid explanation.
That he might, but if God is not glorified in us individually and collectively, can the common man ultimately have a peaceful life?
The reference was certainly not to the election or the recount mess. It was instead referring to the course of our history, and God's providential hand within it. Re-read the quote that MJY1288 posted above:
"We are not this story's author, who fills time and eternity with his purpose. Yet his purpose is achieved in our duty, and our duty is fulfilled in service to one nother.
Never tiring, never yielding, never finishing, we renew that purpose today, to make our country more just and generous, to affirm the dignity of our lives and every life.
This work continues. This story goes on. And an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm."
If you can find the entire Inaugural Address, which unfortunately I thought I had bookmarked, but I don't, you can read the first reference to this at the beginning of the speech. The quote was, I believe, in a letter between two of the founders of the country.
Yes, I would equate the Shekinah, or presence of God, with a presence in the pillars.
And yes, the three who appear to Abraham and Sarah is a difficult passage.
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