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).

12:1 | A Woman Clothed with the Sun

THE CHURCH IS ADORNED WITH HEAVENLY GLORY. HIPPOLYTUS: By the “woman clothed with the sun,” he meant most manifestly the church, endued with the Father’s Word, whose brightness is above the sun. And by “the moon under her feet,” he referred to [the church] being adorned, like the moon, with heavenly glory. And the words “upon her head a crown of twelve stars” refer to the twelve apostles by whom the church was founded. ON THE ANTICHRIST 61.

THE ANCIENT SAINTS WILL RISE. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: This is the ancient church of the fathers and the prophets and the holy apostles. For they experience the groans and torments of their desire until that which was long since promised was fulfilled out of their own people and according to their own flesh. That [the woman] was “clothed with the sun” signifies the hope of the resurrection and the promise of glory. The “moon” refers to the fall of the bodies of the saints on account of their irreversible debt to death which can never fail. For just as the life of people is diminished and so again is increased, so also the hope of the sleeping is never utterly extinguished, as some think, but in their darkness they will have light as of the moon. The “crown of twelve stars” indicates the [crown] of the fathers from whom the spirit was to assume flesh, according to the birth of the flesh. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.1.

THE CHURCH LABORS TO BRING FORTH A PERFECT NEW BIRTH. METHODIUS: The woman who “appeared in heaven … clothed with the sun” and crowned with “twelve stars,” having the moon for her footstool, and being with child, and travailing in birth, is certainly, according to the accurate interpretation, our mother, … a power by herself distinct from her children, whom the prophets, according to the aspect of their subjects, have called sometimes Jerusalem, sometimes a Bride, sometimes Mount Zion, and sometimes the Temple and Tabernacle of God. For she is the power mentioned by the prophet which the Spirit urges to give light, crying to her: “Arise, shine; for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon you, and his glory shall be seen upon you. And the Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes round about, and see; all your children gather themselves together, they come to you: your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side.” It is the church whose children shall come to her with all speed after the resurrection, running to her from all quarters. She rejoices receiving the light which never goes down, and clothed with the brightness of the Word as with a robe. For with what other more precious or honorable ornament was it becoming that the queen should be adorned, to be led as a Bride to the Lord, when she had received a garment of light, and therefore was called by the Father? Come, then, let us go forward in our discourse, and look on this marvelous woman as on virgins prepared for a marriage, pure and undefiled, perfect and radiating a permanent beauty, wanting nothing of the brightness of light. Instead of a dress, she is clothed with light itself. And instead of precious stones, her head is adorned with shining stars. For instead of the clothing which we have, she had light; and for gold and brilliant stones, she had stars. But not stars such as those which are set in the invisible heaven, but better and more resplendent, so that our own may rather be considered as their images and likenesses.

Now the statement that she stands on the moon, I think, denotes the faith of those who are cleansed from corruption by baptism, because the light of the moon has more resemblance to tepid water, and all moist substance depends on the moon. The church, then, stands on our faith and adoption, under the figure of the moon, until the fullness of the Gentiles come in, laboring and bringing forth natural people as spiritual people; for which reason she is also a mother. For just as a woman receiving the unformed seed of her husband, within a certain time brings forth a perfect child, in the same way, one should say, the church conceives those who flee to the Word, and, shaping them according to the likeness and form of Christ, after a certain time produce them as citizens of that blessed state. Thus it is necessary that she should stand on the laver, bringing forth those who are washed in it. And in this way the power which she has in connection with the laver is called the moon, because the regenerate shine being renewed with a new ray, that is, a new light. Hence, also, they are by a descriptive term called “newly-enlightened,” the moon [church] always showing forth anew to them the spiritual full moon, namely, the period and the memorial of the passion, until the glory and the perfect light of the great day will appear. SYMPOSIUM 8.5-6.

THE CHURCH OF THE HERETICS IS NOT GLORIFIED BY CHRIST’S PRESENCE. TYCONIUS: “And a great sign was seen in heaven.” We now see that which has occurred in the church, God has taken form in man. “A woman,” it says, “clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet.” We have already noted that a genus may divide into many species. For what [in one passage] is heaven, here signifies the temple placed in heaven. In the woman he indicates the church who in the purification of baptism puts on Christ, the “sun of righteousness,” as the apostle Paul testifies, “As many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” However, in this passage the moon is described as placed under the feet of the woman and so indicates the church of the heretics that the “sun of righteousness,” that is, Christ, does not allow to be illumined by his presence. Yet, since everything which is found in the Scriptures concerning the church may be interpreted in a twofold way, we can also interpret the moon in a good sense and compare it with the church. As it is written in the psalms, “Once I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David. His seed shall endure forever. His throne [will endure] as the sun before me and as a full moon forever. The witness in the skies is sure.” And again, “Bright as the sun and fair as the moon in her beauty.” “And on her head a crown of twelve stars.” He is indicating the twelve apostles whom Christ placed as a crown over the twelve tribes of Israel upon the head of his church and adorned her with spiritual gems. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.1.

THE MOTHER OF GOD PORTRAYED AS A CITIZEN OF HEAVEN. OECUMENIUS: The vision intends to describe more completely to us the circumstances concerning the antichrist. … However, since the incarnation of the Lord, which made the world his possession and subjected it, provided a pretext for Satan to raise this one up and to choose him [as his instrument]—for the antichrist will be raised to cause the world again to fall from Christ and to persuade it to desert to Satan—and since moreover his fleshly conception and birth was the beginning of the incarnation of the Lord, the vision gives a certain order and sequence to the material that it is going to discuss and begins the discussion from the fleshly conception of the Lord by portraying for us the mother of God. What does he say? “And a sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and the moon was under her feet.” As we said, it is speaking about the mother of our Savior. The vision appropriately depicts her as in heaven and not on the earth, for she is pure in soul and body, equal to an angel and a citizen of heaven. She possesses God who rests in heaven—“for heaven is my throne,” it says—yet she is flesh, although she has nothing in common with the earth nor is there any evil in her. Rather, she is exalted, wholly worthy of heaven, even though she possesses our own human nature and substance. For the Virgin is consubstantial with us. Let the impious teaching of Eutyches, which makes the fanciful claim that the Virgin is of another substance than we, be excluded from the belief of the holy courts together with his other opinions. And what does it mean that she was clothed with the sun and the moon was under her feet? The holy prophet, Habakkuk, prophesied concerning the Lord, saying, “The sun was lifted up, and the moon stood still in its place for light,” calling Christ our Savior, or at least the proclamation of the gospel, the “sun of righteousness.” When he was exalted and increased, the moon—that is, the law of Moses—“stood still” and no longer received any addition. For after the appearance of Christ, it no longer received proselytes from the nations as before but endured diminution and cessation. You will, therefore, observe this with me, that also the holy Virgin is covered by the spiritual sun. For this is what the prophet calls the Lord when concerning Israel he says, “Fire fell upon them, and they did not see the sun.” But the moon, that is, the worship and citizenship according to the law, being subdued and become much less than itself, is under her feet, for it has been conquered by the brightness of the gospel. And rightly does he call the things of the law by the word moon, for they have been given light by the sun, that is, Christ, just as the physical moon is given its light by the physical sun. The point would have been better made had it said not that the woman was clothed with the sun but that the woman enclothed the sun, which was enclosed in her womb. However, that the vision might show that the Lord, who was being carried in the womb, was the shelter of his own mother and the whole creation, it says that he was enclothing the woman. Indeed, the holy angel said something similar to the holy Virgin: “The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” For to overshadow is to protect, and to enclothe is the same according to power. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.1-2.

THE CHURCH OVERCOMES ALL THAT IS MUTABLE. PRIMASIUS: This is what now appears in the church, namely, that by the operation of the Holy Spirit the human nature is joined to the Wisdom of God and that from the two the selfsame Christ becomes the mediator of God and humanity and is so proclaimed and believed. As he himself said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” and the Evangelist said, “He was speaking of the temple of his body.” “A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet.” It is frequently said that a genus is divided into many species which are the same thing. For what was heaven itself is now a temple in heaven and now is the woman clothed with the sun and having the moon under her feet. Namely, this is the church who has put on Christ and on account of her love is trampling upon every mutable thing. For [the church] is not enraptured by these changeable things who, clinging to the immoveable good, says truthfully, “But for me it is good to be near to God.” From this fact comes those expressions which we read concerning the church, “fair as the moon, bright as the sun,” and again, “as the full moon forever, and the witness in the heaven is true.” He aptly says that the church is a sojourner, for after the human birth of Christ we see many false opinions expressed by heretics. For concerning this temple the heresiarchs, falsifying as they willed, taught variously, Valentinus saying one thing and Bardesanes another, Apollinaris yet another and Nestorius another, Eutyches another and Timothy Aelurus another. It was as though truth sprang from the earth and controversies followed. And from all of this the orthodox and faithful acquired their reward, while by evil ideas concerning the incarnation of Christ, the heretics incurred the punishment of eternal damnation. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.1.

HYPOCRITES AND EVIL CHRISTIANS. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: [The moon under her feet] refers to the hypocrites and evil Christians which the church has under her feet. … The twelve stars are to be interpreted as the twelve apostles. That the woman is clothed in the sun signifies her hope in the resurrection. For this reason it is written, “then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” EXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE 12.1, HOMILY 9.

12:2 | She Cried Out in Childbirth

THE CHURCH WILL NOT CEASE TO PREACH THE WORD. HIPPOLYTUS: [The words that she was with child and cried out in anguish for delivery] mean that the church will not cease to bear from its heart the Word that is persecuted by the unbelieving in the world. ON THE ANTICHRIST 61.

THE CHURCH GATHERS THE NATIONS. TYCONIUS: “She was with child and cried out in pangs of birth.” This means that by her preaching [the church] desires to gather together the nations of the Gentiles. “She is in anguish for delivery” as long as [the church] is either gathering together the multitude of the Gentiles or is excluding the hypocrites from its womb. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.2.

THE CHURCH SUFFERS FOR HER CHILDREN. TYCONIUS: “She was with child,” not in her womb but in her mind, “and she cried out, groaning (in the valley of tears) and was in anguish that she might deliver.” The church spiritually gives birth to those with whom she is in the pangs of childbirth, but she also never ceases to be in the pangs of childbirth with those to whom she has already given birth. For this reason the apostle says, “My little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.2.

MARY BLUSHED BEFORE JOSEPH. OECUMENIUS: “And she was with child,” it says, “and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery.” Clearly Isaiah speaks concerning her: “Before she was in labor she gave birth; before the pain of her labor she fled and gave birth to a son.” Also in his thirteenth homily on the Song concerning the Lord, Gregory says, “whose pregnancy remains without union, and the childbirth without defilement, and the labor free of pain.” If according to such a prophet and to such a teacher of the church the Virgin escaped the pain of childbirth, how is it that here it says “she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery”? What is said is not contradictory. By no means! For there would be nothing contradictory said by the same Spirit who was speaking through both. Rather, you will understand the present phrase “she cried out and was in anguish” is this way. Until the holy angel said to Joseph that that which was borne in her womb was of the Holy Spirit, she was faint of heart, as is natural for a virgin, and she blushed before her betrothed and thought that perhaps from the secrecy of the marriage he might think that she was in labor. And so, according to the rules of figurative language, he calls this faintheartedness and sorrow a “crying out” and “anguish.” Nor is this unusual. For even to the blessed Moses, when he was spiritually conversing with God and losing heart—for he saw Israel in the desert surrounded by the sea and the enemy—God said, “Why are you crying to me?” So also here, the vision calls the troubled disposition of the Virgin in her mind and heart a “crying out.” But may you, who by your unspeakable birth did bring to an end the faintheartedness of your undefiled servant, your mother according to the flesh, but my mistress, the holy mother of God, also forgive my sins. For it is proper to give you glory forever. Amen. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.1-2.

THOSE WHO FALL FROM CHRIST ARE MISCARRIAGES. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: We say that the church is in birth pangs for each one of those who are being born anew through water and the Spirit, “until Christ is formed in them,” as the apostle says. Those who have fallen from the true light of Christ are regarded as miscarriages and experience death at the end of their life because of unfaithfulness. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.2.

12:3 | A Red Dragon

RED FROM MURDER AND OPPRESSION. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: It says that [the dragon] was the color of red, that is, of scarlet, for the fruit of his work has given him such a color. For he was a murderer from the beginning, and everywhere he has oppressed the whole race of people, not so much by the debt of death as through all kinds of miseries. The “seven heads” are the seven Roman kings from whom the antichrist comes; … the “ten horns” are the ten kings at the end of time. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.3.

THE DEVIL INFLAMED HEROD WITH ENVY. TYCONIUS: [The red dragon] is the devil. He says that there was “another portent” to indicate the hostile opposition of the devil. It was he who inflamed Herod with the fire of envy so that he would feign to adore the Christ even while seeking with all his power to kill Christ whom he knew was to be born king of the Jews. … The “seven heads” are kings, and the horns are kingdoms. … For in the seven heads and seven diadems he signifies the rule of all kings, while in the ten horns we have the number of the ten persecutors who will fan the fires of persecution against the whole church in the last times. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.3.

SATAN CAST FROM HEAVEN. OECUMENIUS: The vision now intends to depict more fully the events around the coming of the antichrist, starting with an event even prior to those mentioned earlier (I refer to the birth of the Lord). It speaks now of the casting of Satan down of heaven. … “And another sign appeared in heaven.” As though rebuking Satan, that author of evil, who although a heavenly being became base because of his pride, the passage shows him first in heaven, so that the apostate might know from what heights to what depths he has fallen. “Behold, a great red dragon,” it says. He calls Satan a “dragon” because of his deceitful ways. Isaiah also speaks of him in this way, saying, “against the dragon, that twisting serpent.” He is said to be red because of his thirst for blood and his angry nature. He had “seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems upon his heads.” The prophet also knew that he had many heads, and therefore he says to God, “You have crushed the heads of the dragon; you did give him as food to the people of Ethiopia.” It refers to him as having many heads, since, as we have often noted, seven signifies many, for he exercises many dominions and performs many crafty plots against people by which he enslaves them. The diadem too is a symbol of tyranny, and the ten horns signify his very great power, for the number ten is perfect and the horn is a symbol of power. For it is said, “My horn will be exalted like that of a wild ox.” And one may learn that he is powerful by reading the book of Job. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.3-6.

OPPOSED TO THE SPIRIT AND THE LAW. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: Here we think that “heaven” signifies the air, and that the “red dragon” is that creature that was deceived and mocked by the angels of God, as it is written in Job. He is “red” either because of his murderous and bloodthirsty character or because of the fiery nature of his angelic essence, since he did fall from the angels. The seven heads that he has are seven powers more wicked than himself and that are opposed to the [seven] powers of the Spirit. Or perhaps they correspond to the seven spirits of whom Christ spoke in the Gospels and that established themselves in the man who had a heart swept clean and emptied of good thoughts and deeds. Or perhaps they are the seven evils that Solomon says are in the heart of the evil one, who with a great voice deceitfully seeks followers for himself. The horns signify either those sins that are in opposition to the Ten Commandments of the law, or they signify the divisions of the kingdom that bring credit to him who rejoices in seditions. And there are “seven diadems upon his heads,” since those who conquer the demonical powers receive again the crowns of victory, since they have gained victory with toils and sweat. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.3.

12:4a | His Tail Swept Down a Third of the Stars

THE DRAGON CAUSES HERETICS TO FALL. METHODIUS: The great red dragon—cunning and diverse, seven-headed and horned—that draws down the third part of the stars and stands ready to devour the child of the woman who is travailing, is the devil, who lies in wait to destroy the Christ-accepted mind of the baptized as well as the image and clear features of the Word that has been brought forth in them. But he misses and loses his prey, the regenerate being caught up on high to the throne of God—that is, the mind of those who are renewed is lifted up to the divine seat and the basis of truth against which there is no stumbling, being taught to look upon and regard the things which are there, so that it may not be deceived by the dragon weighing them down. For he is not allowed to destroy those whose thoughts and looks are upwards. And the stars, which the dragon touched with the end of his tail and drew them down to earth, are the bodies of heresies. For we must say that the stars, which are dark, obscure, and falling, are the assemblies of the heterodox; since they, too, wish to be acquainted with the heavenly ones, to have believed in Christ, to have the seat of their soul in heaven, and to come near to the stars as children of light. But they are dragged down, being shaken out by the folds of the dragon, because they did not remain within the triangular forms of godliness, falling away from it with respect to orthodox practice. Thus, too, they are called the third part of the stars, as having gone astray with regard to one of the three persons of the Trinity. As when they say, like Sabellius, that the almighty person of the Father himself suffered; or as when they say, like Artemas, that the person of the Son was born and manifested only in appearance; or when they contend, like the Ebionites, that the prophets spoke of the person of the Spirit by their own power. Of Marcion and Valentinus, and those about Elkesai and others, it is better not even to make mention. SYMPOSIUM 8.10.

THE DEVIL SEDUCED MANY ANGELS TO FALL. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: That “the tail of the dragon swept down a third of the stars” may be understood in a twofold way. Many understand this to mean that he was able to seduce a third of the believers. However, this may be more truthfully understood to mean that he [seduced] a third of the angels who were subordinated to him while he was yet prince and [fell] when he toppled from his position. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.7.

FALSE PROPHETS DESTROY SIMPLE PERSONS. TYCONIUS: The “tail” is the iniquitous prophets who throw down to earth the stars of heaven, namely, those simple persons who join themselves to them. When he speaks of “a third part of the stars,” he is speaking of the Jews and their leaders who rejected Christ and with impious voices cried out that they did not want Christ to be over them but rather Caesar, and therefore they killed him. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.4.

THE ARROGANCE OF SATAN. OECUMENIUS: “And his tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth.” Along with himself, [the devil] cast down a very great number of angels. For he had persuaded them to apostatize from God and so made those who were heavenly to become earthly and those who were bright as stars to become dark. “By his tail” is as though to say “by his rear parts and his hindermost transgressions,” for at first devising rebellion and apostasy, he thoroughly reviewed this in the arrogance of his mind and so came also to the corruption of the others. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.3-6.

FALSE PROPHETS CAUSE MANY TO FALL. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: The tail symbolizes the evil prophets, that is, heretics who threw down to earth those stars of heaven who joined them through a repeated baptism. They are under the feet of the woman. Many believed that these are persons whom the devil made his companions since they were of the same mind as he. Many believe that these are angels who were thrown down with him when he fell. EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.4, HOMILY 9.

THE DEVIL CAUSES MANY TO FALL. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: It is our opinion that this passage refers either to the former fall of [the devil] from heaven which through a final movement of envy—for elevation was first—brought down with him the apostate angels, or to that movement of his tail which, after the crushing of his head, drags down those who have moved from their heavenly minds. They are figuratively called “stars” because of the brightness of their baptism. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.4.

12:4b | That the Dragon Might Devour Her Child

THE DEVIL COULD NOT SUBJECT CHRIST TO DEATH. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: “The red dragon stood expecting to devour her son when she had delivered him.” This is the devil, namely, that fugitive angel who thought that the destruction of all people could be equally accomplished through death. However, he who was not born from seed owed no debt to death, and for this reason [the devil] was not able to devour him, that is, to subject him to death. For, indeed, [the devil] had come to him intending to tempt him as man. But when he had discovered that he was not whom he thought, “he departed from him,” it says, “until an opportune time.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.2.

EVERY CHRISTIAN SUFFERS WHAT THE HEAD HAS SUFFERED. TYCONIUS: Whenever the Holy Spirit promises and tells of future events, he foretells and shows the future in the church as past event. For in her misfortunes the church is always bringing forth Christ, for which reason he promises the coming of the Son of man always in the reality of similar sufferings. The devil in heaven is always seeking to devour that person who is being born through heavenly things and who is born to God and is caught up to his throne. Indeed, every Christian suffers that which the Head has suffered, who after the third day was going to be raised in glory. For in the person of Herod the whole company of persecutors is revealed. Although Herod alone had died, nonetheless all are indicated, for the Evangelist said, “All who sought the child’s life are dead.” The Lord spoke similarly also to Moses, “All those who were seeking your life are dead,” when another had succeeded [that] pharoah who had sought his life and that of the people. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.4.

WHAT EVE BOUND THROUGH DISOBEDIENCE, MOTHER CHURCH LOOSENS THROUGH OBEDIENCE. QUODVULTDEUS: Our holy mother church has received you in her womb through the most sacred sign of the cross and with the greatest joy will give birth spiritually as she did also with your brothers. As new and future offspring of such a mother, until she restores to the true Light those born anew through the sacred washing, she feeds in her womb those whom she is carrying with suitable food, and she who is joyful leads those who are joyful to the day of their birth. She does not possess the mind and thought of Eve, who in sadness and in groaning brings forth sons who are themselves without joy but full of lamentation. What that [mother] bound, this [mother] has loosened, so that as [Eve] gave over to death her offspring through her disobedience, this [mother] restores to life through her obedience. All the mysteries that have been done and are being done among you through the ministry of the servants of God—the exorcisms, prayers, spiritual songs, insufflations, the coarse garment, the bowing of the neck, the humility of the feet—all of these things, as I have said, are food that refreshes us in the womb and makes us strong, so that when we have been reborn through baptism, our mother might bring us happy to Christ. And you have received the symbol, the protection of her who desires to bring you to birth against the poison of the serpent. It is written in the Apocalypse of the apostle John that the dragon stood before a woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth, he might devour her child. We all know that the dragon is the devil and that that woman signifies the Virgin Mary, who remaining intact gave birth to our Head who was complete. She herself presents in herself a figure of the holy church, so that just as she remained a virgin while giving birth to a son, so also [the church] at all times brings forth his members without losing her virginity. ON THE SYMBOL 3.1.1-6.

SATAN ATTEMPTED TO KILL THE BABY JESUS THROUGH HEROD. OECUMENIUS: “And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth.” He is speaking of events in the Lord’s life. Since he who was to destroy his [i.e., Satan’s] dominion was going to be born, [Satan] watched with close attention, so that when the Virgin gave birth, he might kill the child. And so, too, he took no chances but incited Herod, a lascivious man with a harem of women, to destroy the male and manly child. For Isaiah proclaims to us, “Before the child knows how to cry ‘father’ or ‘mother,’ he will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of Assyria.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.3-6.

THE APOSTATE PERSECUTES CHRIST. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: The apostate always arms himself against the church, desiring to make those food for himself who are being born anew from her. Rather, through the church he persecutes Christ himself, since he is [the church’s] head, and he makes his own what belongs to the faithful. And therefore [Christ] said to Saul, “Why are you persecuting me?” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.4.

12:5 | She Bore a Male Child Who Will Rule the Nations

THE INSTRUCTOR OF ALL THE NATIONS. HIPPOLYTUS: “And she brought forth,” he says, “a man child who is to rule all the nations.” By this is meant that the church, always bringing forth Christ, the perfect manchild of God, who is declared to be God and man, becomes the instructor of all the nations. And the words “her child was caught up unto God and to his throne” signify that he who is always born of her is a heavenly king and not an earthly; even as David also declared of old when he said, “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” ON THE ANTICHRIST 61.

THE CHURCH LABORS. METHODIUS: If any one, for there is no difficulty in speaking distinctly, should be troubled and reply to what we have said: “But how, O virgins, can this explanation seem to you to be according to the mind of Scripture, when the Apocalypse plainly states that the church brings forth a male, while you teach that her labor-pains have their fulfillment in those who are baptized?” We will answer: … Long before the Apocalypse, the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word was fulfilled. John speaks concerning things present and things to come. But Christ, long ago conceived, was not caught up to the throne of God when he was brought forth, from fear of the serpent injuring him. But for this purpose he was begotten and came down himself from the throne of the Father: that he should remain and subdue the dragon who made an assault upon the flesh. So you also must confess that the church labors and gives birth to those who are baptized. As the Spirit says somewhere in Isaiah: “Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a son. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she brought forth her son.” From whom did he flee? Surely from the dragon, that the spiritual Zion might bear a masculine people, who should come back from feminine passions and weakness to the unity of the Lord and grow strong in manly virtue. … I think that the church is here said to give birth to a male child; since the enlightened receive the features, image and the manliness of Christ, the likeness of the form of the Word being stamped on them and begotten in them by a true knowledge and faith. Thus in each one Christ is spiritually born. And, therefore, the church swells and labors until Christ is formed in us, so that each of the saints, by partaking of Christ, has been born a Christ. To this end it is said in a certain scripture, “Do not touch my anointed, and do my prophets no harm,” as though those who were baptized into Christ had been made Christs by communication of the Spirit, the church contributing here their clearness and transformation into the image of the Word. SYMPOSIUM 8.7-8.

CHRIST RULES ALL HIS ENEMIES. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: “And he was caught up to the throne of God.” We read of this in the Acts of the Apostles. For as he was speaking with the disciples, he was caught up into heaven. “And he is to rule all nations with a rod of iron,” which is the sword. For under the subterfuge of the antichrist all the nations are going to be arrayed against the saints. By the sword, it says, both will fall. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.3.

THE DEVIL CEASED TO BE CONQUEROR. TYCONIUS: “And she brought forth a male child.” The church brings forth Christ who, although he was God, deigned to be born as man. He speaks of a “male child,” because through his victory the devil, who had conquered a woman, ceased to be a conqueror. “Who is to rule the nations with a rod of iron.” Indeed, [he speaks here] of his whole body. For the same Lord said of this, “He who conquers and keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received power from my Father.” “And her son was caught up to God and his throne.” This means that whoever shall be resurrected in Christ will sit with him on the throne of God at the right hand of the Father. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.5.

THROUGH THE FATHER’S PROVIDENCE THE CHILD ESCAPED HEROD. OECUMENIUS: Reveal to us more clearly, O John, who this is who was born, this male child! He says, “who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.” O inspired one, you have declared clearly to us that he is our Savior and Lord, Jesus, the Christ. For his own Father promised him, “Ask of me, and I will give to you the nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth as your possession. You will shepherd them with a rod of iron, and you will dash them like a potter’s vessel.” “But her child was caught up to God and to his throne.” The poisonous dragon lay in wait and incited Herod to kill the children in Bethlehem, thinking that certainly among them he would locate the Lord. But by the providence of the Father the child escaped the plot. For Joseph heard a warning from heaven and took the child and its mother and fled into Egypt, since Herod was seeking the life of the child. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.3-6.

WHAT IS OF THE HEAD CORRESPONDS TO HIS CHURCH AS TO HIS BODY. PRIMASIUS: Rightly is Christ, the Head of the church, said to be born in each [of his] members, who is known to rule [in them]. For he himself is both the Author and the Finisher of faith in whom we shall accomplish virtue. He reigns among the good with a rod of iron, that is, with an inflexible righteousness, but he breaks the evil into pieces. What is from the head is joined also to his church as to his body, “for all who have been baptized have put on Christ,” and “the two shall be one flesh,” because whatever is to be understood “in Christ,” the apostle says is also “in the church.” “Her child was caught up to God and to his throne.” Although Christ, when his work was completed, went on before as the Head and so ascended to the Father, this nonetheless also corresponds to the church. For this reason the apostle can speak like this: “He who raised us up, made us to sit in the heavenly places,” and “Our citizenship is in heaven,” and “If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” Should you wish to interpret [this passage] as referring especially to the person of Christ, you can appropriately gather other stories together and consider the treacheries of the red dragon to be all those persecutions that Christ had to face from his cradle because of Herod even unto death on the cross to which he willed to submit. For although the dragon sought his death, as it were, with gaping mouth, yet he was brought to naught by his resurrection. However, we must except from these agonies his birth from the blessed Mary, for we know that in conceiving she experienced no sin of sexual desire. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.5.

THE FULLNESS OF SPIRITUAL MATURITY. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: Through those who are baptized, the church is always giving birth to Christ, since in them he is being formed unto the fullness of spiritual maturity, as the apostle says. The “male child” is the people of the church who are not effeminate in their desires, through whom Christ, our God, as though an iron rod has already ruled the nations by the mighty hands of the powerful Romans. However, also after the resurrection of the dead he will establish those strong in the faith as judges and will rule as with iron the nations who are crumbling and weak vessels. For by their unfaithfulness they did not possess the mystical new wine. “But her child was caught up to God and to his throne.” The saints are caught up in midst of temptations, lest they be subdued by difficulties beyond their powers. And “they will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air,” and they will be with God and his throne, that is, with the most excellent of the angelic powers. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.5.

12:6 | The Woman Fled to the Wilderness

THE LOVELY PLACE OF VIRTUE. METHODIUS: Now the woman who brings forth and has brought forth, the masculine Word in the heart of the faithful, and who passed, undefiled and uninjured by the wrath of the beast, into the wilderness, is, as we have explained, our mother the church. And the wilderness into which she comes and where she is nourished for “a thousand two hundred and sixty days,” is truly desolate and unfruitful of evil, barren of corruption, and difficult for many to reach and pass through. But this same wilderness is fruitful and abounding in pasture, blooming, full of wisdom and productive of life is easy for the holy to reach. This is the most lovely, beautifully wooded and well-watered dwelling of Virtue. Here the south wind awakes, and the north wind blows, and the spices flow. … And the thousand two hundred and sixty days that we are staying here, O virgins, signify the accurate and perfect understanding concerning the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit, in which our mother grows and rejoices and exults throughout this time until the restitution of the new age, when, coming into the assembly in the heavens, she will no longer contemplate the I AM through the means of human knowledge, but will clearly behold entering in together with Christ. For a thousand, consisting of a hundred multiplied by ten, embraces a full and perfect number, and is a symbol of the Father himself, who made the universe by himself, and rules all things for himself. Two hundred embraces two perfect numbers united together and is the symbol of the Holy Spirit, since he is the author of our knowledge of the Son and the Father. And the number sixty has the number six multiplied by ten and is a symbol of Christ, because the number six proceeding from unity is composed of its proper parts, so that nothing in it is wanting or redundant, and is complete when resolved into its parts. Thus it is necessary that the number six, when it is divided into even parts by even parts, should again make up the same quantity from its separated segments. For, first, if divided equally, it makes three; then, if divided into three parts, it makes two; and again, if divided by six, it makes one, and is again collected into itself. For when divided into twice three, and three times two, and six times one, when the three and the two and the one are put together, they complete the six again. But everything is of necessity perfect that neither needs anything else in order to complete it, nor has anything left over. … Thus six refers to the Son of God, who came from the “fullness of the Godhead” into a human life. For having “emptied himself and taken upon him the form of a slave,” he was restored again to his former perfection and dignity. For he being humbled and apparently degraded was restored again from his humiliation and degradation to his former completeness and greatness, having never been diminished from his essential perfection. … The church, then, coming into this wilderness, a place barren of evils, is nourished, flying on the heavenward wings of virginity, which the Word called the “wings of the great eagle,” having conquered the serpent and driven away from her full moon the wintry clouds. SYMPOSIUM 8.11-12.

THE CHURCH WALKS AMONG EVERY POWER OF SATAN. TYCONIUS: “The woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God where she might be nourished.” … It says “into the wilderness,” for in the apostles the church has received authority to walk among scorpions, serpents and every power of Satan. The Lord said to the apostles, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy.” As a figure of the whole church, the people of Israel were fed and led in the desert among the serpents of this world. “All these things happened as a figure for us upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” Furthermore, as a figure of the church sings and says, “[Those] whom he has redeemed from the hands of their enemies he has gathered from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the sea. They wandered in the desert and dry places.” To be sure, he is describing Israel in the wilderness, for she was not gathered from those places mentioned but from the stock of Abraham, who was in Mesopotamia. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.6.

MARY WAS SAVED FROM THE PLOT OF HEROD. OECUMENIUS: “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that there they might nourish her for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” And so was the child saved from the plot of the dragon but the woman given over to destruction? Indeed not. But she too was saved by the flight into Egypt, which is a desert, and there was free from the plot of Herod. And there she was hid away and was nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, which equals three and a half years, more or less. Thus, for some such length of time the mother of God remained in Egypt, until the death of Herod, after which another message from an angel brought them to Judea. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.3-6.

THE CHURCH TRAMPLES THE IMPIOUS AND HAUGHTY. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: We understand the wilderness to be this world where Christ feeds and leads the church unto the end. In this world the church herself tramples under foot through the help of Christ haughty and impious persons as though they were scorpions and vipers and all the power of Satan. EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.6, HOMILY 9.

MONKS AND HERMITS FLEE TO THE DESERT. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: When the devil through the antichrist in whom he works arrays himself for battle against the church, those in the church who are elect and preeminent will spit upon the tumults of life and the desires of the world and flee into that desert devoid of every evil, that life which bears every virtue, as Methodius says, and these escape the assaults of people and demons who war against them. It is likely that the physical desert will also save those who flee from the plot of the apostate to the mountains and caves and holes in the earth, as was recently the case with the witnesses, for in the three and a half years are reckoned the 1,260 days during which the apostasy will rage. During this time the great judge will not think to tempt us beyond what we are able to bear, but freeing us will present to us a strong mind free from any weakness against the onslaughts upon it. And so we, fighting against the principalities and powers of darkness, may be decorated with the crown of righteousness and receive the rewards of victory. For to him who through those who are weak puts to flight the mighty principalities of the air, it is proper to ascribe victory and might, together with the Father and the life-giving Spirit forever and ever. Amen. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.6.

A WAR IN HEAVEN

OVERVIEW: When Satan exalted himself against God and made plans to bring others into his rebellion, Michael and the other angels banished him from their ranks. Intolerant of his arrogance and insolent pride, the angels threw him from heaven (OECUMENIUS, ANDREW OF CAESAREA). When Satan later warred against Christ, the angels served Christ and rendered him assistance after the temptation (ANDREW OF CAESAREA). Also now Satan continues to war against the church, which is protected by Michael, the helper of God. But Satan is again thrown out of heaven when the faithful renounce him and no longer do his will (PRIMASIUS). At the end of time too the dragon and all his apostate angels will be thrown out of heaven (VICTORINUS). Deprived of his heavenly rank, Satan departs from spiritual realities and sinks down to an earthly mind (OECUMENIUS, PRIMASIUS). After the coming of Christ, Satan increased his blasphemy and slanders even the virtues and all who love them (ANDREW OF CAESAREA). And so cast out of the virtuous saints, he enters those who love and hope in earthly things (CAESARIUS OF ARLES).

At the banishment of Satan the angels sing a hymn of triumph, for the accuser has departed from the saints and has been conquered by them (OECUMENIUS, ANDREW OF CAESAREA). They conquered the dragon by the efficacious and precious blood of Christ and now are called “brothers” by the angels, even as they are by Christ (OECUMENIUS). The victory of Christ grants authority to the church which in Peter received the keys of binding and loosing. And the angels rejoice in divine grace and judgment, for in the redeemed they behold God’s mercy and goodness, while in the lost they see his equity and judgment (PRIMASIUS). To be sure, when Satan was cast down to earth, many suffered harm. However, for the sober and wise, trials and temptations serve as a gymnastics instructor who through exercise makes them to become approved and hardened as iron. The slothful and weak, by contrast, are unstable of mind and fall to the tyranny of Satan (OECUMENIUS). For such as these the angels grieve and lament, for they imitate God in his mercy (PRIMASIUS, ANDREW OF CAESAREA).

12:7-8 | The Angels Fight the Dragon

THE DEVIL WILL BE CAST OUT OF HEAVEN. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: This is the beginning of the coming of the antichrist. However, beforehand Elijah must preach and there must be peaceful times. And when the three years and six months of the preaching of Elijah is ended, the [dragon] along with all the apostate angels is to be thrown out from heaven, where he had the power of ascent until that time. And that the antichrist is to be aroused from hell, also Paul the apostle says, “Unless the man of sin shall come first, the son of perdition, the adversary, who will exalt himself over everything which is called and is worshipped as God.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.6.

SATAN WAS BANISHED BY THE ANGELS. OECUMENIUS: The vision that is to explain the events concerning the antichrist refers to a beginning earlier than the beginning just described. This earlier beginning … is the fall of Satan from heaven. The Lord also spoke of this, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Why, then, does it say, “And there was war in heaven”? The holy Scripture says that Satan exalted himself against God, that is, he lifted up a stiff and insolent neck to him and devised an apostasy. Although God, who is by nature good and forbearing, was patient with him, the holy angels did not tolerate the arrogance of their master and banished him from their ranks. This passage speaks of this event. Michael, one of the great leaders of the angels, made war against Satan and his followers, and Satan did not prevail in this war against him. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.7-9.

MICHAEL IS THE HELPER OF GOD. PRIMASIUS: We must not think that the devil and his angels dared to fight in heaven, since he could not even tempt Job without God’s permission. Rather by “heaven” he quite manifestly indicates the church, where each one of the faithful constantly contends against spiritual evils. Therefore the apostle says, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the principalities and powers and against the world rulers of this present darkness.” And so he says here that Michael with his angels fights against the devil, because by praying according to the will of God for the church in this world and by granting her his aid, he is properly understood to be fighting for her. And so the apostle says, “Are not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?” Indeed, the name of Michael himself is interpreted to mean “the helper of God,” and so this work is properly assigned to him. Also Daniel said that in the last distress [Michael] would come for the succor of the church: “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who stands for the children of your people. And there shall be a time such as has never been since the nations first began to be. And in that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who shall be found written in the book.” The angels are said to be his by a certain manner of speaking, such as we read, “For their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.” And so it speaks of those who by believing began to be citizens in Christ and thus are his angels, because they are regarded as protected by one guardian king and as made glad by one life-giving spirit. … The devil and his angels are not only those who are similar to him in nature and will. They are also as men, who after being caught in his traps, became pursuers of such things. Indeed, because of the qualities of his will it is said about the devil, “An evil man has done this,” and about Judas, “[One of you] is a devil.” The devil is said to express himself by way of a twofold body. When he is conquered, he is said to be thrown out by those who have renounced him and have received faith in Christ and so no longer do his errors. Rather, in them “love [remains] from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith.” Or, since the church is already separated from any admixture of evil and is glorified by the future blessedness, no place is given to the devil and to his angels to seduce the evil or to tempt the good. The psalm refers to him and says, “I passed by, and lo! he was not; and I sought him, but his place was not found.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.7-8.

THE ANGELS COULD NOT TOLERATE THE PRIDE OF THE DEVIL. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: These words can refer to the first fall of the devil from his angelic rank because of his pride and envy, or it can refer to his destruction through the cross of the Lord, when, as the Lord says, “the ruler of this world is judged,” cast out of his ancient tyranny. It is probable that the holy angels, together with their chief leader, Michael, could not tolerate the pride of the devil and previously threw him out of any association they had with him, since they found in him a lack of righteousness. As Ezekiel says, he was cast out by the cherubim “from the midst of the stones of fire,” that is, as I think, from the angelic ranks. When Christ came, they served him after the temptation, since the slave, although dishonored, was once more being loathsome. We should note that, as the fathers thought, after the creation of the physical world, [the devil] was thrown down because of his arrogance and envy, although he had at first been entrusted as the prince of the air, as the apostle says. Papias also speaks of this passage: “To some of them, clearly the holy angels of that time, he gave dominion over the arrangement of the earth, and he commissioned them to exercise their dominion well.” And then he says, “But it happened that their arrangement came to nothing.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.7-8.

12:9 | The Dragon Was Thrown Down

SATAN THINKS HE IS HARMING GOD. OECUMENIUS: “And there was no longer any place” either for refuge or, indeed, for dwelling “in heaven, and he was thrown down to the earth.” [The dragon] either experienced this in a physical way, or, having been deprived of his heavenly and angelic position, he was cast down to an earthly mind. Then, as though avenging himself on God because of his fall, he harms his servants and deceives people and tempts them to apostatize from God. Since he could not harm God himself, he thinks that in this way he is harming the Master. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.7-9.

THE DEVIL CONFINED TO EARTHLY THINGS. PRIMASIUS: The wise tend to understand the “earth” here to refer to those earthly things in which by the strength of that curse the devil is known to inhabit. For it says, “Earth you shall eat all the days of your life.” Having been exiled from spiritual realities, he assailed those of the earth who were suitable to his own strengths. This is what it means that he was cast out of heaven and was thrown down to the earth. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.9.

THE DEVIL GOES TO THOSE WHO HOPE IN EARTHLY THINGS. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: The devil, as well as every unclean spirit along with their leader, were expelled from the hearts of the saints to the earth, that is, to persons who are wise only in earthly things and have their entire hope in earthly things. EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.9, HOMILY 9.

THE DEVIL BECAME EVEN MORE OF A BLASPHEMER. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: This is most proper. For heaven has nothing to do with a base, earthly mind, since darkness has nothing in common with the light. If the term the Satan occurs here with the definite article, it does not suggest that he is someone other than the devil … rather he is named with two names. He is called “devil” because he accuses and slanders the virtues and those who love them, and he has even slandered God himself to people, as he did when he suggested to Adam that God was envious. He is called “Satan” because he opposes himself against the Master and his servants. It is therefore to be noted that the downfall of the devil did not only occur after the cross, as though he were inactive in former times. Rather, as he himself confessed to Anthony, the saying of the psalm is fulfilled in him, “The swords of the enemy have come to their end.” Therefore, his banishment is the abolition of all his evil enterprises along with his total exclusion from heaven and from his rank. The blessed Justin Martyr noted that after the coming of Christ and after the devil’s sentence to Gehenna, the devil especially became a blasphemer, while in former times he did not blaspheme God so brazenly. And so it is accurately said about him, “His heart is hard as stone,” since he is unyielding in his evil. And if the expectation of punishment makes him even more evil, how would punishing either him or his followers in Gehenna through fire wash out the filth of sin? And not attaining to this, how would there be a cessation of punishment against those who think vain thoughts? COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.9.

12:10-11 | “The Kingdom of Our God and the Authority of Christ Have Come!”

THE HOLY ANGELS CALLED PEOPLE THEIR BROTHERS. OECUMENIUS: The holy angels hint at the joy they received at the banishment of Satan by singing a triumphal hymn to God, saying, “Now have the salvation and the kingdom and the power of God appeared, and the authority of his Christ,” since he is all-powerful. For by the assistance [of Christ’s authority], it says, we have conquered the enemy, and “the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them day and night before God,” has departed from us. O, the moderation of the holy angels! How much like their own Master they are! They call people their “brothers.” But why should this seem so marvelous, when even our common Master did not think it improper to call them by this name, saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you”? But why does it say that Satan has departed? Because he has been deprived of his rank and there is no longer a place for him to accuse people before God. But these gained their revenge in equal measure, for they defeated him who seemed so unconquerable when he had even dared to rise up against God. They conquered by the efficacious and beneficial and precious blood of Christ and the word of witness about him, which they regarded as more precious than their own lives. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.10-12.

THE WHOLE CHURCH RECEIVED AUTHORITY TO BIND AND TO LOOSE. PRIMASIUS: Quite clearly he is showing in which heaven we are to understand that these things occur. For in the church we know that salvation is accomplished by the victory of Christ. Through this she has also received that authority to bind what is loose and to loose what is bound, since by way of a universal sign all in the one Peter heard, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed [in heaven].” And about this the Lord says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” He is not speaking of that authority that he always possessed but of that authority in the church that [Jesus] began to have from the time he wished to be the Head among the members. … Using a manner of speech he speaks from the person of the angels and says “the accuser of our brothers.” That is, he speaks of those who in the future will be fellow citizens [of the angels] but who now are sojourners [on the earth]. For, to be sure, the faithful now are wending their way to that city, the celestial Jerusalem, in which the angels now dwell in happiness. However, since [the devil] has been thrown out of heaven and sent to the earth, they are depicted as joyful and as rejoicing together for the redemption of those whom the Lord had deigned to prepare to inhabit as a temple for himself. For the souls of the righteous are the seat of wisdom. And the angels also give praise concerning the earthly into whom [the devil] is said to have descended, for the angels peer into the depths of the divine justice and the blessed always sing to him of his mercy and judgment, for in the redeemed they recognize his goodness and in the lost they behold his equity. Since they conquered through the blood of the Lamb, they are said to have been able to overcome the devil. And there follows, “For they loved not their lives even unto death.” We must believe that they received that love that “is poured out into our hearts,” to be sure, not from ourselves but “through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.10-11.

THE SAINTS HAVE CONQUERED THEIR ACCUSER. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: Because of his accusations and calumny against people, he has been called “accuser,” which he is. The angels rejoice at his downfall, for faith has nothing to do with faithlessness. And although the saints have been accused and slandered by him, as was also Job, yet by their sufferings for the sake of Christ they have conquered him as well as all those who trusted in him. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.10-12.

12:12 | Rejoice, O Heaven, but Woe to Earth and Sea

TRIALS TRAIN THE FAITHFUL FOR APPROVAL. OECUMENIUS: When these events occurred, it says, “Rejoice all you angels of God, for you have been delivered from the bitter association with Satan.” But “woe to the earth and to the sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, for he knows that his time is short.” Someone might ask, “If by his coming down Satan was intending to do evil upon the earth and sea, why [was he allowed] to come down?” Because, for those who are sober and have hope in God, this did not occur for their harm but rather for their benefit. It trained them, as though by a gymnastics instructor, so that by these trials they might be made more approved and hardened to be like iron. But this does harm the slothful and the weak, who, since the one urging them on is himself without foundation, would quickly become evil out of themselves and exchange any hardship for what they are by nature. When he says “woe to the earth and to the sea,” he is not saying “woe to those who live upon the earth and sail upon the sea.” Rather, he calls those “earth” and “dust” who are earthly in thought and, moreover, fickle, without direction and unstable in mind. Against such as these, our common enemy makes war and enslaves the weak who are willing to submit to his tyranny. “Knowing,” it says, “that his time is short.” The time from the downfall of Satan until his judgment and condemnation, when he will be thrown aside into unending ages, is short. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.10-12.

EXULTATION FOR THE REDEEMED BUT LAMENTATION FOR THE PERISHING. PRIMASIUS: As above, in angels the church is recognized to be “heaven,” and it is proper to both to rejoice harmoniously in the Lord, for people are said to be the associates of angels and in Christ the angels serve the human nature. But there follows, “Woe to you, O earth and sea.” Just as there was exultation for those who are redeemed, there is lamentation for those who are perishing. Therefore, Ezekiel said that he saw a book having written within a lament, a song and a woe. In the lament he refers to the wailing of the penitent; in the song he refers to the joyfulness of the saints; in the woe he properly manifests the condemnation of the wicked. It is to these last that here [John] alludes when he says, “Woe to you, earth and sea and the rest, for he knows that there is little time left to him.” And so, moved by an unconquered power he confesses to the Lord and says, “Have you come to destroy us before the time.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.12.

THE SAINTS BECOME HEAVEN. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: It says “come down” to preserve the allegory. As all are in “heaven,” that is, in the church, which is rightly called heaven, when the devil is thrown out of the saints, he “comes down” to his followers who are the “earth” because of their earthly affection. He is said to be thrown out of heaven, not so that he might come to those who have already been made heaven but because of those who have not become what they might be. For the saints cannot become heaven, unless the devil has been expelled. EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.12, HOMILY 9.

ANGELS GRIEVE FOR THOSE WHO CLING TO EARTHLY THINGS. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: In imitation of God, it follows that the powers above rejoice at his downfall but grieve over those who by his plot cling to earthly things. But woe to those who dwell upon the earth, that is, clearly to those who have no citizenship in heaven but only on earth. For many upon the earth do defeat the enemy and will continue to do so, although because of the nearness of his punishment he now is especially enraged against those who fight him. And so it is necessary to think that those are unhappy who have an earthly mind and are buffeted about by the sea of life. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 12.11-12.