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Commentary On Apocalypse
By St. Victorinus
An ecclesiastical writer who flourished about 270, and who suffered martyrdom probably in 303, under Diocletian.
He was bishop of the City of Pettau (Petabium, Poetovio), on the Drave, in Styria (Austria); hence his surname of Petravionensis or sometimes Pictaviensis, e.g. in the Roman Martyrology, where he is registered under 2 November, which long caused it to be thought that he belonged to the Diocese of Poitiers (France). Until the seventeenth century he was likewise confounded with the Latin rhetorician, Victorinus After. According to St. Jerome, who gives him an honourable place in his catalogue of ecclesiastical writers, Victorinus composed commentaries on various books of Holy Scripture, such as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Isaias, Ezechiel, Habacuc, Ecclesiastes, the Canticle of Canticles, St. Matthew, and the Apocalypse, besides treatises against the heresies of his time.
FROM THE FIRST CHAPTER
1. "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him, and
showed unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass, and
signified it. Blessed are they who read and hear the words of this
prophecy, and keep the things which are written." The beginning of
the book promises blessing to him that reads and hears and keeps,
that he who takes pains about the reading may thence learn to do
works, and may keep the precepts.
4. "Grace unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come." He is, because He endures continually; He was, because with the Father He made all things, and has at this time taken a beginning from the Virgin; He is to come, because assuredly He will come to judgment.
"And from the seven spirits which are before His throne." We read of a sevenfold spirit in Isaiah - namely, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, of knowledge and of piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord.
5. "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the
first-begotten of the dead." In taking upon Him manhood, He gave a
testimony in the world, wherein also having suffered, He freed us by
His blood from sin; and having vanquished hell, He was the first who
rose from the dead and "death shall have no more dominion over Him,"
but by His own reign the kingdom of the world is destroyed.
6. "And He made us a kingdom and priests unto God and His
Father." That is to say, a Church of all believers; as also the
Apostle Peter says: "A holy nation, a royal priesthood."
7. "Behold, He shall come with clouds, and every eye shall see
Him." For He who at first came hidden in the manhood that He had
undertaken, shall after a little while come to judgment manifest in
majesty and glory. And what saith He?
12. "And I turned, and saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the
midst of the seven golden candlesticks one like unto the Son of
man." He says that He was like Him after His victory over death,
when He had ascended into the heavens, after the union in His body
of the power which He received from the Father with the spirit of
His glory.
13. "As it were the Son of man walking in the midst of the golden
candlesticks." He says, in the midst of the churches, as it is said
in Solomon, "I will walk in the midst of the paths of the just,"
whose antiquity is immortality, and the fountain of majesty.
"Clothed with a garment down to the ankles." In the long, that
is, the priestly garment, these words very plainly deliver the flesh
which was not corrupted in dea
th, and has the priesthood through
suffering.
"And He was girt about the paps with a golden girdle." His paps
are the two testaments, and the golden g
irdle is the choir of
saints, as gold tried in the fire. Otherwise the golden girdle bound
around His breast indicates the enlightened conscience, and the pure
and spiritual apprehension that is given to the churches.
14. "And His head and His hairs were white as it were white wool,
and as it were snow." On the head the whiteness is shown; "but the
head of Christ is God." in the white hairs is the multitude of
abbots like to wool, in respect of simple sheep; to snow, in respect
of the innumerable crowd of candidates taught from heaven.
"His eyes were as a flame of fire." God's preceipts are those
which minister light to believers, but to unbelievers burning.
16. "And in His face was brightness as the sun." That which He
called brightness was
the appearance of that in which He spoke to men face to face. But
the glory of the sun is less than the glory of the Lord. Doubtless
on account of its rising and setting, and rising again, that He was
born and suffered and rose again, therefore the Scripture gave this
similitude, likening His face to the glory of the sun.
15. "His feet were like unto yellow brass, as if burned in a
furnace." He calls the apostles His feet, who, being wrought by
suffering, preached His word in the whole world; for He rightly
named those by whose means the preaching went forth, feet. Whence
also the prophet anticipated this, and said: "We will worship in the
place where His feet have stood." Because where they first of all
stood and confirmed the Church, that is, in Judea, all the saints
shall assemble together, and will worship their Lord.
16. "And out of His mouth was issuing a sharp two-edged sword."
By the twice-sharpened sword going forth out of His mouth is shown,
that it is He Himself who has both now declared the word of the
Gospel, and previously by Moses declared the knowledge of the law to
the whole world. But because from the same word, as well of the New
as of the Old Testament, He will assert Himself upon the whole human
race, therefore He is spoken of as two-edged. For the sword arms the
soldier, the sword slays the enemy, the sword punishes the deserter.
And that He might show to the apostles that He was announcing
judgment, He says: "I came not to send peace, but a sword." And
after He had completed His parables, He says to them: "Have ye
understood all these things? And they said, We have. And He added,
Therefore is every scribe instructed in the kingdom of God like unto
a man that is a father of a family, bringing forth from his treasure
things new and old," - the new, the evangelical words of the
apostles; the old, the precepts of the law and the prophets: and He
testified that these proceeded out of His mouth. Moreover, He also
says to Peter: "Go thou to the sea, and cast a hook, and take up the
fish that shall first come up; and having opened its mouth, thou
shalt find a stater (that is, two denarii), and thou shalt give it
for me and for thee." And similarly David says by the Spirit: "God
spake once, twice I have heard the same." Because God once decreed
from the beginning what shall be even to the end. Finally, as He
Himself is the Judge appointed by the Father. on account of His
assumption of humanity, wishing to show that men shall be judged by
the word that He had declared, He says: "Think ye that I will judge
you at the last day? Nay, but the word," says He, "which I have
spoken unto you, that shall judge you in the last day." And Paul,
speaking of Antichrist to the Thessalonians, says: "Whom the Lord
Jesus will slay by the breath of His mouth." And Isaiah says: "By
the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked
." This, therefore,
is the two-edged sword issuing out of His mouth.
15. "And His voice as it were the voice of many waters."
The many waters are und
erstood to be many peoples, or the gift of
baptism that He sent forth by the apostles, saying: "Go ye, teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
16. "And He had in His right hand seven stars." He said that in
His right hand He had seven stars, because the Holy Spirit of
sevenfold agency was given into His power by the Father. As Peter
exclaimed to the Jews: "Being at the right hand of God exalted, He
hath shed forth this Spirit received from the Father, which ye both
see and hear." Moreover, John the Baptist had also anticipated this,
by saying to his disciples: "For God giveth not the Spirit by
measure unto Him. The Father," says he, "loveth the Son, and hath
given all things into His hands." Those seven stars are the seven
churches, which he names in his addresses by name, old calls them to
whom he wrote epistles. Not that they are themselves the only, or
even the principal churches; but what he says to one, he says to
all. For they are in no respect difent, that on that ground any one
should prefer them to the larger number of similar small ones.
In the whole world Paul taught that all the churches are arranged
by sevens, that they are called seven, and that the Catholic Church
is one. And first of all, indeed, that he himself also might
maintain the type of seven churches, he did not exceed that number.
But he wrote to the Romans, to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, to
the Ephesians, to the Thessalonians, to the Philippians, to the
Colossians; afterwards he wrote to individual persons, so as not to
exceed the number of seven churches. And abridging in a short space
his announcement, he thus says to Timothy: "That thou mayest know
how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the Church of the living
God." We read also that this typical number is announced by the Holy
Spirit by the month of Isaiah: "Of seven women which took hold of
one man." The one man is
Christ, not born of seed; but the seven women are seven churches,
receiving His bread, and clothed with his apparel, who ask that
their reproach should be taken away, only that His name should be
called upon them. The bread is the Holy Spirit, which nourishes to
eternal life, promised to them, that is, by faith. And His garments
wherewith they desire to be clothed are the glory of immortality, of
which Paul the apostle says: "For this corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on mortality." Moreover, they
ask that their reproach may be taken away - that is, that they may be
cleansed from their sins: for the reproach is the original sin which
is taken away in baptism, and they begin to be called Christian men,
which is, "Let thy name be called upon us." Therefore in these seven
churches, of one Catholic Church are believers, because it is one in
seven by the quality of faith and election. Whether writing to them
who labour in the world, and live of the frugality of their labours,
and are patient, and when they see certain men in the Church
wasters, and pernicious, they hear them, lest there should become
dissension, he yet admonishes them by love, that in what respects
their faith is deficient they should repent; or to those who dwell
in cruel places among persecutors, that they should continue
faithful; or to those who, under the pretext of mercy, do unlawful
sins in the Church, and make them manifest to be done by others; or
to those that are at ease in the Church; or to those who are
negligent, and Christians only in name; or to those who are meekly
instructed, that they may bravely persevere in faith; or to those
who study the Scriptures, and labour to know the mysteries of th
eir
announcement, and are unwilling to do God's work that is mercy and
love: to all he urges penitence, to all he declares judgment.
FRO
M THE SECOND CHAPTER
2. "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience." In the
first epistle He speaks thus: I know that thou sufferest and
workest, I see that thou art patient; think not that I am staying
long from thee.
"And that thou canst not bear them that are evil, and who say
that they are Jews and are not, and thou has found them liars, and
thou hast patience for My name's sake." All these things tend to
praise, and that no small praise; and it behoves such men, and such
a class, and such elected persons, by all means to be admonished,
that they may not be defrauded of such privileges granted to them of
God. These few things He said that He had against them.
4, 5. "And thou hast left thy first love: remember whence thou
hast fallen." He who falls, falls from a height: therefore He said
whence: because, even to the very last, works of love must be
practised; and this is the principal commandment. Finally, unless
this is done, He threatened to remove their candlestick out of its
place, that is, to disperse the congregation.
6. "This thou hast also, that thou hatest the deeds of the
Nicolaitanes." But because thou thyself hatedst those who hold the
doctrines of the Nicolaitanes, thou expectest praise. Moreover, to
hate the works of the Nicolaitanes, which He Himself also hated,
this tends to praise. But the works of the Nicolaitanes were in that
time false and troublesome men, who, as ministers under the name of
Nicolaus, had made for themselves a heresy, to the effect that what
had been offered to idols might be exorcised and eaten, and that
whoever should have committed fornication might receive peace on the
eighth day. Therefore He extols those to whom He is writing; and to
these men, being such and so great, He promised the tree of life,
which is in the paradise of His God.
The following epistle unfolds the mode of life and habit of
another order which follows. He proceeds to say:-
9. "I know thy
tribulation and thy poverty, but thou art rich." For He knows that
with such men there are riches hidden with Him, and that they deny
the blasphemy of the Jews, who say that they are Jews and are not;
but they are the synagogue of Satan, since they are gathered
together by Antichrist; and to them He says:-
10. "Be thou faithful unto death." That they should continue to be faithful even unto death.
11. "He that shall overcome, shall not be hurt by the second
death." That is, he shalt not be chastised in hell.
The third order of the saints shows that they are men who are
strong in faith, and who are not afraid of persecution; but because
even among them there are some who are inclined to unlawful
associations, He says:-
14-16. "Thou hast there some who hold the
doctrine of Balaam, who taught in the case of Balak that he should
put a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat and to
commit fornication. So also hast thou them who hold the doctrine of
the Nicolaitanes; but I will fight with them with the sword of my
mouth." That is, I will say what I shall command, and I will tell
you what you shall do. For Balaam, with his doctrine, taught Balak
to cast a stumbling-block before the eyes of the children of Israel,
to eat what was sacrificed to idols, and to
commit fornication - a thing which is known to have happened of
old. For he gave this advice to the king of the Moabites, and they
caused stumbling to the people. Thus, says He, ye have among you
those who hold such doctrine; and under the pretext of mercy, you
would corrupt others.
17. "To him that overcometh I wil
l give the hidden manna, and I
will give him a white stone." The hidden manna is immortality; the
white gem is adoption to be the son of God; the new name wri
tten on
the stone is "Christian."
The fourth class intimates the nobility of the faithful, who
labour daily, and do greater works. But even among them also He
shows that there are men of an easy disposition to grant unlawful
peace, and to listen to new forms of prophesying; and He reproves
and warns the others to whom this is not pleasing, who know the
wickedness opposed to them: for which evils He purposes to bring
upon the head of the faithful both sorrows and dangers; and
therefore He says:-
24. "I will not put upon you any other burden."
That is, I have not given you laws, observances, and duties, which
is another burden.
25, 26. "But that which ye have, hold fast until I come; and he
that overcometh, to him will I give power over all peoples." That
is, him I will appoint as judge among the rest of the saints.
28. "And I will give him the morning star." To wit, the first
resurrection. He promised the morning star, which drives away the
night, and announces the light, that is, the beginning of day.
FROM THE THIRD CHAPTER
The fifth class, company, or association of saints, sets forth
men who are careless, and who are carrying on in the world other
transactions than those which they ought - Christians only in name.
And therefore He exhorts them that by any means they should be
turned away from negligence, and be saved; and to this effect He
says:-
2. "Be watchful, and strengthen the other things which were
ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect before God."
For it is not enough for a tree to live and to have no fruit, even
as it is not enough to be called a Christian and to confess Christ,
but not to have Himself in our work, that is, not to do His
precepts.
The sixth class is the mode of life of the best election. The
habit of saints is set forth; of those, to wit, who are lowly in the
world, and unskilled in the Scriptures, and who hold the faith
immoveably, and are not at all broken down by any chance, or
withdrawn from the faith by any fear. Therefore He says to them:-
8. "I have set before thee an open door, because thou hast kept the
word of my patience." In such little strength.
10. "And I will keep thee from the hour of temptation." That
they may know His glory to be of this kind, that they are not indeed
permitted to be given over to temptation.
12. "He that overcometh shall be made a pillar in the temple of
God." For even as a pillar is an ornament of the building, so he
who perseveres shall obtain a nobility in the Church.
Moreover, the seventh association of the Church declares that
they are rich men placed in positions of dignity, but believing that
they are rich, among whom indeed the Scriptures are discussed in
their bedchamber, while the faithful are outside; and they are
understood by none, although they boast themselves, and say that
they know all things - endowed with the confidence of learning, but
ceasing from its labour. And thus He says:-
15. "That they are neither cold nor hot." That is, neither unbelieving nor believing,
for they are all things to all men. And because he who is neither
cold nor hot, but lukewarm, gives nausea, He says:-
16. "I will
vomit thee out of My mouth." Although nausea is hateful, still it
hurts no one; so also is it with men of this kind when they have
been cast forth. But because there is time of repentance, He says:-
18. "I persuade thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire." That is,
that in whatever manner you can, you should suffer for the Lord's
name tribula
tions and passions.
"And anoint thine eyes with eye-salve." That what you gladly
know by the Scripture, you should strive also to do the work of t
he
same. And because, if in these ways men return out of great
destruction to great repentance, they are not only useful to
themselves, but they are able also to be of advantage to many, He
promised them no small reward - to sit, namely, on the throne of
judgment.
FROM THE FOURTH CHAPTER
"After this, I beheld, and, lo, a door was opened in heaven."
The new testament is announced as an open door in heaven.
"And the first voice which I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet
talking with me, saying, Come up hither." Since the door is shown
to be opened, it is manifest that previously it had been closed to
men. And it was sufficiently and fully laid open when Christ
ascended with His body to the Father into heaven. Moreover, the
first
voice which he had heard when he says that it spoke with him,
without contradiction condemns those who say that one spoke in the
prophets, another in the Gospel; since it is rather He Himself who
comes, that is the same who spoke in the prophets. For John was of
the circumcision, and all that people which had heard the
announcement of the Old Testament was edified with his word.
"That very same voice," said he, "that I had heard, that said
unto me, Come up hither." That is the Spirit, whom a little before
he confesses that he had seen walking as the Son of man in the midst
of the golden candlesticks. And he now gathers from Him what had
been foretold in similitudes by the law, and associates with this
scripture all the former prophets, and opens up the Scriptures. And
because our Lord invited in His own name all believers into heaven,
He forthwith poured out the Holy Spirit, who should bring them to
heaven. He says:-
2. "Immediately I was in the Spirit." And since
the mind of the faithful is opened by the Holy Spirit, and that is
manifested to them which was also foretold to the fathers, he
distinctly says:-
"And, behold, a throne was set in heaven." The
throne set: what is it but the throne of judgment and of the King?
3. "And He that sate upon the throne was, to look upon, like a
jasper and a sardine stone." Upon the throne he says that he saw
the likeness of a jasper and a sardine stone. The jasper is of the
colour of water, the sardine of fire. These two are thence
manifested to be placed as judgments upon God's tribunal until the
consummation of the world, of which judgments one is already
completed in the deluge of water, and the other shall be completed
by fire.
"And there was a rainbow about the throne." Moreover, the
rainbow round about the throne has the same colours. The rainbow is
called a bow from what the Lord spake to Noah and to his sons, that
they should not fear any further deluge in the generation of God,
but fire. For thus He says: I will place my bow in the clouds, that
ye may now no longer fear water, but fire.
6. "And before the throne there was, as it were, a sea of glass
like to crystal." That is the gift of baptism which He sheds forth
through His Son in time of repentance, before He executes judgment.
It is therefore before the throne, that is, the judgment. And when
he says a sea of glass like to crystal, he shows that it is pure
water, smooth, not agitated by the wind, not flowing down as on a
slope, but given to be immoveable as the house of God.
"And round about the throne were four living creatures." The
four living creatures are the four Gospels.
7-10. "The first living creature was like to a lion, and the
second was like to a calf, and the third had a face like to a man,
and the fourth was like to
a flying eagle; and they had six wings,
and round about and within they were full of eyes; and they had no
rest, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord Omnipotent. An
d the four and
twenty elders, failing down before the throne, adored God." The
four and twenty elders are the twenty-four books of the prophets and
of the law, which give testimonies of the judgment. Moreover, also,
they are the twenty-four fathers - twelve apostles and twelve
patriarchs.
And in that the living creatures are different in appearance,
this is the reason:
- the living creature like to a lion designates
Mark, in whom is heard the voice of the lion roaring in the desert.
- And in the figure of a man, Matthew strives to declare to us the
genealogy of Mary, from whom Christ took flesh. Therefore, in
enumerating from Abraham to David, and thence to Joseph, he spoke of
Him as if of a man: therefore his announcement sets forth the image
of a man.
- Luke, in narrating the priesthood of Zacharias as he
offers a sacrifice for the people, and the angel that appears to him
with respect of the priesthood, and the victim in the same
description bore the likeness of a calf.
- John the evangelist, like
to an eagle hastening on uplifted wings to greater heights, argues
about the Word of God.
Mark, therefore, as an evangelist thus
beginning, "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is
written in Isaiah the prophet; The voice of one crying in the
wilderness," - has the effigy of a lion. And Matthew, "The hook of
the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of
Abraham" - this is the form of a man. But Luke said, "There was a
priest, by name Zachariah, of the course of Abia, and his wife was
of the daughters of Aaron" - this is the likeness of a calf. But
John, when he begins, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God," sets forth the likeness of a
flying eagle.
Moreover, not only do the evangelists express their
four similitudes in their respective openings of the Gospels, but
also the Word itself of God the Father Omnipotent, which is His Son
our Lord Jesus Christ, bears the same likeness in the time of His
advent. When He preaches to us, He is, as it were, a lion and a
lion's whelp. And when for man's salvation He was made man to
overcome death, and to set all men free, and that He offered
Himself a victim to the Father on our behalf, He was called a
calf. And that He overcame death and ascended into the heavens,
extending His wings and protecting His people, He was named a flying
eagle. Therefore these announcements, although they are four, yet
are one, because it proceeded from one mouth. Even as the river in
paradise, although it is one, was divided into four heads. Moreover,
that for the announcement of the New Testament those bring creatures
had eyes within and without, shows the spiritual providence which
both looks into the secrets of the heart, and beholds the things
which are coming after that are within and without.
8. "Six wings." These are the testimonies of the books of the
Old Testament. Thus, twenty and four make as many as there are
elders sitting upon the thrones. But as an animal cannot fly unless
it have wings, so, too, the announcement of the New Testament gains
no faith unless it have the fore-announced testimonies of the Old
Testament, by which it is lifted from the earth, and flies. For in
every case, what has been told before, and is afterwards found to
have happened, that begets an undoubting faith. Again, also, if
wings be not attached to the living creatures, they have nothing
whence they may draw their life. For unless what the prophets
foretold had been consummated in Christ, their preaching was vain.
For the Catholic Church holds those things which were both be
fore
predicted and afterwards accomplished. And it flies, because the
living animal is reasonably lifted up from the earth. But to
heretics who do not a
vail themselves of the prophetic testimony, to
them also there are present living creatures; but they do not fly,
because they are of the earth. And to the Jews who do not receive
the announcement of the New Testament there are present wings; but
they do not fly, that is, they bring a vain prophesying to men, not
adjusting facts to their words. And the books of the Old Testament
that are received are twenty-four, which you will find in the
epitomes of Theodore. But, moreover (as we have said), four and
twenty elders, patriarchs and apostles, are to judge His people. For
to the apostles, when they asked, saying, "We have forsaken all that
we had, and followed Thee: what shall we have?" our Lord replied,
"When the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of His glory, ye also
shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."
But of the fathers also who should judge, says the patriarch Jacob,
"Dan also himself shall judge his people among his brethren, even as
one of the tribes in lsrael."
5. "And from the throne proceeded lightnings, and voices, and
thunders, and seven torches of fire burning." And the lightnings,
and voices, and thunders proceeding from the throne of God, and the
seven torches of fire burning, signify announcements, and promises
of adoption, and threatenings. For lightnings signify the Lord's
advent, and the voices the announcements of the New Testament, and
the thunders, that the words are from heaven. The burning torches of
fire signify the gift of the Holy Spirit, that it is given by the
wood of the passion. And when these things were doing, he says that
all the elders fell down and adored the Lord; while the living
creatures - that is, of course, the actions recorded in the Gospels
and the teaching of the Lord - gave Him glory and honour. In that
they had fulfilled the word that had been previously foretold by
them, they worthily and with reason exult, feeling that they have
ministered the mysteries and the word of the Lord. Finally, also,
because He had come who should remove death, and who alone was
worthy to take the crown of immortality, all for the glory of His
most excellent doing had crowns.
10. "And they cast their crowns under His feet." That is, on
account of the eminent glory of Christ's victory, they cast all
their victories under His feet. This is what in the Gospel the Holy
Spirit consummated by showing, For when about finally to suffer, our
Lord had come to Jerusalem, and the people had gone forth to meet
Him, some strewed the road with palm branches cut down, others threw
down their garments, doubtless these were setting forth two
peoples - the one of the patriarchs, the other of the prophets; that
is to say, of the great men who had any kind of palms of their
victories against sin, and cast them under the feet of Christ, the
victor of all. And the palm and the crown signify the same things,
and these are not given save to the victor.
FROM THE FIFTH CHAPTER
1. "And I saw in the right hand of Him that sate upon the throne,
a book written within and without, sealed with seven seals." This
book signifies the Old Testament, which has been given into the
hands of our Lord Jesus Christ, who received from the Father
judgment.
2, 3. "And I saw an angel full of strength proclaiming with a
loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals
thereof? And no one was found worthy, neither in the earth nor under
the earth, to open the book." Now to open the book is to overcome
death for man.
4. "There was none found worthy to do this." Neither among the
angels of heaven, nor among
men in earth, nor among the souls of the
saints in rest, save Christ the Son of God alone, whom he says that
he saw as a Lamb standing as it were slain,
having seven horns. What
had not been then announced, and what the law had contemplated for
Him by its various oblations and sacrifices, it behoved Himself to
fulfil. And because He Himself was the testator, who had overcome
death, it was just that Himself should be appointed the Lord's heir,
that He should possess the substance of the dying man, that is, the
human members.
5. "Lo, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath
prevailed." We read in Genesis that this lion of the tribe of Judah
hath conquered, when the patriarch Jacob says, "Judah, thy brethren
shall praise thee; thou hast lain down and slept, and hast risen up
again as a lion, and as a lion's whelp." For He is called a lion for
the overcoming of death; but for the suffering for men He was led as
a lamb to the slaughter. But because He overcame death, and
anticipated the duty of the executioner, He was called as it were
slain. He therefore opens and seals again the testament, which He
Himself had sealed. The legislator Moses intimating this, that it
behoved Him to be sealed and concealed, even to the advent of His
passion, veiled his face, and so spoke to the people; showing that
the words of his announcement were veiled even to the advent of His
time. For he himself, when he had read to the people, having taken
the wool purpled with the blood of the calf, with water sprinkled
the whole people, saying, "This is the blood of His testament who
hath purified you." It should therefore be observed that the Man is
accurately announced, and that all things combine into one. For it
is not sufficient that that law is spoken of, but it is named as a
testament. For no law is called a testament, nor is any thing else
called a testament, save what persons make who are about to die. And
whatever is within the testament is sealed, even to the day of the
testator's death. Therefore it is with reason that it is only sealed
by the Lamb slain, who, as it were a lion, has broken death in
pieces, and has fulfilled what had been foretold; and has delivered
man, that is, the flesh, from death, and has received as a
possession the substance of the dying person, that is, of the human
members; that as by one body all men had fallen under the obligation
of its death, also by one body all believers should be born again
unto life, and rise again. Reasonably, therefore, His face is opened
and unveiled to Moses; and therefore He is called Apocalypse,
Revelation. For now His book is unsealed - now the offered victims
are perceived - now the fabrication of the priestly chrism; moreover
the testimonies are openly understood.
8, 9. "Twenty-four elders and four living creatures, having harps
and phials, and singing a new song." The proclamation of the Old
Testament associated with the New, points out the Christian people
singing a new song, that is, bearing their confession publicly. It
is a new thing that the Son of God should become man. It is a new
thing to ascend into the heavens with a body. It is a new thing to
give remission of sins to men. It is a new thing for men to be
sealed with the Holy Spirit. It is a new thing to receive the
priesthood of sacred observance, and to look for a kingdom of
unbounded promise. The harp, and the chord stretched on its wooden
frame, signifies the flesh of Christ linked with the wood of the
passion. The phial signifies the Confession, and the race of the new
Priesthood. But it is the praise of many angels, yea, of all, the
salvation of all, and the testimony of the universal creation,
bringing to our Lord thanksgiving for the deliverance of men from
the destruction of death. The unsealing of the seals, as we have
said, is the o
pening of the Old Testament, and the foretelling of
the preachers of things to come in the last times, which, although
the prophetic Scripture speaks by
single seals, yet by all the seals
opened at once, prophecy takes its rank.
FROM THE SIXTH CHAPTER
1, 2. "And when the Lamb had opened one of the seven seals, I
saw, and heard one of the four living creatures saying, Come and
see. And, lo, a white horse, and He who sate upon him had a bow."
The first seal being opened, he says that he saw a white horse, and
a crowned horseman having a bow. For this was at first done by
Himself. For after the Lord ascended into heaven and opened all
things, He sent the Holy Spirit, whose words the preachers sent
forth as arrows reaching to the human heart, that they might
overcome unbelief. And the crown on the head is promised to the
preachers by the Holy Spirit. The other three horses very plainly
signify the wars, famines, and pestilences announced by our Lord in
the Gospel. And thus he says that one of the four living creatures
said (because all four are one), "Come and see."
"Come" is said to him that is invited to faith; "see" is said to
him who saw not. Therefore the white horse is the word of preaching
with the Holy Spirit sent into the world. For the Lord says, "This
Gospel shall be preached
throughout the whole world for a testimony to all nations, and
then shall come the end."
3, 4. "And when He had opened the second seal, I heard the second
living creature saying, Come and see. And there went out another
horse that was red, and to him that sate upon him was given a great
sword." The red horse, and he that sate upon him, having a sword,
signify the coming wars, as we read in the Gospel: "For nation shall
rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be
great earthquakes in divers places." This is the ruddy horse.
5. "And when He had opened the third seal. I heard the third
living creature saying, Come and see. And, lo, a black horse; and he
who sate upon it had a balance in his hand." The black horse
signifies famine, for the Lord says, "There shall be famines in
divers places;" but the word is specially extended to the times of
Antichrist, when there shall be a great famine, and when all shall
be injured. Moreover, the balance in the hand is the examining
scales, wherein He might show forth the merits of every individual.
He then says:-
6. "Hurt not the wine and the oil." That is, strike
not the spiritual man with thy inflictions. This is the black horse.
7, 8. "And when He had opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth
living creature saying, Come and see. And, lo, a pale horse; and he
who sate upon him was named Death." For the pale horse and he who
sate upon him bore the name of Death. These same things also the
Lord had promised among the rest of the coming destructions - great
pestilences and deaths; since, moreover, he says:-
"And hell followed him." That is, it was waiting for the devouring of many
unrighteous souls. This is the pale horse.
9. "And when He had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar
the souls of them that were slain." He relates that he saw under
the altar of God, that is, under the earth, the souls of them that
were slain. For both heaven and earth are called God's altar, as
saith the law, commanding in the symbolical form of the truth two
altars to be made - a golden one within, and a brazen one without.
But we perceive that the golden altar is thus called heaven, by the
testimony that our Lord bears to it; for He says, "When thou
bringest thy gift to the altar" (assuredly our gifts are the prayers
which we offer), "and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought
against thee, leave there thy gift before the
altar." Assuredly
prayers ascend to heaven. Therefore heaven is understood to be the
golden altar which was within; for the priests also were accusto
med
to enter once in the year - as they who had the anointing - to the
golden altar, the Holy Spirit signifying that Christ should do this
once for all. As the golden altar is acknowledged to be heaven, so
also by the brazen altar is understood the earth, under which is the
Hades - a region withdrawn from punishments and fires, and a place
of repose for the saints, wherein indeed the righteous are seen and
heard by the wicked, but they cannot be carried across to them. He
who sees all things would have us to know that these saints,
therefore - that is, the souls of the slain - are asking for
vengeance for their blood, that is, of their body, from those that
dwell upon the earth; but because in the last time, moreover, the
reward of the saints will be perpetual, and the condemnation of the
wicked shall come, it was told them to wait. And for a solace to
their body, there were given unto each of them white robes. They
received, says he, white robes, that is, the gift of the Holy
Spirit.
12. "And I saw, when he had opened the sixth seal, there was a
great earthquake." In the sixth seal, then, was a great earthquake:
this is that very last persecution.
"And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair." The sun becomes
as sackcloth; that is, the brightness of doctrine will be obscured
by unbelievers.
"And the entire moon became as blood." By the moon of blood is
set forth the Church of the saints as pouring out her blood for
Christ.
13. "And the stars fell to the earth." The falling of the stars
are the faithful who are troubled for Christ's sake.
"Even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs." The fig-tree,
when shaken, loses its untimely figs - when men are separated from
the Church by persecution.
14. "And the heaven withdrew as a scroll that is rolled up." For
the heaven to be rolled away, that is, that the Church shall be
taken away.
"And every mountain and the islands were moved from their
places." Mountains and islands removed from their places intimate
that in the last persecution all men departed from their places;
that is, that the good will be removed, seeking to avoid the
persecution.
FROM THE SEVENTH CHAPTER
2. "And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the
seal of the living God." He speaks of Elias the prophet, who is the
precursor of the times of Antichrist, for the restoration and
establishment of the churches from the great and intolerable
persecution. We read
that these things are predicted in the opening of the Old and New
Testament; for He says by Malachi: "Lo, I will send to you Elias the
Tishbite, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,
according to the time of calling, to recall the Jews to the faith of
the people that succeed them." And to that end He shows, as we have
said, that the number of those that shall believe, of the Jews and
of the nations, is a great multitude which no man was able to
number. Moreover, we read in the Gospel that the prayers of the
Church are sent from heaven by an angel, and that they are received
against wrath, and that the kingdom of Antichrist is cast out and
extinguished by holy angels; for He says: "Pray that ye enter not
into temptation: for there shall be a great affliction, such as has
not been from the beginning of the world; and except the Lord had
shortened those days, no flesh should be saved." Therefore He shall
send these seven great archangels to smite the kingdom of
Antichrist; for He Himself also thus said: "Then the Son of man
shall send His messengers; and they shall gather together His elect
from the four corners of the wind, from the one end of heaven even
to the other end thereof." For, moreover, He previously says by the
prophet: "The
n shall there be peace for our land, when there shall
arise in it seven shepherds and eight attacks of men; and they shall
encircle Assur," that is, Antichrist, "in the trench of Nimrod,"
that is, in the nation of the devil, by the spirit of the Church.
Similarly when the keepers of the house shall be moved. Moreover,
the Lord Himself, in the parable to the apostles, when the labourers
had come to Him and said, "Lord, did not we sow good seed in Thy
field? whence, then, hath it tares? answered them, An enemy hath
done this. And they said to Him, Lord, wilt Thou, then, that we go
and root them up? And He said, Nay, but let both grow together until
the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the
reapers, that they gather the tares and make bundles of them, and
burn them with fire everlasting, but that they gather the wheat into
my barns." The Apocalypse here shows, therefore, that these reapers,
and shepherds, and labourers, are the angels. And the trumpet is the
word of power. And although the same thing recurs in the phials,
still it is not said as if it occurred twice, but because what is
decreed by the Lord to happen shall be once for all; for this cause
it is said twice. What, therefore, He said too little in the
trumpets, is here found in the phials. We must not regard the order
of what is said, because frequently the Holy Spirit, when He has
traversed even to the end of the last times, returns again to the
same times, and fills up what He had before failed to say. Nor must
we look for order in the Apocalypse; but we must follow the meaning
of those things which are prophesied. Therefore in the trumpets and
phials is signified either the desolation of the plagues that are
sent upon the earth, or the madness of Antichrist himself, or the
cutting off of the peoples, or the diversity of the plagues, or the
hope in the kingdom of the saints, or the ruin of states, or the
great overthrow of Babylon, that is, the Roman state.
9. "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man
was able to number, of every nation, tribe, and people, and tongue,
clothed with white robes." What the great multitude out of every
tribe implies, is to show the number of the elect out of all
believers, who, being cleansed by baptism in the blood of the Lamb,
have made their robes white, keeping the grace which they have
received.
FROM THE EIGHTH CHAPTER
1. "And when He had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in
heaven for about half an hour." Whereby is signified the beginning
of everlasting rest; but it is described as partial, because the
silence being interrupted, he repeats it in order. For if the
silence had continued, here would be an end of his narrative.
13. "And I saw an angel flying through the midst of heaven."
By the angel flying through the midst of heaven is signified the Holy
Spirit beating witness in two of the prophets that a great wrath of
plagues was imminent. If by any means, even in the last times, any
one should be willing to be converted, any one might even still be
saved.
FROM THE NINTH CHAPTER
13, 14. "And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden
altar which is in the presence of God, saying to the sixth angel
which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels." That is, the four
corners of the earth which hold the four winds.
"Which are bound in the great river Euphrates." By the corners
of the earth, or the four winds across the river Euphrates, are
meant four nations, because to every nation is sent an angel; as
said the law, "He determined them by the number of the angels of
God," until the number of the saints should be filled up. They do
not overpass their bounds, because at the last they shall come with
Antichri
st.
FROM THE TENTH CHAPTER
1, 2. "I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven,
clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face
was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and he had
in his hand an open book: and he set his right foot upon the sea,
and his left foot upon the earth." He signifies that that mighty
angel who, he says, descended from heaven, clothed with a cloud, is
our Lord, as we have above narrated.
"His face was as it were the sun." That is, with respect to the
resurrection.
"Upon his head was a rainbow." He points to the judgment which
is executed by Him, of shall be.
"An open book." A revelation of works in the future judgment, or
the Apocalypse which John received.
"His feet," as we have said above, are the apostles. For that
both things in sea and land are trodden under foot by Him, signifies
that all things are placed under His feet. Moreover, he calls Him an
angel, that is, a messenger, to wit, of the Father; for He is called
the Messenger of great counsel. He says also that He cried with a
loud voice. The great voice is to tell the words of the Omnipotent
God of heaven to men, and to bear witness that after penitence is
closed there will be no hope subsequently.
3. "Seven thunders uttered their voices." The seven thunders
uttering their voices signify, the Holy Spirit of sevenfold power,
who through the prophets announced all things to come, and by His
voice John gave his testimony in the world; but because he says that
he was about to write the things which the thunders had uttered,
that is, whatever things had been obscure in the announcements of
the Old Testament; he is forbidden to write them, but he was charged
to leave them sealed, because he is an apostle, nor was it fitting
that the grace of the subsequent stage should be given in the first.
"The time," says he, "is at hand." For the apostles, by powers, by
signs, by portents, and by mighty works, have overcome unbelief.
After them there is now given to the same completed Churches the
comfort of having the prophetic Scriptures subsequently interpreted,
for I said that after the apostles there would be interpreting
prophets.
For the apostle says: "And he placed in the Church indeed, first,
apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers," and the rest. And
in another place he says: "Let the prophets speak two or three, and
let the others judge." And he says: "Every woman that prayeth or
prophesieth with her head uncovered, dishonoureth her head" And when
he says, "Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the others
judge," he is not speaking in respect of the Catholic prophecy of
things unheard and unknown, but of things both announced and known.
But let them judge whether or not the interpretation is consistent
with the testimonies of the prophetic utterance. It is plain,
therefore, that to John, armed as he was with superior virtue, this
was not necessary, although the body of Christ, which is the Church,
adorned with His members, ought to respond to its position.
10. "I took the book from the hand of the angel, and ate it up."
To take the book and eat it up, is, when exhibition of a thing is
made to one, to commit it to memory.
"And it was in my mouth as sweet as honey." To be sweet in the
mouth is the reward of the preaching of the speaker, and is most
pleasant to the hearers; but it is most bitter both to those that
announce it, and to those that persevere in its commandments through
suffering.
11. "And He says unto me, Thou must again prophesy to the
peoples, and to the tongues, and to the nations, and to many
kings." He says this, because when John said these things he was in
the islan
d of Patmos, condemned to the labour of the mines by Caesar
Domitian. There, therefore, he saw the Apocalypse; and when grown
old, he thought that he should at length receive his quittance by
suffering, Domitian being killed, all his judgments were discharged.
And John being dismissed from the mines, thus subsequently delivered
the same Apocalypse which he had received from God. This, therefore,
is what He says: Thou must again prophesy to all nations, because
thou seest the crowds of Antichrist rise up; and against them other
crowds shall stand, and they shall fall by the sword on the one side
and on the other.
FROM THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER
1. "And there was shown unto me a reed like unto a rod: and the
angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the
altar, and them that worship therein." A reed was shown like to a
rod. This itself is the Apocalypse which he subsequently exhibited
to the churches; for the Gospel of the complete faith he
subsequently wrote for the sake of our salvation. For when
Valentinus, and Cerinthus, and Ebion, and others of the school of
Satan, were scattered abroad throughout the world, there assembled
together to him from the neighbouring provinces all the bishops, and
compelled
him himself also to draw up his testimony. Moreover, we say that
the measure of God's temple is the command of God to confess the
Father Almighty, and that His Son Christ was begotten by the Father
before the beginning of the world, and was made man in very soul and
flesh, both of them having overcome misery and death; and that, when
received with His body into heaven by the Father, He shed forth the
Holy Spirit, the gift and pledge of immortality, that He was
announced by the prophets, He was described by the law, He was God's
hand, and the Word of the Father from God, Lord over all, and
founder of the world: this is the reed and the measure of faith; and
no one worships the holy altar save he who confesses this faith.
2. "The court which is within the temple leave out." The space
which is called the court is the empty altar within the walls: these
being such as were not necessary, he commanded to be ejected from
the Church.
"It is given to be trodden down by the Gentiles." That is, to
the men of this world, that it may be trodden under foot by the
nations, or with the nations. Then he repeats about the destruction
and slaughter of the last time, and says:-
3. "They shall tread the
holy city down for forty and two months; and I will give to my two
witnesses, and they shall predict a thousand two hundred and
threescore days clothed in sackcloth." That is, three years and six
months: these make forty-two months. Therefore their preaching is
three years and six months, and the kingdom of Antichrist as much
again.
5. "If any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their
mouth, and devoureth their enemies." That fire proceedeth out of
the mouth of those prophets against the adversaries, bespeaks the
power of the world. For all afflictions, however many there are,
shall be sent by their messengers in their word. Many think that
there is Elisha, or Moses, with Elijah; but both of these died;
while the death of Elijah is not heard of, with whom all our
ancients have believed that it was Jeremiah. For even the very word
spoken to him testifies to him, saying, "Before I formed thee in the
belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I
sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."
But he was not a prophet unto the nations; and thus the truthful
word of God makes it necessary, which it has promise
d to set forth,
that he should be a prophet to the nations.
4. "These are the two candlesticks standing before the Lord of
the e
arth." These two candlesticks and two olive trees He has to
this end spoken of, and admonished you that if, when you have read
of them elsewhere, you have not understood, you may understand here.
For in Zechariah, one of the twelve prophets, it is thus written:
"These are the two olive trees and two candlesticks which stand in
the presence of the Lord of the earth;" that is, they are in
paradise.
Also, in another sense, standing in the presence of the lord of
the earth, that is, in the presence of Antichrist. Therefore they
must be slain by Antichrist.
7. "And the beast which ascendeth from the abyss." After many
plagues completed in the world, in the end he says that a beast
ascended from the abyss. Bat that he shall ascend from the abyss is
proved by many testimonies; for he says in the thirty-first chapter
of Ezekiel: "Behold, Assur was a cypress in Mount Lebanon." Assur,
deeply rooted, was a lofty and branching cypress - that is, a
numerous people - in Mount Lebanon, in the kingdom of kingdoms, that
is, of the Romans. Moreover, that he says he was beautiful in
offshoots, he says he was strong in armies. The water, he says,
shall nourish him, that is, the many thousands of men which were
subjected to him; and the abyss increased him, that is, belched him
forth. For even Isaiah speaks almost in the same words; moreover,
that he was in the kingdom of the Romans, and that he was among the
Caesars. The Apostle Paul also bears witness, for he says to the
Thessalonians: "Let him who now restraineth restrain, until he be
taken out of the way; and then shall appear that Wicked One, even he
whose coining is after the working of Satan, with signs and lying
wonders." And that they might know that he should come who then was
the prince, he added: "He already endeavours after the secret of
mischief" - that is, the mischief which he is about to do he strives
to do secretly; but he is not raised up by his own power, nor by
that of his father, but by command of God, of which thing Paul says
in the same passage: "For this cause, because they have not received
the love of God, He will send upon them a spirit of error, that they
all may be persuaded of a lie, who have not been persuaded of the
truth." And Isaiah saith: "While they waited for the light, darkness
arose upon them." Therefore the Apocalypse sets forth that these
prophets are killed by the same, and on the fourth day rise again,
that none might be found equal to God.
8. "And their dead bodies shall lie in the streets of the great
city, which spiritually is called
Sodom and Egypt." But He calls Jerusalem Sodom and Egypt, since
it had become the heaping up of the persecuting people. Therefore it
behoves us diligently, and with the utmost care, to follow the
prophetic announcement, and to understand what the Spirit from the
Father both announces and anticipates, and how, when He has gone
forward to the last times, He again repeats the former ones. And
now, what He will do once for all, He sometimes sets forth as if it
were done; and unless you understand this, as sometimes done, and
sometimes as about to be done, you will fall into a great confusion.
Therefore the interpretation of the following sayings has shown
therein, that not the order of the reading, but the order of the
discourse, must be understood.
19. "And the temple of God was opened which is in heaven." The
temple opened is a manifestation of our Lord. For the temple of God
is the Son, as He Himself says: "Destroy this temple, and in three
days I will raise it up." And when the Jews said, "Forty and six
years was this temple in building," the evangelist says, "He spake
of the temple of His
body."
"And there was seen in His temple the ark of the Lord's
testament." The preaching of the Gospel and the forgiveness o
f
sins, and all the gifts whatever that came with Him, he says,
appeared therein.
FROM THE TWELFTH CHAPTER
1. "And there was seen a great sign in heaven. A woman clothed
with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown
of twelve stars. And being with child, she cried out travailing, and
bearing torments that she might bring forth." The woman clothed
with the sun, and having the moon under her feet, and wearing a
crown of twelve stars upon her head, and travailing in her pains, is
the ancient Church of fathers, and prophets, and saints, and
apostles, which had the groans and torments of its longing until it
saw that Christ, the fruit of its people according to the flesh long
promised to it, had taken flesh out of the selfsame people.
Moreover, being clothed with the sun intimates the hope of
resurrection and the glory of the promise. And the moon intimates
the fall of the bodies of the saints under the obligation of death,
which never can fail. For even as life is diminished, so also it is
increased. Nor is the hope of those that sleep extinguished
absolutely, as some think, but they have in their darkness a light
such as the moon. And the crown of twelve stars signifies the choir
of fathers, according to the fleshly birth, of whom Christ was to
take flesh.
3. "And there appeared another sign in heaven; and behold a red
dragon, having seven heads." Now, that he says that this dragon was
of a red colour - that is, of a purple colour - the result of his work
gave him such a colour. For from the beginning (as the Lord says) he
was a murderer; and he has oppressed the whole of the human race,
not so much by the obligation of death, as, moreover, by the various
forms of destruction and fatal mischiefs. His seven heads were the
seven kings of the Romans, of whom also is Antichrist, as we have
said above.
"And ten horns." He says that the ten kings in the latest times
are the same as these, as we shall more fully set forth there.
4. "And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and
cast them upon the earth." Now, that he says that the dragon's tail
drew the third part of the stars of heaven, this may be taken in two
ways. For many think that he may be able to seduce the third part of
the men who believe. But it should more truly be understood, that of
the angels that were subject to him, since he was still a prince
when he descended from his estate, he seduced the third part;
therefore what we said above, the Apocalypse says.
"And the dragon stood before the woman who was beginning to bring
forth, that, when she had brought forth, he might devour her
child." The red dragon standing and desiring to devour her child
when she had brought him forth, is the devil - to wit, the traitor
angel, who thought that the perishing of all men would be alike by
death; but He, who was not born of seed, owed nothing to death:
wherefore he could not devour Him - that is, detain Him in death - for
on the third day He rose again. Finally, also, and before He
suffered, he approached to tempt Him as man; but when he found that
He was not what he thought Him to be, he departed from Him, even
till the time. Whence it is here said:-
5. "And she brought forth a son, who begins to rule all nations with a rod of iron." The rod of iron is the sword of persecution.
"I saw that all men withdrew from his abodes." That is, the good
will be removed, flying from persecution.
"And her son was caught up to God, and to His throne." We read
also in the Acts of the Apostles that He was caught up to God's
throne, just as speak
ing with the disciples He was caught up to
heaven.
6. "But the woman fled into the wilderness, and there were given
to her t
wo great eagle's
wings." The aid of the great eagle's wings - to wit, the gift of
prophets - was given to that Catholic Church, whence in the last
times a hundred and forty-four thousands of men should believe on
the preaching of Elias; but, moreover, he here says that the rest of
the people should be found alive on the coming of the Lord. And the
Lord says in the Gospel: "Then let them which are in Judea flee to
the mountains;" that is, as many as should be gathered together in
Judea, let them go to that place which they have ready, and let them
be supported there for three years and six months from the presence
of the devil.
14. "Two great wings" are the two prophets - Elias, and the
prophet who shall be with him.
15. "And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water
as a flood, that he might carry her away with the flood." He
signifies by the water which the serpent cast out of his mouth, the
people who at his command would persecute her.
16. "And the earth helped the woman, and opened her mouth, and
swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth."
That the earth opened her month and swallowed up the waters, sets
forth the vengeance for the present troubles. Although, therefore,
it may signify this woman bringing forth, it shows her afterwards
flying when her offspring is brought forth, because both things did
not happen at one time; for we know that Christ was born, but that
the time should arrive that she should flee from the face of the
serpent: (we do not know) that this has happened as yet. Then he
says:-
7-9. "There was a battle in heaven: Michael and his angels
fought with the dragon; and the dragon warred, and his angels, and
they prevailed not; nor was their place found any more in heaven.
And that great dragon was cast forth, that old serpent: he was cast
forth into the earth." This is the beginning of Antichrist yet
previously Elias must prophesy, and there must be times of peace.
And afterwards, when the three years and six months are completed in
the preaching of Elias, he also must be cast down from heaven, where
up till that time he had had the power of ascending; and all the
apostate angels, as well as Antichrist, must be roused up from hell.
Paul the apostle says:
"Except there come a falling away first, and the man of sin shall
appear, the son of perdition; and the adversary who exalted himself
above all which is called God, or which is worshipped."
FROM THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER
1. "And I saw a beast rising up from the sea, like unto a
leopard." This signifies the kingdom of that time of Antichrist,
and the people mingled with the variety of nations.
2. "His feet were as the feet of a bear." A strong and most
unclean beast, the feet are to be understood as his leaders.
"And his mouth as the mouth of a lion." That is, his mouth armed
for blood is his bidding, and a tongue which will proceed to nothing
else than to the shedding of blood.
18. "His number is the name of a man, and his number is six
hundred threescore and six." As they have it reckoned from the
Greek characters, they thus find it among many to be teitan,
for teitan has this number, which the Gentiles call Sol and
Phoebus; and it is reckoned in Greek thus: t three hundred,
e five, i ten, t three hundred, a one,
t fifty - which taken together become six hundred and
sixty-six. For as far as belongs to the Greek letters, they fill up
this number and name.
If you wish to turn this name into Latin, it
is understood by the antiphrase DICLUX, which letters are reckoned
in this manner: since D figures five hundred, I one, C a hundred, L
fifty, V five, X
ten - which by the reckoning up of the letters
makes similarly six hundred and sixty-six, that is, what in Greek
gives teitan, to wit, what in Latin is called DICLUX; by
which name, expressed by anti-phrases, we understand Antichrist,
who, although he be cut off from the supernal light, and deprived
thereof, yet transforms himself into an angel of light, daring to
call himself light.
Moreover, we find in a certain Greek codex
antemos, which letters being reckoned up, you will find to
give the number as above: a one, n fifty, t
three hundred, e five, m forty, o seventy,
s two hundred - which together makes six hundred and
sixty-six, according to the Greeks.
Moreover, there is another name
in Gothic of him, which will be evident of itself, that is,
genshrikos, which in the same way you will reckon in Greek
letters: g three, e five, n fifty, s two
hundred, h eight, r a hundred, i ten, k
twenty, o seventy, s also two hundred, which, as has been said
above, make six hundred and sixty-six.
11. "And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth." He is
speaking of the great and false prophet who is to do signs, and
portents, and falsehoods before him in the presence of men.
"And he had two horns like a lamb - that is, the appearance within
of a man - and he spoke like a dragon." But the devil speaks full of
malice; for he shall do these things in the presence of men, so that
even the dead appear to rise again.
13. "And he shall make fire come down from heaven in the sight of
men." Yes (as I also have said), in the sight of men. Magicians do
these things, by the aid of the apostate angels, even to this day.
He shall cause also that a golden image of Antichrist shall be
placed in the temple at Jerusalem, and that the apostate angel
should enter, and thence utter voices and oracles. Moreover, he
himself shall contrive that his servants and children should receive
as a mark on their foreheads, or on their right hands, the number of
his name, lest any one should buy or sell them. Daniel had
previously predicted his contempt and provocation of God. "And he
shall place," says he, "his temple within Samaria, upon the
illustrious and holy mountain that is at Jerusalem, an image such as
Nebuchadnezzar had made." Thence here he places, and by and by here
he renews, that of which the Lord, admonishing His churches
concerning the last times and their dangers, says: "But when ye
shall see the contempt which is spoken of by Daniel the prophet
standing in the holy place, let him who readeth understand." It is
called a contempt when God is provoked, because idols are worshipped
instead of God, or when the dogma of heretics is introduced in the
churches. But it is a turning away because stedfast men, seduced by
false signs and portents, are turned away from their salvation.
FROM THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER
6. "And I saw an angel flying through the midst of heaven." The
angel flying through the midst of heaven, whom he says that he saw,
we have already treated of above, as being the same Elias who
anticipates the kingdom of Anti-christ in his prophecy.
8. "And another angel following him." The other angel following,
he speaks of as the same prophet who is the associate of his
prophesying.
But that he says:-
15. "Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather in
the grapes of the vine," he signifies it of the nations that should
perish on the advent of the Lord. And indeed in many forms he shows
th
is same thing, as if to the dry harvest, and the seed for the
coming of the Lord, and the consummation of the world, and the
kingdom o
f Christ, and the future appearance of the kingdom of the
blessed.
19, 20. "And the angel thrust in the sickle, and reaped the vine
of the earth, and cast it into the wine-press of the wrath of God.
And the wine-press of His fury was trodden down without the city."
In that he says that it was cast into the wine-press of the wrath of
God, and trodden down without the city, the treading of the
wine-press is the retribution on the sinner.
"And blood went out from the wine-press, even unto the
horse-bridles." The vengeance of shed blood as was before
predicted, "In blood thou hast sinned, and blood shall follow thee."
"For a thousand and six hundred furlongs." That is, through all
the four parts of the world: for there is a quadrate put together by
fours, as in four faces and four appearances, and wheels by fours;
for forty times four is one thousand six hundred. Repeating the same
persecution, the Apocalypse says:-
FROM THE FIFTEENTH CHAPTER
1. "And I saw another great and wonderful sign, seven angels
having the seven last plagues; for in them is completed the
indignation of God." For the wrath of God always strikes the
obstinate people with seven plagues, that is, perfectly, as it is
said in Leviticus; and these shall be in the last time, when the
Church shall have gone out of the midst.
2. "Standing upon the sea of glass, having harps." That is, that
they stood stedfastly in the faith upon their baptism, and having
their confession in their mouth, that they shall exult in the
kingdom before God. But let us return to what is set before us.
FROM THE SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER
1-6. "There came one of the seven angels, which have the seven
bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come, I will show thee the
judgment of that great whore who sitteth upon many waters. And I saw
the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of
the martyrs." The decrees of that senate are always accomplished
against all, contrary to the preaching of the true faith; and now
already mercy being cast aside, itself here gave the decree among
all nations.
3. "And I saw the woman herself sitting upon the scarlet-coloured
beast, full of names of blasphemy." But to sit upon the scarlet
beast, the author of murders, is the image of the devil. Where also
is treated of his captivity, concerning which we have fully
considered. I remember, indeed, that this is called Babylon also in
the Apocalypse, on account of confusion; and in Isaiah also; and
Ezekiel called it Sodom. In fine, if you compare what is said
against Sodom, and what Isaiah says against Babylon, and what the
Apocalypse says, you will find that they are all one.
9. "The seven heads are the seven hills, on which the woman sitteth." That is, the city of Rome.
10. "And there are seven kings: five have fallen, and one is, and
the other is not yet come; and when he is come, he will be for a
short time." The time must be understood in which the written
Apocalypse was published, since then reigned Caesar Domitian; but
before him had been Titus his brother, and Vespasian, Otho,
Vitellius, and Galba. These are the five who have fallen. One
remains, under whom the Apocalypse was written - Domitian, to wit.
"The other has not yet come," speaks of Nerva; "and when he is come,
he will be for a short time," for he did not complete the period of
two years.
11. "And the beast which thou sawest is of the seven." Since
before those kings Nero reigned.
"And he is the eighth." He says only when this beast shall come,
reckon it the ei
ghth place, since in that is the completion. He
added: "And shall go into perdition." For that ten kings received
royal power when h
e shall move from the east, he says. He shall be
sent from the city of Rome with his armies. And Daniel sets forth
the ten horns and the ten diadems. And that these are eradicated
from the former ones - that is, that three of the principal leaders
are killed by Antichrist: that the other seven give him honour and
wisdom and power, of whom he says:-
16. "These shall hate the whore,
to wit, the city, and shall burn her flesh with fire." Now that one
of the heads was, as it were, slain to death, and that the stroke of
his death was directed, he speaks of Nero. For it is plain that when
the cavalry sent by the senate was pursuing him, he himself cut his
throat. Him therefore, when raised up, God will send as a worthy
king, but worthy in such a way as the Jews merited. And since he is
to have another name, He shall also appoint another name, that so
the Jews may receive him as if he were the Christ. Says Daniel: "He
shall not know the lust of women, although before he was most
impure, and he shall know no God of his fathers: for he will not be
able to seduce the people of the circumcision, unless he is a judge
of the law." Finally, also, he will recall the saints, not to the
worship of idols, but to undertake circumcision, and, if he is able,
to seduce any; for he shall so conduct himself as to be called
Christ by them. But that he rises again from hell, we have said
above in the word of Isaiah: "Water shall nourish him, and hell hath
increased him;" who, however, must come with name unchanged, and
doings unchanged, as says the Spirit.
FROM THE NINETEENTH CHAPTER
11. "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he
that sate upon him was called Faithful and True." The horse, and He
that sits upon him, sets forth our Lord coming to His kingdom with
the heavenly army. Because from the sea of the north, which is the
Arabian Sea, even to the sea of Phoenice, and even to the ends of
the earth, they will command these greater parts in the coming of
the Lord Jesus, and all the souls of the nations will be assembled
to judgment.
FROM THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER
1-3. "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of
the abyss, and a chain in his hand. And he held the dragon, that old
serpent, which is called the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a
thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut him up, and
set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more,
till the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be
loosed a little season." Those years wherein Satan is bound are in
the first advent of Christ, even to the end of the age; and they are
called a thousand, according to that mode of speaking, wherein a
part is signified by the whole, just as is that passage, "the word
which He commanded for a thousand generations," although they are
not a thousand.
Moreover that he says, "and he cast him into the abyss," he says
this, because the devil, excluded from the hearts of believers,
began to take possession of the wicked, in whose hearts, blinded day
by day, he is shut up as if in a profound abyss. And he shut him up,
says he, and put a seal upon him, that he should not deceive the
nations until the thousand years should be finished.
"He shut the door upon him," it is said, that is, he forbade and
restrained his seducing those who belong to Christ. Moreover, he put
a seal upon him, because it is hidden who belong to the side of the
devil, and who to that of Christ. For we know not of those who seem
to stand whether they shall not fall, and of those who are down it
is uncertain whether they may rise.
M
oreover, that he says that he is bound and shut up, that he may
not seduce the nations, the nations signify the Church, seeing that
of them it itself is formed, and which being seduced, he previously
held until, he says, the thousand years should be completed, that
is, what is left of the sixth day, to wit, of the sixth age, which
subsists for a thousand years; after this he must be loosed for a
little season. The little season signifies three years and six
months, in which with all his power the devil will avenge himself
trader Antichrist against the Church. Finally, he says, after that the devil
shall be loosed, and will seduce the nations in the whole world, and
will entice war against the Church, the number of whose foes shall
be as the sand of the sea.
4, 5. "And I saw thrones, and them that sate upon them, and
judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were
slain on account of the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God,
and which had not worshipped the beast nor his image, nor have
received his writing on their forehead or in their hand; and they
reigned with Christ for a thousand years: the rest of them lived not
again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first
resurrection." There are two resurrections. But the first
resurrection is now of the souls that are by the faith, which does
not permit men to pass over to the second death. Of this
resurrection the apostle says: "If ye have risen with Christ, seek
those things which are above."
6. "Blessed and holy is he who has part in this resurrection: on
them the second death shall have no power, but they shall be priests
of God and Christ, and they shall reign with Him a thousand years."
I do not think the reign of a thousand years is eternal; or if it is
thus to be thought of, they cease to reign when the thousand years
are finished. But I will put forward what my capacity enables me to
judge. The tenfold number signifies the decalogue, and the
hundredfold sets forth the crown of virginity: for he who shall have
kept the undertaking of virginity completely, and shall have
faithfully fulfilled the precepts of the decalogue, and shall have
destroyed the untrained nature or impure thoughts within the
retirement of the heart, that they may not rule over him, this is
the true priest of Christ, and accomplishing the millenary number
thoroughly, is thought to reign with Christ; and truly in his case
the devil is bound. But he who is entangled in the vices and the
dogmas of heretics, in his case the devil is loosed. But that it
says that when the thousand years are finished he is loosed, so the
number of the perfect saints being completed, in whom there is the
glory of virginity in body and mind, by the approaching advent of
the kingdom of the hateful one, many, seduced by that love of
earthly things, shall be overthrown, and together with him shall
enter the lake of fire.
8-10. "And they went up upon the breadth of the earth, and
compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and
fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the
devil who seduced them was cast into the take of fire and brimstone,
where both the beast and the false prophet shall be tormented day
and night for ever and ever." This belongs to the last judgment.
And after a little time the earth was made holy, as being at least
that wherein lately had reposed the bodies of the virgins, when they
shall enter upon an eternal kingdom with an immortal King, as they
who are not only virgins in body, but, moreover, with equal
inviolability have protected themselves, both in tongue and thought,
from wickedness; and these, it shows, shall dwell in rejoicing for
ever with the Lamb.
FROM THE TWENTY-FIRST AND TWENTY-SECOND CHAPTERS
16.
"And the city is placed in a square." The city which he says
is squared, he says also is resplendent with gold and precious
stones, and has a sacred street, and a river through the midst of
it, and the tree of life on either side, bearing twelve manner of
fruits throughout the twelve months; and that the light of the sun
is not there, because the Lamb is the light of it; and that its
gates were of single pearls; and that there were three gates on each
of the four sides, and that they could not be shut. I say, in
respect of the square city, he shows forth the united multitude of
the saints, in whom the faith could by no means waver. As Noah is
commanded to make the ark of squared beams, that it might resist the
force of the deluge, by the precious stones he sets forth the holy
men who cannot waver in persecution, who could not be moved either
by the tempest of persecutors, or be dissolved from the true faith
by the force of the rain, because they are associated of pure gold,
of whom the city of the great King is adorned. Moreover, the streets
set forth their hearts purified from all uncleanness, transparent
with glowing light, that the Lord may justly walk up and down in
them. The river of life sets forth that the grace of spiritual
doctrine flowed through the minds of the faithful, and that manifold
flourishing forms of odours germinated therein. The tree of life on
either bank sets forth the Advent of Christ, according to the flesh,
who satisfied the peoples wasted with famine, that received life
from One by the wood of the Cross, with the announcement of God's
word. And in that he says that the sun is not necessary in the city,
he shows, evidently, that the Creator as the immaculate light shines
in the midst of it, whose brightness no mind has been able to
conceive, nor tongue to tell.
In that he says there are three gates placed on each of the four
sides, of single pearls, I think that these are the four virtues, to
wit, prudence, fortitude, justice, temperance, which are associated
with one another. And, being involved
together, they make the number twelve. But the twelve gates we
believe to be the number of the apostles, who, shining in the four
virtues as precious stones, manifesting the light of their doctrine
among the saints, cause it to enter the celestial city, that by
intercourse with them the choir of angels may be gladdened. And that
the gates cannot be shut, it is evidently shown that the doctrine of
the apostles can be separated from rectitude by no tempest of
contradiction. Even though the floods of the nations and the vain
superstitions of heretics should revolt against their true faith,
they are overcome, and shall be dissolved as the foam, because
Christ is the Rock by which, and on which, the Church is founded.
And thus it is overcome by no traces of maddened men. Therefore they
are not to be heard who assure themselves that there is to be an
earthly reign of a thousand years; who think, that is to say, with
the heretic Cerinthus. For the kingdom of Christ is now eternal in
the saints, although the glory of the saints shall be manifested
after the resurrection.