ACC ~ Revelation 11 v19 - 12 v12

OVERVIEW:

The temple of God was opened when Christ the Lord was born, for the body of Christ is the temple of God (VICTORINUS, TYCONIUS, BEDE). When he came, Christ revealed the ark of the new covenant (TYCONIUS, BEDE), which is the preaching of the gospel and mercy for sins (VICTORINUS). Such preaching is done by the church which, as the body of Christ, holds within herself the ark of Christ’s incarnation (TYCONIUS, BEDE). Revealed also are those blessings prepared for the saints which are now hidden in Christ (OECUMENIUS, ANDREW OF CAESAREA). At the same time heaven emits the thunder and the lightning of the punishments that will come upon the lawless who like hail break themselves apart when they strike the faith of Christ (TYCONIUS, OECUMENIUS, ANDREW OF CAESAREA).

The mother of God is depicted in heaven, for she is pure in soul and body and wholly worthy of heaven. Yet the Virgin is fully human as we are and is clothed with the spiritual sun whom she bore in her womb (OECUMENIUS). The church too is adorned with heavenly glory, for she is clothed with the brightness of the Word (HIPPOLYTUS, METHODIUS) and carries the hope and promise of the resurrection to glory (VICTORINUS, CAESARIUS OF ARLES). The church stands upon the faith of those whom she has purified from corruption by baptism (METHODIUS). She clings to the immoveable good and so by her love overcomes all that is changeable (PRIMASIUS). Crowned with the twelve apostles (HIPPOLYTUS, TYCONIUS), the church places under her feet all heretics (TYCONIUS, PRIMASIUS), hypocrites and fallen believers (CAESARIUS OF ARLES). Bearing within herself the incarnate Wisdom of God (PRIMASIUS), the church never ceases to preach the Word to an unbelieving world (HIPPOLYTUS) and to gather together the nations of the Gentiles (TYCONIUS). At the same time she gives spiritual birth to many through water and the Spirit (TYCONIUS, ANDREW OF CAESAREA), even as she excludes from herself, as though by miscarriage, those who fall from the true Light (ANDREW OF CAESAREA). In her own way, too, Mary was in anguish, for she blushed before Joseph and was faint of heart until the holy angel revealed to him that the child in her womb was of the Holy Spirit (OECUMENIUS).

Opposed to Christ and his church is Satan, who has fallen from heaven and who is full of murder, bloodthirstiness and oppression (VICTORINUS, OECUMENIUS). It was he who enflamed the envy of Herod (TYCONIUS), and he remains always in hostile opposition to the Spirit and to the law (ANDREW OF CAESAREA). Satan caused many other angels to fall with him from heaven (VICTORINUS, OECUMENIUS), and he now causes many to fall away from the brightness of their baptism (METHODIUS, ANDREW OF CAESAREA). Such persons become false prophets who cause the simple to fall (TYCONIUS), or they become heretics who pervert the doctrine of the Trinity (METHODIUS) or bring others to the falsehood of a second baptism (CAESARIUS OF ARLES). Murderous from the beginning, Satan incited Herod to kill the baby Jesus (TYCONIUS, OECUMENIUS, PRIMASIUS), and he attempted to subject Jesus to death by tempting him (VICTORINUS). As Christ suffered through the work of Satan, so now his church suffers that which her Head has suffered (TYCONIUS), and in the suffering of his church Christ continues also to suffer (ANDREW OF CAESAREA). Yet in these sufferings the church brings forth Christ (TYCONIUS) even as she does through the sacred washing of baptism. As Mary remained virginal in the birth of Christ, the church too remains inviolate in her giving birth in baptism and in the sufferings of her members (QUODVULTDEUS). As the Christ child was saved from Herod by the Father’s providential care (OECUMENIUS), the saints are preserved in the midst of temptations lest they succumb to difficulties (ANDREW OF CAESAREA).

The church also participates in the ascension of Christ. For as Christ ascended into heaven and rules the nations (VICTORINUS), the church brings forth heavenly kings and becomes the instructor of the nations (HIPPOLYTUS). Through baptism the church gives birth to children who bear the image and the virility of Christ (METHODIUS), for they conquer the devil (TYCONIUS) and are not weakened by unworthy desires (ANDREW OF CAESAREA). The church sits in heavenly places (PRIMASIUS), and for that reason she tramples upon the scorpions of impiety and the serpents of arrogance (TYCONIUS, CAESARIUS OF ARLES). Moreover, the church dwells in the garden of virtue, where she lives in the perfect knowledge of the holy Trinity (METHODIUS), and she sends monks into the desert, where they escape the assaults of evil people and demons (ANDREW OF CAESAREA), just as once Mary escaped Herod by fleeing to Egypt (OECUMENIUS).

11:19 | Lightning, Voices, Thunder, Earthquake, Hail

THE GOSPEL AND MERCY FOR SINS. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: That “the temple of God which is in heaven was opened” signifies the appearance of our Lord. For the temple of God is his Son, as he said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” And when the Jews said, “It was built in forty-six years,” the Evangelist said, “He was speaking of the temple of [his] body.” The “ark of the covenant” is the preaching of the gospel and mercy for sins and everything whatsoever which will have come with him. That, he says, appeared. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 11.6.

THE CHURCH BEARS THE MYSTERY OF THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST. TYCONIUS: When Christ the Lord was born, the temple of God was manifested in heaven, that is, in the church. The temple of God can be understood as the body of Christ, as the Lord himself said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” … Although the ark often signifies the church, here the ark is said to have appeared in the temple, and by adding the “ark of the covenant,” he indicates that there is something more exalted to be comprehended. Moreover, by saying “in heaven” he urges us to penetrate some mystery, so that this might be understood: the temple is the church, and the ark of the covenant is the mystery of the incarnation of Christ, who, like that ark, bore the tablets of the covenant within himself. For he came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it, … as God promised through Jeremiah that the ark of the covenant would be taken from human hearts, certainly referring to that ark of the Hebrews, which was in Jerusalem. That is, [he promises] that the church will be called the throne of the Lord. He says, “When you have multiplied and increased in the land, says the Lord, they will no longer say ‘the ark of the covenant of the Lord,’ nor will it come to mind. In those days and at that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and all nations will be gathered to her in the name of the Lord.” … The lightning is those virtues by which Christ the Lord makes his apostles to shine. The voices and the thunder are the preaching of the apostles, who thunder to the peoples as though they were clouds. Hail always harms itself when it dashes against fruit and breaks apart, and it diminishes itself even as it causes ruin. So also the fierce multitude of the Gentiles persecutes the faith of Christ, yet afterward are themselves broken apart and become smaller or nonexistent. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 11.19.

THE SAINTS RECEIVE KNOWLEDGE PREVIOUSLY HIDDEN. OECUMENIUS: “And the temple of God in heaven was opened,” it says, “and the ark of his covenant was seen in his temple.” When this had been said, those good things, which had been hidden, and in addition certain new mysteries were seen by the saints. For this is the significance of the ark of the covenant being opened. And [Paul] shows that the good things of the coming age are hidden from people at the present time by saying, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, that God has prepared for those who love him.” And that there will be certain mysteries and another knowledge that is now unknown, the Lord shows when he said, “I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” While the saints have been thought worthy of these things, for the sinners “there were flashes of lightning, voices, and thunder, earthquakes and heavy hail.” This is the third woe. From that which is familiar to us, the passage depicts those punishments and terrors from God that come upon the wicked. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 11.15-19.

PUNISHMENT WILL FALL ON THE LAWLESS. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: By the opening of heaven and the vision of the covenant is shown the revelation of those blessings that have been prepared for the saints. According to the apostle, these blessings are hidden in Christ in whom the fullness of deity dwells bodily. And these things will be revealed when the punishments of Gehenna rain down upon the lawless and impious like terrifying voices and lightnings and thunder and hail. The earthquake signifies the transposition of present things. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 11.19.

CHRIST’S DIVINITY WAS HIDDEN IN HIS BODY. BEDE: Formerly the temple of the Lord on the earth contained the ark of the covenant hidden behind the mystical veil. However, since the veil of the ancient temple and the wall of partition have now been torn asunder by the sword of the blood of the Lord, in the church, the temple of the living God whose citizenship is in heaven, the ark of his incarnation is laid open to all the world. For just as the manna from heaven was in a pure gold [container], so is his divinity in his holy body. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 11.19.