ACC ~ Revelation 8 v8

THE DEVIL BURNS THOSE WHO ARE NEAR TO HIM. TYCONIUS: He speaks of the devil as a burning mountain, for he consumed those near to him as though he were a fire. He is called “great” because he is one angel among others and is himself a creature. … He calls the world a “sea,” in which he saw the devil who had been cast down from heaven as a burning fire. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8.8-9.

THE SEA WILL BE PURIFIED AND MADE NEW. OECUMENIUS: The holy apostle writes to the Romans that “the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God.” And when will it be set free? When there will be “new heavens and a new earth according to his promises,” as Peter proclaims to us in his second letter.And since the earth changes that it might be freed from corruption and made new, it is necessary that also the sea suffer this same fate, for the sea is on the earth. And how would it also be purified unless by means of purifying fire? And so fire is thrown into it and changes it into blood and kills one third of those in it. This may be interpreted as something that is literal and perceptible. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8.8-9.

THE DEVIL’S TOOL FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF SOULS. PRIMASIUS: The burning mountain cast into the sea is the devil, who was sent against the peoples. A third part of the sea became blood. By “blood” he means the wisdom of the flesh, which is hostile to God. For this reason it is said that through such wisdom the human soul is destroyed. And so the apostle said, “To be wise according to the flesh is death, for flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8.8-9.

THE DEVIL IS WRATHFUL AGAINST US. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: We are aware that according to the opinion of some this shows the sea with those in it burning by a purifying fire after the resurrection. However, the mention of a third seems to us illsuited for this interpretation. For, as it is said, those who are being punished are more than those being saved. But according to the anagogical sense there is nothing wrong with thinking that the present life is figuratively called a “sea.” … As some of our teachers think, we think that the “great mountain” is the devil,who burns with the fire of wrath against us but who will be bound in Gehenna. But during the time allowed to him he will destroy a third of the islands and ships in the sea and that which swims in it, even as long ago he did to Job. For he is an enemy and an accuser against the righteous judgment of God. For “to that which one is submitted, to that one is a slave.” And it would not be foreign and contrary to the intention of the passage to say that the death of the soul comes upon those who in the sea of life blaspheme the Trinity through works and words. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8.8-9.

THE DEVIL RAGES AGAINST HIS OWN. BEDE: The second trumpet indicates the expulsion of the devil from the church that he might burn more hotly in the sea of the world. … As the Christian religion increased, the devil, puffed up with pride and burning with the fire of his own anger, was cast into the sea of the world, as the Lord said: “If you should say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast yourself into the sea,’ it will be done,” not because he was not there before but because, thrown out of the church, he began to rage even more against his own followers, inflicting upon them spiritual death by the arrogance of fleshly wisdom. For to be wise according to the flesh is death.For flesh and blood did not teach the apostles, but the Father who is in heaven. For they guided the ship of faith upon that sea that had proven itself suitable for walking to the feet of the Lord. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 8.2, 8.

Rev