Commentary on the Apocalypse 1 part 2/14

How then could it be possible for you to suffer any harm from my appearing? For if I, though living and being the fountain of life, became dead for your sake, and again revived, having trampled down death, how could it be possible for you, who live because of me, to become dead because of my appearing? And if I also hold the keys of death and of Hades, so that I may put to death and bring to life whomever I will, and bring down into Hades and bring up again, according to what is written concerning me — and, as the prophet says, the exits of death are mine — I would not send my worshippers and disciples on to premature death.

Since, then, you will not die, he says:

'Write the things you have seen, and the things that are, and the things that are about to take place.'

In saying 'the things that are,' he indicates both the things that have passed and the things that are present:

and in saying 'the things that are about to take place,' the things to come.

For of the things seen by the saint in the vision, some had already come to pass — things which, even if they had reached their end, had not thereby passed into non-existence:

therefore concerning them he said 'the things that are'; and other things were present:

and other things were about to take place, as the discourse will show further on.

'The mystery,' it says, 'of the seven stars which you saw upon my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands.'

'The seven stars are the angels of the churches:'

'and the seven lampstands are seven churches.'

...to bear witness, and how he might bring into accusation the church that has stepped entirely outside the divine purpose;

and how he might, on the other hand, praise those churches which in part kept the strictness of the evangelical laws,

and correct those which erred in other respects — he makes clear, having commanded the divinely-inspired evangelist to send forth to each of the churches, as a fitting remedy, the word and the teaching, this being the will of Christ, who wishes all to be saved and desires them to become heirs and partakers of his own good things:

to him be the glory forever and ever, amen.

Book Two. The first labor of my discourses and interpretations has now been completed:

now again another aim must be set forth, showing what the exhortation to the churches is.

First, therefore, he is instructed to write to the church in Ephesus, as presiding over the rest of Asia, speaking somewhat as follows:

'To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:'

'These things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:'

'I know your works and your labor and your patient endurance, and that you cannot bear evil men; and you tested those who call themselves apostles, and are not, and you found them false:'

'and you have patient endurance, and you have borne up for my name's sake, and have not grown weary.'

'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.'

'Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the first works in righteousness:'

'but if not, I am coming to you, and I will remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.'

'But this good thing you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.'

'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

'To him who hears I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of my God.'

By 'the angel of the church of Ephesus' he spoke periphrastically of the church in Ephesus.

For its angel, who presides over the church, had not sinned in any way, so as to need to hear 'repent' — the most holy one, who for this very reason is also present at the right hand of the Lord, bearing this as a token of the purity of his nature and his light-like radiance.

And what need was there for the one giving the oracle to the evangelist to say 'write to him'? For the divine angel was present and heard the things being said:

for he was at the right hand of the one speaking, and in the end the saint himself, interpreting the vision that had appeared to him, says:

'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches:'

for he did not say 'to the angels of the churches,' but 'to the churches.'

Thus, then, in the remaining instances too, wherever you find 'write these things to the angel of this church,' you should understand that he makes his words not concerning the angel, but concerning the church.

And what does he command to be written to the church in Ephesus? 'These things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.'

It is as if he said: these things says he who moves among, firmly holds, and sustains both the holy angels in heaven — for these are the seven stars — and the men upon the earth.

For these are the seven lampstands, as was said before.

For that he walks in the midst of those who worship him, he also says through the prophet:

I will dwell in them and walk among them.

I know, he says, your works and your labor and your endurance, and none of the good things you do escapes my notice;

He who fashioned your hearts individually, who understands all your works — and that, he says, you are not able to bear evil men, having acquired a character that hates wickedness.

and you have tested those who call themselves apostles, and are not, and found them to be false;

Those in Ephesus were fulfilling a divine command:

not to believe every spirit, but to test the spirits, whether they are of God.

Therefore they tested those among them who preached the Gospel, and having tested them —

they found some to be false apostles, handing down spurious doctrines; and he means Cerinthus and his followers, who, being contemporaries of the evangelist, were proclaimers of profane doctrines.

And you have endurance, he says, and you have borne up for my name's sake and have not grown weary — and most fittingly so:

for it is written, 'Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of God.'

But I have, he says, against you, that you have left your first love.

Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the first works in righteousness.

just as, he says, the good things of your deeds have not escaped my notice,

so too it has not escaped me that you have cut short your love toward those in need.

Return, therefore, to your former beneficence, having been taught by me what you have lacked.

But if, he says, you do not return to that from which you departed, I will come to you and will remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent;

The phrase 'I will come to you' does not signify a spatial movement of God who fills all things, but rather a kind of turning from longsuffering to punishment.

And the removal of the lampstand, that is, of the church, signifies, he says, his own abandonment of it; and when this happens to those who sin, they come to be in every kind of tossing and confusion, as it is also said:

My eye was troubled in wrath;

and my heart was troubled within me.

But this you have, he says, in your favor, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Between the two accomplishments he has placed their sin in the middle, so that by the praises on either side he might soften the rebuke placed in the middle, lest anyone be swallowed up by excessive grief.

Now this Nicolas, of whom the discourse now speaks, became a blasphemous and abominable heresiarch.

Turning away, therefore, from those descended from him, the offspring of his evils, those in Ephesus found praise from Christ.

Then after the oracle, the evangelist adds his own words, saying: 'He who has an ear' — that is, an obedient one, submissive to divine laws — 'let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

He said 'the Spirit,' either because the things of the revelation were being effected in the Spirit, or he calls Christ 'Spirit' insofar as he is and is understood to be God, just as, indeed, he is also called 'Son of Man' insofar as he is and is understood to be man.

For 'Spirit' is said universally of the Godhead, as the Lord himself says, speaking to the Samaritan woman:

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

What then does the Spirit say? 'To him who conquers I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of my God.'

For by 'tree of life' he means the blessed and unending life, of which the saints shall come to be in enjoyment in the kingdom of God, which he has here called 'Paradise.'

For worthy of this, he says, are those who here are conquerors of the trials and avengers against the enemy.

As for the Lord's having said 'of my God,' let it scandalize no one:

for all the humble expressions among his words belong fittingly to the economy that took place with flesh.

For indeed also in the Gospel he has said:

I am going to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.

These things he sent to the church of Ephesus.

'And to the angel,' he says, 'of the church in Smyrna, write:'

'These things says the first and the last, who became dead and lived:'

'I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich;'

'and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.'

'Do not fear at all what you are about to suffer;'

'Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested;'

'and you will have testing for ten days.'

'Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.'

'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

'He who conquers shall by no means be harmed by the second death.'

The Lord calls himself 'first' with respect to the substance of the Godhead;

and 'last' with respect to the incarnation and the economy that took place with flesh.

'who became,' he says, 'dead, and lived':

he who came, he says, to the trial of death, and by death put death to death.

'I know your tribulation and your poverty' — and do not say anything similar to what the Jews who rejected the truth said: 'We fasted, and you did not know it; we humbled our souls, and you paid no heed.'

'but you are rich,' he says, as having Christ, the rich protector, even though he became poor for our sake, taking the form of a servant; and as for 'the blasphemy of the spurious Jews' — 'Judah' is interpreted 'confession.'

The true Jews, therefore, and the noetic Israel, would be those who confess to Christ; and Israel are those who, †by the mind†, see God.

The Jews, therefore, who have remained in unbelief, are a blasphemous synagogue, commanded by Satan.

'Do not fear at all,' he says, 'what you are about to suffer.'

'Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested.'

'and you will have tribulation for ten days.'

For indeed, by the activity of the devil, men do evil to the pious.

But God permits it, making them more approved through the trials.

'But take courage,' he says, 'your tribulation is swift-passing and short-lived.'

'Be,' he says, 'faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.'

For indeed it is said, 'He who endures to the end, this one will be saved' — but certainly not the one who throws away his shield and grows faint toward the contests.

'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

'He who conquers shall by no means be harmed by the second death.'

What has been said is exceedingly precise:

For to the first death, which is the separation of the soul from the body, all alike, both righteous and sinners, become subject, so that the divine sentence may reach its fulfillment: 'You are earth, and to earth you shall return;'

but by the second, that of sin, which the Lord names when he says, 'Let the dead bury their own dead,' the conquerors of the trials would not be harmed.

And, he says, to the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

Thus says he who has the sharp two-edged sword:

I know where you dwell, where the throne of Satan is:

and you hold fast my name, and did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells:

You have there those who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication.

So you also likewise have those who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

But if not, I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To him who overcomes I will give a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows except he who receives it.

And to the church in Pergamum, he says, you shall write:

I say to you, I who bear a sword in my mouth, that I may take vengeance on those who transgress my commands:

For the sword in the mouth hints at the danger of those who do not obey the divine commands.

You dwell, he says, at the throne of Satan.

For all Asia is full of idols, but Pergamum especially so.

But even though, he says, dwelling in such a place, you have kept my faith undefiled, not at all turned aside by the assent of the many to evil, but even speaking against it in the days and feasts of the idols — as my faithful witness, who boldly professed in my name, says — you, as far as it depended on those plotting against you, drew near to me even unto death, guarding what is genuine.

But since censure touches even the holiest nonetheless, and we all stumble greatly, as it is written for you, even though you are such [virtuous people] — I have, he says, something to charge against you.

For you have there those who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block upon the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication; thus you also likewise have the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

This, then — that he taught Balak — shows that he became, as it were, a teacher to him.

And the history concerning Balaam and Balak stands clearly recorded in Numbers; and Numbers is a book of the most wise Moses.

And Josephus records that, by the counsel of Balaam, the Midianite women were sent to Israel for fornication, calling them out to apostasy from God.

Such things, he says, those of Nicolaus do, and you have them and do not drive them away from you.

But if not, I come to you quickly and will war against them with the sword of my mouth.

O depth of the riches and wisdom and goodness of God!

For he did not say, 'I come to you and will war against you,' but 'I will war against them,' namely the Nicolaitans.

For he spared those in Pergamum as being faithful and pious.

He who has an ear, he says, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To him who overcomes I will give him of the hidden manna of the mystery.

And periphrastically he said 'I will give him,' meaning that he will be filled with the intelligible and future goods.

And I will give him a white stone:

That is, one that is victorious and radiant with glory:

And on the stone a new name, which no one knows except he who receives it.

For it is said, things which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love him.

And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write:

Thus says the Son of God, who has his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet like burnished bronze:

I know your works, and love, and faith, and service, and your patience, and your works, and that the last are more than the first.

But I have against you, that you allow the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and deceives my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols.

And I gave her time that she might repent:

And she does not wish to repent from her fornication.

Behold, I cast her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works.

And I will kill her children with death:

And all the churches will know that I am he who searches the reins and hearts:

And I will give to each of you according to your works.

But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, as many as do not hold this teaching, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say:

I will not put on you any other burden:

Only hold fast what you have until I come.

And he who overcomes and keeps my works until the end, I will give him authority over the nations:

And he will shepherd them with a rod of iron; they will be broken as vessels of clay, even as I also have received from my Father:

And I will give him the morning star.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

He who is communicating a divine oracle to the evangelist makes the disclosure of his own title more clear.

'Thus,' he says, 'says the Son of God, who has his eyes like a flame of fire' — hinting at that which is astonishing and threatening against those who sin.

'And his feet like burnished bronze' — indicating the firmness and unshakeableness of the faith in him, or, according to what was said above, the intelligible fragrance of the evangelical doctrines.

'I know,' he says, 'your works, and love, and faith, and service' — as if he were saying, 'I praise your every pursuit.'

For he has put 'I know' in place of 'I praise,' as in what was said to Moses, 'I know you above all men':

And, 'The Lord knows the way of the righteous.'

And by 'service' he means the assistance given to those in need.

'And the last more than the first,' he says:

He shows that, as they advanced, they became greater than their former selves in the fulfilment of the commandments:

'But I have against you' — so that it might be shown that to be completely without sin belongs to God alone.

And what do I have against you? That you allow the woman Jezebel, and do not drive her out.

'Who calls herself a prophetess.'

From Jezebel, who cohabited with Ahab, he indicates the wickedness of this woman, whoever she may be.

'This one,' he says, 'who calls herself a prophetess:'

teaches and leads many astray into fornication and eating things sacrificed to idols.

By 'fornication' he means either the sensible [fornication], or apostasy from God, according to what is said: 'And they committed fornication in their practices':

And again, 'They committed adultery with the wood.'

But the Lord, not willing the death of the sinner:

'but her conversion and life,' he says, 'I have given her a postponement for repentance.'

But if she does not wish to repent, then I will do these very things to her and to those who commit adultery with her, that all may know, he says, that I am God.

For it belongs to God to search the reins and hearts; for it is said, 'God, who tests the hearts and reins.'

But to those who have nothing in common with the adulterous woman:

but who are simpler and do not know the wiles of the evil one — for this is what you say:

I will not lay upon you any other burden;

only keep the teaching delivered to you until my second coming;

And to him who conquers the evil one, I will give him, he says, authority over the nations, and he will shepherd them with a rod of iron; they will be broken in pieces like clay vessels, just as I myself have received from my Father,

as was said in the Gospels to those who managed well the minas and the talents entrusted to them,

and to another: "Be over five cities,"

and: "the kingdom shall be given to the saints of God."

For these things signify a certain rule and authority that will be given to the saints over those who are inferior and who need to be directed.

These, then, he says, he will shepherd with strict authority;

but the disobedient he will break in pieces like vessels of clay.

"And I will give him," he says, "the morning star" — the prophet speaks concerning the Assyrian, that is, Satan, saying how the day-star, rising early, fell from heaven:

this one he now also calls the morning star;

"I will give," he says, "Satan subdued into the hands of my servants,"

similar to what is said by the apostle:

"God will crush Satan quickly under your feet,"

"you shall tread upon the asp and the basilisk, and you shall trample the lion and the dragon."

"And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These things says he who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars:

I know your works, that you have a name that you live, and you are dead.

Be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die;

for I have not found your works complete before my God.

Remember therefore how you received and heard, and keep it, and repent.

If therefore you do not watch, I will come as a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.

But you have a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, because they are worthy."

"He who conquers shall thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the book of life,

and I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

Concerning the seven stars, which he now also calls the spirits of God, it has been said in what precedes;

but now we must hear what he says concerning those in Sardis.

"I know," he says, "your works," that your name is as of one living — meaning the virtuous life according to God — yet you are dead in your sins.

For it is the custom of divine Scripture to call those who are in sins dead, as is shown by what is written by the most wise Paul concerning those who had passed from unbelief into faith in Christ:

"And you, being dead in your trespasses, he made alive together with Christ."

And the Shepherd also says that some went down into the water of the pool — evidently dead — and came up alive.

"But awake," he says, "from the sleep of sin, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die."

"Still," he says, "there remain to you a few works and practices that have not completely died."

Guard these, then, while they are living, though they are already flowing toward death.

For the word "strengthen," as if to say "make firm" and "empower," is spoken of things that are slack and ready to fall.

"For none of your endeavors," he says, "is complete, but some have died, and others are about to."

"Remember, therefore," he says, "how you received the faith and heard the word concerning it, and keep in life those of your works that are still living,

and repent concerning those that have died."

"If, then," he says, "you do not watch, and do not rise up as one out of the sleep of negligence, I will come to you," he says, "as a punisher when you do not expect it."

And the sacred apostle also speaks concerning others:

"When they say, peace and security, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as birth pangs upon a woman with child."

"You have," he says, "a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, because they are worthy" — these, he says, are the ones for whose sake, moved with reverence, I for a time delay and am longsuffering toward you.

By garments not defiled he means the bodies of the saints, according to what was said by the patriarch Jacob:

"He will wash his robe in wine;"

and Isaiah also says this same thing:

"Why are your garments red, as from one who has trodden a full winepress that has been trampled?" The white garment, then, hints at the purity of the body.

"He who conquers," he says, "the passions, shall be clothed in white in the age to come."

For he himself promised in the Gospels that the saints would shine forth like the sun and the moon;

the Lord also mentioned this enrollment in the Gospels, saying to his own disciples:

"Do not rejoice that the demons are subject to you, but that your names are written in the heavens."

"And I will confess," he says, "the name before my Father and before his angels."

He will confess them as faithful servants and as well-disposed household attendants.

For this too is said in the Gospels:

"Whoever confesses me before men, I also will confess him before my Father who is in the heavens."

But to speak of "my Father" and "his angels" does not remove the fact that the holy angels are also his own;

for at one time Scripture calls them the Father's, and at another his own.

For it is said in Matthew:

"Then the Son of Man will send his angels with a great trumpet;

and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens to their ends."

"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These things says the Holy One, the True One, who has the key of David, who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens:

I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut, because you have little power, and yet you have kept my word, and have not denied my law.

Behold, I make some of the synagogue of Satan, of those who say they are Jews and are not, but lie —

behold, I will make them come and worship before your feet, and know that I have loved you.

Because you have kept the word of my patience, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which is about to come upon the whole world, to try those who dwell upon the earth.

Hold fast what you have, so that no one may take your crown.

He who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall no longer go out;

and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my new name."

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one in Philadelphia, he says, write:

These things says the Holy One, the True One:

The Holy One is the Son of God.

Moreover, this too is testified to him by the Seraphim, who gather the threefold sanctification into one lordship — testifying that the Word, even though he became flesh, has nothing earthly or sinful in him.

For he committed no sin,

nor was deceit found in his mouth, according to the word of the prophet Isaiah.

And he is 'true' because what he is and is called, he truly is;

as for 'and is called' — he is called God, and the appellation does not lie.

For Emmanuel is truly God, even though the accursed Nestorius does not wish this;

he became man without casting off being God, and he is truly man, even though the God-hated Eutyches is displeased at this.

What he truly is, he is — and not merely by way of relation, as the Nestorians say, nor according to semblance or appearance, as the Eutychianists say, and as the accursed and abominable tribe of the Manichaeans say.

'He who has,' he says, 'the key of David:'

For he who has been entrusted with the key of a house has been entrusted with the authority to open and to close.

And this is clearly shown in the Gospels, in the promises made to Peter.

For having said, 'And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,' he immediately adds, 'and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;'

'and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.'

Since, then, the key alludes to authority, when he says, 'he who has the key of David,' he thereby indicates that just as David reigned over the sensible Israel, so I reign not only over the sensible but also over the intelligible Israel, even though the difference of authority is set apart by incomparable degrees of superiority.

For what equality of honor is there between man and God? This too the divine angel Gabriel announced to the Virgin concerning the Lord, saying, 'And the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father;'

'and he will reign over the house of David forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.'

Fittingly, then, he says, 'he who has the key of David.'

Then, continuing with the trope of the key, he adds:

'he who opens, and no one shuts;'

'and shuts, and no one opens.'

Who is he who condemns? God is he who condemns;

who is he who justifies? For by 'to open' and 'to close' he means 'to justify' and 'to condemn.'

'I know your works,' he says, that they are godly;

'and I have given you a door of good things opened.'

'He who opens, and no one shuts' — therefore no one will shut the door which I have given open.

'because,' he says, 'you have but little power, yet you have kept my word, and have not denied my name.'

Philadelphia is a small city, and for this reason its power is also small.

But in guarding the faith of Christ it rose up undaunted, beyond its own strength, so as to stand firm against those who trouble the faithful.

Then, as a return gift for its genuine devotion toward him, he promises that many from the roll of the Jews will run to it and receive the faith of Christ.

For this, 'to worship at her feet,' alludes to their choosing even to be ranked among the last in the church, content merely to be a part of the church.

This too the prophet, embracing it, used to say:

'I have chosen to be cast aside in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in the tents of sinners.'