ACC ~ Revelation 19 v15

CHRIST WILL JUDGE THE NATIONS. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: The sharp sword that issues from his mouth is the authority of the law and the severity of the judge. It remains sharp for justice, so that he might separate all things and reckon the deeds of every person. Then it says, “so that he might smite the nations with [the sword].” To smite means to strike, to determine, to free, to damn, to justify, to rescue, to save. … The rod of iron is the discipline of power by which he will make right all nations, equally changing them and judging them. … The wine press is hell, and the wine is the judgment by which those are restrained and subdued upon whom the righteous anger of God will have come. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.15-16.

PUNISHMENT AWAITS THOSE WHOM THE WORD DOES NOT REFORM. OECUMENIUS: The vision places [the sword] in the mouth. In this way it is indicated that all things have their existence by the Word of God and that whoever in any way disobeys him will not remain unpunished. “So that with it he might smite the nations.” Which nations? Those that are arrayed with the antichrist for war against the servants of Christ and have been gathered under him. “And he will rule them,” it says, “with a rod of iron.” Since he is intrinsically good and merciful, the Lord desired to rule these nations … with a staff of comfort, as would a shepherd and to lead them to “green pastures and to nourish them with the waters of rest.”But since they did not wish this, they will be governed with a “rod of iron,” that is, with severity and death. For certainly punishment awaits those whom the Word does not reform. To indicate that the rod of iron is that of severity and punishment, the prophet suggests the rule of the Romans about which Daniel spoke in saying, “Arise, devour much flesh,” when he spoke to God, saying, “You will rule them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces as a potter’s vessel.” However, when there existed a favorable time, God ruled them with the former rod, but at the last time, he will rule them with this latter rod. “He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.” In the Gospels, the Lord says of his own Father, “The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son.”Most appropriately, therefore, it says in the Revelation that “he will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God.” For through the judgment and recompense of the wicked, he fulfills the will of his Father in that he fulfills the righteous anger of the Father. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.11-16.

PERSECUTION AND CALAMITY SERVE TO PURIFY THE CHURCH. PRIMASIUS: The sharp sword symbolizes either the two Testaments or what we read concerning wisdom, “She carries law and kindness on her tongue,” namely, judgment and mercy. On the other hand, the rod of iron symbolizes the unbending standard of justice. … As the action of threshing separates the wheat from the chaff so that it is stored in the barn, so also the weight of the pressure of the winepress purifies the wine as it is separated from the grape skins or the oil from the dregs. The prophet referred to this when he said, “He dug out a wine vat in her.” This occurs in the church when persecution arises or some other kind of calamity happens. Then, some like dregs will run down by an irremediable fall, while others will shine more brightly by their faith which now is tested. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.15.

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: The two-edged sharp sword is the power of Christ by which the righteous are defended and the unrighteous are punished. The rod of iron is the righteousness of God by which the humble are instructed but the proud are broken to pieces as though they were a clay pot. … He treads [the winepress of God’s wrath] even now, when he permits the evil to persecute the good and leaves them to their own desires. However, later he will seek repayment, when he sends those into Gehenna who have not repented. EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 19.15, HOMILY 17.

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