ACC ~ Revelation 12 v10 - 11

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.

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