Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Here the Prophet returns, after some digression in chapter XIV concerning the day of judgment and the damnation of the wicked, to chapter XIII, namely to the times of Antichrist: whence he here begins to bring forth seven angels pouring out the seven vials of God's wrath. First then, in verse 2, he sees the Saints who conquered the beast, standing upon the sea of glass, playing harps and singing the canticle of Moses and of the Lamb. For repeatedly God through John here sets forth and inculcates the glory of the Saints, that He may animate the faithful to the contest, especially against Antichrist. Secondly, in verse 3, the temple in heaven is opened, and from it come forth the seven angels clothed in clean linen and golden girdles, to whom severally are given the several vials of God's wrath, which contained the seven last plagues of the world, wherefore the temple was filled with smoke from the Majesty of God.
Vulgate Text: Apocalypse 15:1-8
1. And I saw another sign in heaven, great and wonderful: seven angels having the seven last plagues. For in them is filled up the wrath of God. 2. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire, and them that had overcome the beast, and his image, and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having the harps of God: 3. And singing the canticle of Moses, the servant of God, and the canticle of the Lamb, saying: Great and wonderful are Thy works, O Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, O King of ages. 4. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and magnify Thy name? For Thou only art holy: for all nations shall come, and shall adore in Thy sight, because Thy judgments are manifest. 5. And after these things I looked; and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: 6. And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed with clean and white linen, and girt about the breasts with golden girdles. 7. And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden vials, full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. 8. And the temple was filled with smoke from the majesty of God, and from His power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
Verse 1: Another Sign in Heaven Great and Wonderful
Verse 1. "And I saw another sign in heaven great and wonderful, seven angels, having the seven last plagues," — namely, the last which God shall inflict upon sinners in this life. Whence He adds: "For in them is filled up the wrath of God." These plagues He shall recount in order in the following chapter. It is a hysterologia: for this verse is to be placed after the second, third and fourth. For first John saw the Saints standing upon the sea of glass, and singing the canticle of Moses: for after this vision he adds, in verse 5: "And after these things I looked, and behold, the temple was opened, and there came forth seven angels having the seven plagues." Yet he sets these plagues forth here in passing and in general, in order to signify that all these matters about the sea of glass and the Saints standing upon it have a bearing on this — namely, that they, as it were already victors and triumphant, send forth and shoot from heaven these plagues against the impious, as enemies of God, and equally their own. So it is here, as it were, a proposition, or summary of the things to be said in these two chapters, which begin to be unfolded in verse 2, and are continued to the end of the next chapter. Now these plagues are called the last not mathematically, but morally — namely, because they will be near the end of the world and will be among the last. For otherwise, precisely after these plagues there will follow the plague and destruction of Babylon, and after that the plague and destruction of Antichrist, Gog and Magog, and so on.
Verse 2: A Sea of Glass Mingled with Fire
2. "And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing upon the sea of glass, having the harps of God." — First, Alcazar: The sea of glass in chapter IV, he says, signified the brazen sea which Solomon made in the temple; but here it signifies the very waves of the Red Sea congealed. For here allusion is made to the Hebrews' passage dry-shod through the Red Sea. Therefore the figure of the sea of glass is here similar to the Red Sea, yet so that the waters appear burning and congealed into glassy solidity. For the sea of glass here is the same as a frozen and solid sea. So here the Apostles and the first faithful are signified, as new Israelites, having entered the sea of the Gentiles, walking upon it as if upon a solid sea unhurt, and igniting it with the fire and flames of the Gospel — of which thing as a symbol St. Peter, supported by the grace of Christ, walked upon the sea and went to Christ, Matt. 14:28. Therefore those standing upon the sea of glass are those very 144 thousand sealed, of whom in chapters 7 and 14. For the ancient Israelites passed through the Red Sea, but it was divided, and so they passed below — namely in the channel — not above; but these new faithful, treading upon the sea, the earth, and all earthly things, stand and walk above sea and land.
Second, Aureolus thinks the piety and zeal of Charlemagne are here described. Thus the sea of glass is the Gallican people, who passing through the waters of the sea — that is, of baptism — into the faith of Christ, so steadfastly clung to it that they received the title of "Most Christian." This sea of glass was mingled with fire — that is, with the zeal and fervor of faith, which subdued the beast (namely the Saxons, Saracens, and Huns), and either inflamed them with the love of Christ, or shook them off and slew them. They sing the song of the Lamb because Charlemagne ordained that all the Gallican Churches should follow the chant and office of the Roman Church. This is an elegant allusion and adaptation.
Third, Primasius, Richardus, Ansbertus, and others understand by the sea of glass the Sacrament of Baptism; for this is united with the Red Sea, to which here allusion is made, as is clear from 1 Corinthians 10:1. It is glassy, because it makes Christians pure and sincere as glass. It is mingled with fire, because it bestows the Holy Spirit. Or, as Ansbertus says: the sea which by fire and heat is converted into solid glass is faith formed and solidified by charity; or, as others say, the fire here is the ardor of persecutions; whence upon this sea the conquerors of Antichrist stand as if triumphant. Thus Viegas.
Fourth, and genuinely, Ribera takes the sea of glass to mean this world, or earth, air, and water, which are translucent like glass; likewise the men of this age, who are mingled with the fire of the world's conflagration, which God will send upon the world as a punishment for sins, of which chapter 14, verse 18. For this perilous and tempestuous age is called a sea, as I said in chapter 12, last verse. It is called glassy, first, because it is so named by the poets, since it is translucent; second, because it has the color of glass; third, because it is fragile like glass. Thus the sea of glass is here taken differently than in chapter IV, verse 6: for there the sea of glass signifies the crystalline heaven, or rather the empyrean, and the angels who are in it about the throne of God. But here the sea of glass is said to be mingled with fire, and the Saints are said to stand upon it, because, namely, they have crossed and overcome this age holily, prudently, and happily, and now stand as if victors on the shore which overhangs the sea, and are above the sea — because they have already reached the haven of salvation, and as blessed dwell in heaven. For he alludes to the Red Sea which the Hebrews, with Moses as leader, crossed dry-shod when Pharaoh pursued them, Exodus 14. For in like manner the Saints cross this age, so that they remain unharmed by Pharaoh — that is, by the devil and Antichrist: whence also they sing the song of Moses. The Poet says with a similar figure:
"Sea-monsters play in the glassy brine."
Just as in Genesis 1:1 the מים maim — that is, waters — are said to be twofold, and consequently the שמים scamaim — that is, the heavens — are also twofold (namely, some above the firmament, others below the firmament): so also this sea of glass is twofold — one sublunary and earthly, the other heavenly; and from the latter into this one the Saints cross over and ascend. The sublunary one is treated here; the heavenly in chapter IV, verse 6. If, however, someone should contend that the sea is to be taken in the same way here as in chapter IV, here he is saying that the Saints stand upon, that is, beside the sea of glass, or in the sea of glass itself, that is, in heaven; nay even, the Saints can properly be said to stand upon heaven, that is, upon the concave part of heaven, even though they do not stand upon the convex: for the concave is the lower, indeed the lowest part; but the convex is the higher, indeed the highest part and surface of the heavens. This heaven is mingled with fire, that is, with the fervor of the angels' charity.
Morally, learn here that all the pomp, riches, joys, and glory of this age are fragile as glass; whence the Arabic for "sea of glass" translates "sea of glass-stuff," as if it were wholly made of glass and were glassy. Rightly the tragedian said: "Fortune is glassy; while it shines, it is broken." And again: "If glass is worth so much, how much is a pearl?" If the earth is so beautiful, how beautiful will heaven be? If wicked Nero, Decius, Diocletian were so glorious, how glorious are St. Peter, Paul, John? Excellently Horace, in book II of the Satires, satire 3:
"And he will be mad whom glassy fame has captured:"
"Glassy," that is, fragile — as if to say: he is mad who hunts after fame, a thing as fragile as glass.
Excellently Boethius, Meter 3, book II:
"If the world's own form rarely stays the same, if it changes through so many vicissitudes — believe in the falling fortunes of men, believe in fleeting goods. It is settled, and fixed by eternal law, that nothing born should remain."
For, as Aristotle says in book I of On the Heavens: "Born and corruptible follow upon one another mutually." And Seneca, Epistle 88: "For him to whom birth has fallen, it remains to die." And Maximianus:
"All things seek again their origins and look for their mother."
Old is that adage of Varro: "Man is a bubble," concerning which Faustus:
"Mortal bodies are subject to a fixed fate, and all things, fleeting in headlong time, rush onward. So too quickly does the human race perish in a brief hour, as a swelling bubble of rainwater dissolves."
"What is man," says Seneca, "but a battered vessel of any sort, and any fragile thing tossed about? What is man? A most weak and fragile body, naked by his very nature, unarmed, in need of others' help, exposed to every insult of fortune, intolerant of cold and toil, woven of weak and fluid stuff. Smell and taste, weariness and wakefulness, moisture and food — without which he cannot live — are deadly to him." Valerius Maximus, book VI: "Things which are called the strength and resources of men are too fleeting and fragile, and worthy of children's rattles. They flow in suddenly, suddenly slip away; in no place, on no person do they rest on stable roots; but driven hither and thither by the most uncertain breath of fortune, those whom they had raised aloft, by an unforeseen recoil, abandoned, they miserably plunge into the depths of disasters." Add to these that saying of Seneca: "It is a point, and even less than a point, in which we dwell." Furthermore, just as joys and prosperities, so also any sorrows and adversities of this world are glassy: enemies and persecutors (such as Antichrist will be at the end of the world, of whom we treat here) are glassy, and like the fictitious and glassy soldiers which Ovid in his poem to Piso paints in the game of latrunculi (chess):
"More cunningly is the open board varied with the playing-piece, and wars are waged with glassy soldiery."
All enemies, then, are glassy; all diseases glassy: poverty is glassy, infamy is glassy, labors are glassy.
Wherefore holy and wise men do not fear these glassy enemies, but stand above this sea of glass, and lifting their minds to heaven, say with St. Jerome that Socratic saying: "I ascend the ether, and I look down upon both sun and earth." For they perceive, and obtain from God, that which was said by Isaiah and promised to them, in chapter 58:14: "Then shalt thou delight upon the Lord, and I will lift thee up above the heights of the earth, and I will feed thee with the inheritance of Jacob thy father." See what is said there. These then are the Anicii, that is, the unconquered; and Nicetæ, that is, the victors and triumphers. Franciscus Zazzera, in his treatise On the Family of the Anicii, writes from St. Gaudentius, St. Thomas, Giselbertus, and others that this family takes its origin from a legion of Greek soldiers called Anician, that is, "unconquered": and from it came St. George the soldier and martyr. Again, from it were born unconquered champions, Virgins, Martyrs, Doctors, Pontiffs — such as St. Paulinus Bishop of Nola, St. Benedict founder of the Order, St. Scholastica, St. Gregory, St. Thomas, Severinus Boethius, of whom Giselbertus accordingly truly says: "Worthily was he called Anicius for fortitude, Severinus for gravity, Boethius for help, Manlius for merits." Such likewise are these Anicii of St. John, who therefore stand as victors above the sea of glass. The anthracite stone, kindled and as a coal, when cast into fire is extinguished as among the dead; but on the contrary when sprinkled with water it flares up, says Isidore, book XVI of the Origins, ch. xiii. Such is the strength of heavenly constancy, which exercised by adversities shines forth the more. "Contraries have ever made the way for virtue." Edward II, king of England, used to paint as his emblem a spider weaving its web, which a violent wind blows through, with this motto: "I shall go more burning." The same was the mind of Alexander the Great, as is clear from Plutarch, On the Fortune of Alexander. What now should the Christian Alexander think, what should he do?
"The harps of God." — Concerning these harps of exultation and jubilation I have spoken in chapter 14, verse 2, and chapter 5, verse 8.
Verse 3: And Singing the Canticle of Moses
3. "And singing the canticle of Moses." — Not that one in Deuteronomy 32: "Hear, O heavens," but that which is contained in Exodus 15: "Let us sing to the Lord, for He has gloriously been magnified," by which Moses and the Hebrews after the crossing of the Red Sea give thanks to God for so miraculous a passage of the sea and deliverance from Pharaoh. As therefore Moses and the Hebrews then, joyful and grateful, sang to God this eucharistic song and, as it were, victory hymn: "Let us sing to the Lord," etc.; so Christ, who is the Christian Moses, and His faithful and the Saints, who are the true Israelites, after they have happily passed through the sea of this age, with Pharaoh — that is, the devil and Antichrist — drowned in it, standing as victors above it shall sing and say: "Let us sing to the Lord, for He has gloriously been magnified: the horse and the rider He has cast into the sea;" because, namely, at our prayers and merits He will now punish Antichrist together with his followers with the seven vials of His wrath in this life, and presently with the fire of Gehenna in the next.
"And the canticle of the Lamb." — The song of the Lamb and of Moses is one and the same, but it is called Moses' as the figure and type; and the Lamb's as the exemplar and antitype, and because by this song the Blessed praise the Lamb. Alcazar adds that this song in the literal sense signifies both — namely both the passage of the faithful through the sea of the Gentiles to faith and salvation, and the passage of the Hebrews through the Red Sea. For since this was a type for them, Moses seems to have included both — the type as well as the antitype — in the same literal sense: for thus St. John seems here to imply and explain concerning the antitype. But it is clear that the literal sense of that song of Moses is solely about the Hebrews' crossing of the Red Sea into Canaan; the allegorical, about the passage of the Gentiles by faith and baptism into the Church, as is clear from 1 Corinthians ch. 10, v. 1; the anagogical, finally, about the passage of the faithful by death or martyrdom into heaven — which alone John here embraces literally. For he speaks literally of the triumph, joy, and glory of the Blessed, which Moses anagogically signified and represented in the passage of the Red Sea, and described in this his song of Exodus 15. See what is said there. Let them therefore say, who have passed through the sea of this life prudently and happily, and now from the high mountains of eternity look down upon it, and exult: "We have passed through fire and water, and Thou hast brought us into refreshment."
"Just and true are Thy ways, O King of ages." — "Ways," that is, Thy works and judgments are just, because Thou now takest just vengeance on the impious and our persecutors. The same are "true," that is, faithful, because Thou faithfully snatchest the Saints here afflicted out of dangers, and rewardest them and crownest them, as Thou didst promise: as of old Thou didst snatch the Hebrews crossing the Red Sea away from Pharaoh and the Egyptians pursuing them, when Thou didst plunge them into the sea.
"King of ages." — The Interpreter reads αἰώνων, that is, "of the ages"; some now read ἁγίων, that is, "of the saints"; but Andreas and Aretas read ἐθνῶν, that is, "of the nations." He alludes to Daniel, ch. 14 (or vii), v. 31, where God is called "the One living forever"; in Chaldee, "living of the ages"; in Syriac, "giant of the ages." See what is said there.
Verse 4: For Thou Only Art Holy
4. "For Thou only art holy." — For "holy" the Greek is ὅσιος, that is, holy, just, pure, innocent; this then is "pius": from which is said "to expiate" and "to atone," meaning to purify and cleanse. So Ribera. But more simply and just as piously you may take ὅσιος as meaning holy and "pious," that is, merciful — He who shows and reveals bowels of compassion. As if to say: Thou, O Lord, of old as a father and mother didst show to Moses and the Hebrews the bowels of mercy and compassion, when Thou didst deliver them from Pharaoh, and lead them safely through the Red Sea into Canaan; but now Thou hast shown the same things much more abundantly to Christ and to Thy Christian saints and elect, when Thou didst lead them safe and unharmed through the sea of this turbulent and tempestuous age, in which so many souls perish, to the haven of salvation.
"For all nations shall come." — The "for" here is not causal, but διηγητικόν, that is, explanatory and denotative, and is put in place of "that"; as if to say: Who shall not magnify Thee, O Lord, saying that Thou alone art just and holy, as Thou hast shown in our protection and salvation; and that all nations shall worthily come to adore Thee; and that Thy judgments, both upon the pious and upon the impious, are clear and manifest? Or more briefly and clearly: Who shall not magnify Thee, O Lord, saying that Thou alone art holy, and that all nations shall come to adore Thee, and that Thy judgments are manifest? So in Isaiah chapter iii, verse 10, it is said: "Say to the just, for it is well," that is, that it shall be well with him. Otherwise Alcazar takes the "for" properly and causally, in this sense: "Who shall not magnify Thee, O Lord?" — as if to say: Most certainly all shall magnify Thee, because Thou hast converted all the Gentiles through Thy Christ and the Apostles to Thee and to Thy worship. For Alcazar takes all these things of the first conversion of the Gentiles to God and Christ through the Apostles, as I have often said.
Verse 5: The Temple of the Tabernacle of Testimony Was Opened
5. "And after these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony was opened," — that is, the temple which is the tabernacle of testimony, or in which the testimony — that is, the law, and the tablets of the law or Decalogue — was kept. This temple, and especially its more sacred part, namely the Holy of Holies, signifies the place of the Blessed. For in the Holy of Holies was the ark with the tablets of the law, that it might be signified that in the keeping of the law, as in the root and cause, beatitude is virtually contained: wherefore these seven angels seem here to come forth from there to John, as future avengers of the violated law of God. John therefore saw this temple in heaven like the tabernacle of Moses, and from its Holy of Holies these angels of God, avengers and authors of the plagues, come forth. Indeed Alcazar by the "temple of the tabernacle" precisely takes the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle; for this was, as it were, the temple, that is, the choir of the tabernacle. Whence, Psalm 28, verse 2, Aquila and Symmachus translate "temple" as "oracle," which was in the Holy of Holies.
Verse 6: And the Seven Angels Came Out
6. "And there came out the seven angels." — First, Alcazar expounds these angels and plagues mystically, namely so that they appear to be plagues but in reality are the greatest benefits by which God fought against the Gentile world and subjugated it to faith and to Christ. His reasoning is: for the last of these plagues is the dividing of Babylon, which precedes its destruction. The destruction of Babylon, however, signifies the conversion of Rome to Christ. For after that overthrow of Babylon there follow the thousand years of peace, ch. 20. Therefore, he says, it must be held for certain that these plagues will happen before the beginning of the thousand years; they signify, therefore, the mystical war of the Gospel preaching, by which God battled for the Church against paganism. For just as the plagues of the seven trumpets in ch. 8 were sent upon the Jews, so here the seven plagues are sent upon the Gentiles for their conversion. Moreover these seven plagues are: first, the shame of the Gentiles when they are reproved of their sins; second, the cruelty of persecution against the preachers of the Gospel; third, marvelous savagery against even those Gentiles converted to the faith; fourth, the gravest offense taken from the wisdom of the Christians; fifth, utter blindness in the very persecution; sixth, marvelous persecution after the invasion of Rome; seventh, the manifest division of the city of Rome. For in the time of the emperor Constantine and St. Sylvester the Pontiff, the number of Christians at Rome so grew that it could be equaled with the Gentiles, and then Rome was as it were divided into Christians, Gentiles, and neutrals. The first angel, he says, is St. Paul, who is foremost among all men in convicting of sins, that he may thus show that all need the grace of God: "For all," he himself says, "have sinned, and need the glory (that is, the glorious grace) of God." The second angel is St. Peter; for he by his preaching irritated Nero. The third is St. Clement the Pope, who is said to have been outstanding in bringing very many Gentiles to the faith and animating them to martyrdom. The fourth is another Pontiff by whose efforts the wisdom of the Christians shone forth strongly — for example, Alexander the First, who was sixth from St. Peter, and by his wisdom and holiness converted many noble Romans. The fifth will be he who by his preaching stirred up the rabid persecution that followed afterwards, in which there stood out chiefly on the one hand the blindness of the Gentiles, on the other the most steadfast patience of God and the Christians. The sixth will be he who shone forth more in the conversion of many senators. See whether this is St. Fabian. The seventh seems to have been St. Sylvester. For under him and through him occurred that great division at Rome between Christians and Pagans. Furthermore these plagues are called "the last" not because they are ultimate, but because they are a new, admirable, and unheard-of kind of God's vengeance, by which He made friends out of enemies; and because through them God put an end to sin and paganism, as well as to His own wrath and offense; for this is what He says: "For in them is fulfilled," — in Greek ἐτελείωθη, that is, has been filled up — "the wrath of God." Thus he, in his own way, after his own line of argument, ingeniously and aptly but mystically and allegorically, not literally, not genuinely.
Second, others apply these to the plagues which God sends upon sinners on account of the seven capital sins.
Third, our Viegas thinks that here a definite and fixed number is put for an indefinite one — namely, that the seven vials and plagues signify many.
Fourth, Rupertus, Bede, Haymo, Richardus, Ansbertus, and others by these seven angels understand all (for the number seven is a symbol of universality) preachers, both those who have been from the beginning of the world onward, and especially those who shall be at its end. They shall pour the vials of God's wrath upon the earth — that is, they shall declare the terrible punishments decreed by God for sinners, and that from golden vials, that is, from charity; their plagues, therefore, are warnings of plagues. They come out of the temple, because they will be devoted to contemplation and prayer. So Christ, spending the night in prayer to God, by day used to preach, says St. Gregory in book VI of the Moralia, ch. 16. Third, they are clothed "with clean linen," that is, with purity of life and mortification. For linen, because it is variously and long macerated and carded, is a symbol of mortification, as I taught at Jeremiah 13:1. Fourth, they have girdles — that is, continence — and these golden, on account of charity; or, as Primasius, on account of the wisdom in which they excel. Others for "linen" read "stone," because the preacher should be adamant by patience, but a magnet by gentleness. Whence Nazianzen says of St. Athanasius in the oration on his praises: "Athanasius became adamant to those striking him, a magnet to the doubting."
But these are tropological. For literally, true angels are here to be understood, who shall pour out upon men the judgments and punishments of God — which are symbolically signified by the vials — at the end of the world; for these are the ministers and executors of divine providence and vengeance. Wherefore Ribera probably thinks that these seven angels of the vials are the same as those who in chapter 1, verse 4, are called "the seven Spirits who are before the throne." And in chapter 8, verse 2, are called the seven angels "standing in the presence of God, and seven trumpets were given them."
"Clothed in pure linen." — So it is to be read with the Roman and Complutensian editions, namely λίνῳ, that is, with linen, not λίθῳ, that is, with stone, as some read. The vesture here signifies the brightness and purity of the angels: the "girdles" represent their chastity, the "golden" their charity. Second, the clean and white linen signifies the purity of the divine judgments which the angels exercise and execute in pouring out the vials, and the bright and clean equity of divine justice, free from any passion of favor or hatred, or any fault. Third, white vesture is a symbol of joy. For the angels, when the wicked are punished, as those guilty of injured divine majesty: because they see fulfilled in them the divine plan, and that the honor of their Lord and God, injured by them, is being avenged. Others who read "clothed with pure stone" explain it thus, as if to say: The angels by this their clothing, namely the pure stone, that is, by clear and shining gems, represent that God has promised and prepared for those who, broken by the punishments inflicted by Him Himself, correct and amend their lives, the most beautiful and most precious little stones and gems, as well as golden belts, that is, the adornment of virtues and of every grace and glory, most rich and most beautiful.
Verse 7: One of the Four Living Creatures Gave the Seven Vials
7. "And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven vials." — Note: He "gave" these vials to the angels in the temple before their going out; for this is clearly stated in the preceding verse, when it says: "And the seven angels, having the seven plagues, came out of the temple." Therefore "He gave" means He had given.
Now "one," that is, the first living creature, namely the lion, as is clear from chapter IV, verse 7. For the lion is the symbol of strength, wrath and vengeance. It is therefore signified that God and the angels in pouring out these plagues and vials are like lions about to roar and rage against the wicked. Now those who by the four living creatures in chapter IV understand the four Evangelists, explain it thus: One of the Evangelists who wrote the Evangelical law, by which the wicked rebels against God will be judged and condemned, symbolically appeared to me John giving to the seven angels the seven vials of the wrath of God; because on account of the Evangelical law published by Him and neglected by the wicked, these plagues will be given to the angels, that by them they may punish the wicked transgressors of the Evangelical law — so Ribera and Viegas. Furthermore, this one Evangelist is St. Luke, says Aureolus. For he foretells the most grievous punishments for the inhabitants of Jerusalem and for Antichristians at the end of the world, in chapter xxi and elsewhere. Others, however, take it to be St. Mark: for among the four living creatures, the symbols of the four Evangelists, he is signified by the lion.
But because these four living creatures of Ezekiel and John are not men, nor literally Evangelists, but primary angels, namely Cherubim attendants of God, as I showed in chapter IV, hence it must be said that this one living creature was the first of these four Cherubim, who as the highest president of divine justice gave to the seven lower angels these plagues of punishments, that is, the power of inflicting these plagues on the wicked, and ordered and commanded that they be inflicted on them.
"Seven vials." — Isidore, book XX, chapter xx, thinks that vials (phialas) are so called from hyalos, that is, glass, because they were made of glass. But the spelling is against this; for phiala is written with i, ὑάλη with y; furthermore in phiala there is added the letter ph: for although the rough breathing or aspiration which is in ὑάλη is often turned by the Latins into the letter s — as from ὗς comes sus, from ὕλη sylva, from ὑπέρ super — yet it is never turned into ph. Add that vials were often customarily formed of gold, not of glass: whence Juvenal, Satire 5, calls vials golden. There also exists in Martial, book XIV, an epigram on a golden vial. For from vials kings and princes used to drink. Whence concerning Jael, who gave milk to the prince Sisera, and so put him to sleep and killed him, it is said in Judges v, 25: "To him who asked water she gave milk, and in a princely vial offered butter." Better therefore the Greeks think the vial is so called as it were πιάλη, ἀπὸ τοῦ πίνειν (π changed to φ), that is from drinking; for hence it is called πιάλιος, that is moist, drinkable.
Now as regards the meaning, Alcazar thinks these vials were of sacrifice; for in sacrifice wine was poured out from vials, that is, poured forth to God, as is clear from Exodus chapter xxxvii, 16, and chapter xxv, verse 29. The liquid in this vial to be poured out to God is the wrath of God, that is, the blood of Christ, and His most effective power. For Christ in His wounds and blood received and exhausted all God's indignation and wrath against mankind. Therefore the angels, that is the Apostles, poured out for the Gentiles in their mystical sacrifice, that is in the preaching of the Gospel, this libation of the blood of Christ, when by its power they converted them, washed them, and reconciled them to God. Again, in the vials there is an allusion to the sacrifice of the Eucharist, which is made in vials, that is chalices: for by its power it came about that the Apostles and their preaching were of such efficacy that they converted so many thousands of men, indeed all the nations, to Christ.
But these are not only mystical, but also analogical. For they transform wrath into love and into the blood of Christ, since it is manifest that here we are dealing with wrath properly so called, and with the sevenfold vengeance which God will pour out through the seven angels against the wicked at the end of the world.
Wherefore rather say that these vials are of the sacrifice which will be offered to divine justice and vengeance through the slaughter and destruction of the wicked; for this is a victim honorable and acceptable to God, of which it is said in Isaiah xxxiv, 6: "A victim of the Lord in Bosra, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom." And Ezekiel xxxix, 17: "Come together from every side to my victim which I slay for you."
And so literally the vials, says Pannonius, are the decrees, sentences and judgments of God, in which His wrath — that is, the vengeance and punishments to be inflicted by God on the wicked — are kept as treasures of divine justice, like vinegar, balsam, and other distilled things; or rather like incense, spices and perfumes are kept and set out in vials. For thus Scripture often says that God prepares and pours out for the wicked the cup or vial of His wrath. For it alludes to the master of the banquet, or symposiarch, who at the table once tempered and poured out for each guest his own cup: for thus also God, as it were a symposiarch and master of measures, gives to each person his lot as a cup, and decrees and distributes to each sinner his own punishment which he deserves.
Note first: The wrath and vengeance of God is a precious thing; hence it is kept in golden vials like incense. For it is itself the act of the highest justice, by which the guilty are punished, and the innocent are deterred from sin and harm.
Secondly, this wrath is not in a wide bowl, but in a vial which has a narrow and confined mouth, says Viegas; because the mercy of the same God restrains these judgments and decrees of vengeance of God, that they should not pour forth, but only drip wrath. Hence Ezekiel xx, 46, it is said: "Drop toward the south," "so that, says St. Jerome there, not the whole wrath of God may seem to be poured out, but only a kind of drop and part. But if the drop is of such severity, what is to be reckoned in whole showers?"
But although vials sometimes signify vessels of narrow mouth — as when we call vials those glass flasks in which rose water, aqua vitae, aqua fortis, etc., are kept — yet in this place vials are to be understood as wide and broad, such as bowls, says Alcazar. This is clear first, because such bowls are the vials from which one drinks, of which it is said in Amos vi, 6: "Drinking wine in vials." And Zechariah ix, 15: "Drinking they shall be inebriated as with wine, and they shall be filled like vials." Much more such are the vials from which one offers libation and sacrifices, as these are: hence in them was placed and burned incense and perfume, as is clear both from Exodus xxv, 29, and from what was said here in chapter v, verse 8, where the 24 elders are said to have vials full of perfumes. Secondly, because these vials are of the extreme and greatest wrath of God: hence they will not drip it, but in the manner of a bowl will pour it all out at once on the wicked at the end of the world. Thirdly, these vials are golden, because God's vengeance in this life proceeds from love, not from hatred. For He wishes by it to correct and heal man's perverse mind; it is otherwise in the next life and in Gehenna. When therefore you are punished by God here, think that God loves you; but when He leaves your sins unpunished, think that He is angry with you, and is preparing Gehenna for you; and that He therefore gives you paradise here, that the slight goods which you have done may be repaid with present and slight pleasure. See II Maccabees vi, 12.
In like manner the angels proceed to punish out of charity, that by these penalties they may lead sinners to amendment of life. In this therefore let judges and Prelates imitate God and the angels, that they inflict punishments on the guilty not from anger or hatred, but from love: from love, I say, both of the guilty themselves, and of the commonwealth and the common good, that they may by the terror of punishments keep this immune and unharmed from the violence and crimes of the wicked.
Verse 8: The Temple Was Filled with Smoke from the Majesty of God
8. "And the temple was filled with smoke from the majesty of God, and from His power" (that is, might; for in Greek it is δύναμις). — He alludes to the dedication of both the temple and the tabernacle; for at that time God covered each with mist and cloud, as is clear from Exodus xl, 32, and III Kings viii, 10. So also Moses and Aaron, on account of the tumult of the people, fled to the tabernacle, Numbers xvi, 34, where it is said: "The cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared." So also Ezekiel x, 3: "The cloud, he says, will fill the court, and the house was filled with cloud." The same happened to Isaiah in chapter vi, verse 4: "And the house was filled with smoke."
For "majesty" in Greek there is δόξα, that is, glory, brightness. Alcazar explains it as if to say: From the brightness of the preaching of the Gospel in the primitive Church arose "smoke," that is, the greatest danger to the Church, so that it seemed about to be burned and reduced to ashes by the Gentiles; but God turned this danger into a defense. For the power, that is, strength, glory and brightness of God is perfected by the weakness, lowliness and abjection of men, while He so protects, advances and exalts apostles so weak, rude and ignoble, exposed to so many dangers, that they subject the whole world to themselves and to Christ. Hence he adds: "And no one was able to enter into the temple, until the seven plagues should be finished;" not that no one entered into the Church of Christ, but that the radiance and splendor of the Church did not appear, and consequently those who entered into it seemed to throw themselves into smoke, labor, and danger; but at the pouring out of the seventh plague, soon this smoke was turned into brightness, deformity into beauty, danger and tears into consolation and security.
But I say: This smoke symbolically signifies first, the obscurity and incomprehensibility of the judgments and punishments which the divine majesty and power will execute upon the wicked at the end of the world, namely so that men then living on earth, seeing so many and such great plagues, and such great power and vengeance of God, will be as it were dwelling in darkness, astonished and not knowing whither these things tend, and what God wills for Himself by such a display of His majesty and strength. So Primasius, Ansbertus, Ambrose and Ribera. Hence follows: "And no one was able to enter," etc.
Hence consequently this smoke is the symbol and prognostic of the greatest devastation in this life, and of the infernal burning in Gehenna, where the smoke of the torments ascends for ages of ages.
"And no one was able to enter into the temple" (to contemplate these depths of the judgments of God, and their causes, modes and reasons), "until the seven plagues should be finished," — that is, until upon the completion of the seven plagues there would follow the universal judgment, in which God will make all things manifest to the whole world. He alludes to Psalm lxxii, 16: "I considered that I might know this: it is a labor before me; until I go into the sanctuary of God, and understand concerning their last ends," that is, until I enter into the secret chamber of God's judgments; which will happen when I see the end and outcome of the wicked. So Primasius, Richard and Ansbertus.