ACC ~ Revelation 16 v1 - 2

16:1 | “Pour Out the Bowls of the Wrath of God”

THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT ARE TYPES. IRENAEUS: The whole exodus of the people out of Egypt, which took place under divine guidance, was a type and image of the exodus of the church that should take place from among the Gentiles; and for this reason he leads [the church] out at last from this world into his own inheritance, which Moses the servant of God did not give but which Jesus the Son of God shall give for an inheritance. And if anyone should pay close attention to those things that are stated by the prophets concerning the [time of the] end and to those that John the disciple of the Lord saw in the Apocalypse, he will find that the nations [are to] receive the same plagues universally, as Egypt once did particularly. AGAINST HERESIES 4.30.4.

THE CHURCH INFLICTS JUDGMENT AND GIVES ABSOLUTION. TYCONIUS: The inevitable outcome of the divine command is here revealed. However, also revealed is that authority which the church especially merited to receive by divine inspiration, namely, to inflict judgment upon those who are to be damned and to grant mercifully absolution to those who have changed their ways. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16.1.

PRESENT SUFFERING MODERATES ETERNAL TORMENTS. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: From this we are led to think that until the divine vexation with the wicked distinguishes who the righteous are, the saints in no wise obtain the lot of the Jerusalem above or the priesthood in the temple of God or the [final] rest. “It is necessary,” it says, “that the plagues be completed.” By way of the plagues the wages of sin are brought to light for those who are worthy to receive them, and these obtain the judicial sentence that has been determined for them. Then the habitation in the metropolis above will be awarded to the saints. I think that no one who considers each of the plagues in relation to those persons who are found at the consummation shall make an error concerning what is fitting and right. For being beneficent to humankind, God will determine that the unending torments in the coming age be lessened, but that in the present life the avenging scourges be brought upon those who deserve them, either through the prophets, Enoch and Elijah, or through the change of the elements or through the sufferings which occur from wars. Through such scourges there will be a moderation in the payment for sins. However, let us pray that we be chastised in a fatherly manner and not be scourged with harsh treatment by the wrath that comes from the Lord—“for there is no health in our flesh because of his anger”—so that having cleansed through the tears of repentance our robes which have been stained by sins, and being dressed as for a wedding, we might enter into the bridal chamber of Christ, our God, to whom belong all glory, honor and worship together with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16.1.

16:2 | Sores Upon Those with the Mark

RUMORS OF WARS. OECUMENIUS: We can interpret these things in a twofold manner. Either these events will occur literally at the time of the consummation, or they are to be understood allegorically. When the Lord addressed his disciples about the signs of the end, he spoke openly about the evil events that will happen at that time, saying, “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; and nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and plagues and earthquakes in various places. All of this is the beginning of the birth pangs.” And a little later he said, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.” As each of the seven bowls is poured out, the events said to have occurred in the present passages should be interpreted in the light of those things [the Lord said]. In this case, the sores that come from the first bowl would symbolize the tribulations and distresses that vex the souls of people at that time because of the rumors of wars. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16.2-7.

MANY FROM THE NATIONS WILL FOLLOW THE ANTICHRIST. PRIMASIUS: The character of a mortal wound is such that the smaller the area on the body that is infected, the greater the likelihood that the remaining healthy part of the body can serve for the restoration of the health of the person. And although the preaching of the Lord, Jesus Christ, assists toward the salvation of those who believe yet is a witness of condemnation for those who do not believe, it is possible that from this spot the terrible wound is regarded as inflicting the whole body of those who are lost. For we read about Christ, “Behold, this [child] is set for the ruin and resurrection of many, and for a sign that is spoken against.” This is especially true of the people of the Jews, from whom it is said the antichrist is going to arise. By this one sin they lost the righteous ordinances of the law, if they were able to obey them, and they themselves perished without recourse to cure. For they did not wish to accept the Christ whom had been promised to them, and representing them the elder brother says to his father, “Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends,” and following. He represents a people who despised the Lamb, disdaining as it were what is more on the right, for the place of the lambs is on the right, and who favored the kid goat, deviating as it were to the left to be damned, which is to say, they despised the Christ and accepted the antichrist. Therefore, it probably means here that a huge and terrible sore has come upon those persons who have the mark of the beast’s name and who worship its image, so that confounded by the singular guilt of this wound, they are sentenced to the punishment of eternal torments. Concerning this sin, as if of a most terrible sore, the Lord said, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.” This is an incurable sore. To be sure, [the Jews] will have many who follow them by a most wicked imitation, and therefore he has spoken indefinitely about those persons who have the mark of the beast’s name, lest someone think that he was speaking only about the people of the Hebrews. For in a good sense the law calls those peoples the sons of Abraham who imitate him by faith, not that they were born of him according to the flesh but because they confessed Christ, who was from the tribe of Judah and who had victoriously resurrected from the dead. So, in a similar yet bad sense the Jews will have disciples from the nations who by accepting and following the antichrist, who will come from the tribe of Dan, will be marked as their accomplices by the mark of their transgression and will likewise be their partners in the penalties of an eternal damnation. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16.2.

THE SINS OF THE HAUGHTY ARE SORES IN THEIR SOULS. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: All of these plagues are spiritual, and they occur in the soul. For at that time the whole people of the impious will be unharmed by any plague of the body, because they were undeserving to be chastised in the present age, and it was as though they had received all the power of causing pain. However, spiritually all who are impious and haughty are going to suffer, for their sins of will and their mortal sins are sores in their souls. EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 16.2, HOMILY 12.

GRIEF OOZES FROM THE HEARTS OF APOSTATES. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: The bowl here, just as the cup, is to be interpreted as a tormenting activity that, when poured out by the angel, produces an evil sore, which here is symbolic of grief that throbs in the heart even as puss oozes from a sore. This grief occurs in the hearts of apostates, for since they are punished by plagues sent from God, they receive no healing from the antichrist whom they have made their god. Perhaps also their bodies are physically wounded as a reproach to their souls, which have been wounded by the arrows of that deceitful rogue, the devil. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16.2.

THE IMPIOUS RECEIVE THE PUNISHMENTS THEY GAVE TO THE FAITHFUL. BEDE: Those who preach pour out the bowls of the wrath of God in a twofold manner. By a spiritual judgment, they inflict the punishments [given out by] the impious upon those very same impious, as Peter said to Simon, “May your money perish with you.” Or they reveal [the impious] to the church by preaching, as Peter said, “From of old their condemnation has not been idle, and their destruction has not been asleep.” EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 16.2.