ACC ~ Revelation 8 v12

THE HIDDEN SINS OF SINNERS WILL BE REVEALED. TYCONIUS: The sun, moon and stars represent the church, a third part of which is struck. This third is a designation, not a quantity. For there are two peoples within the church, that part of God, which is compared with the light, and that part of the devil, which is surrounded by the darkness of shadows, as the Scripture says, “I have compared your mother to the night.” And this part was struck so that it might become apparent who is of God and who of the devil. It has been given over to its own sins and desires, so that their faults that have remained hidden and unknown to all might be revealed. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8.12.

OUT OF HIS GOODNESS GOD CALLS ALL TO REPENTANCE. OECUMENIUS: We have been taught by Joel the prophet that “the sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.”… And in his second letter, Peter said, “The day of the Lord will come as a thief, on which the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire.” And the Lord himself also says in Matthew, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven.” And now we are taught in this Revelation that these things will occur at the consummation of the present age. And why is it said that only a third of what is on the earth and in the sea and rivers and also [a third] of the heavenly bodies endure these calamities? This is certainly a proof of the goodness of God toward humankind that he calls to repentance the people [who live at] that time by the partial dissolution of the elements, rather than effecting their total destruction. Upon those who do not repent he finally brings a complete destruction. And the prophet says something similar, “He made a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death.” For, since the wrath of God is partial and advances and progresses as though on a road, God is opening a door for repentance and is calling people to a change of heart through fear of that which is coming to pass. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8.12-13.

DARKENED BY FALSE BROTHERS. BEDE: The fourth trumpet shows the defection of false brothers by the darkening of the stars. … The glory of the church, which shines like a star, is often darkened by false brothers, who, either in times of prosperity or in times of adversity in the world, cause it to shine less brightly by their defection. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 8.2, 12.

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