Chapter XV.
(Vers. 1.)
(Ver. 1.) And I saw another great and marvelous sign in heaven, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. As above, before the narration of the seven angels who were to sound their trumpets, mention was made of them; so here, before the narration of the seven angels who were to pour out their vials, mention is made of them, to signify that great mysteries are contained in their vision. But about those things that the Lord has given, we shall speak in the following.
(Vers. 2, 3.)
(Vers. 2, 3.) And I saw what seemed like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying. As for the meaning of the sea of glass, we mentioned it earlier in the second vision (see Chapter 4): there it is described as crystal, but here it is mixed with fire. And because crystal is of exceptional clarity, and when it receives the heat of the sun, it usually emits fire. The same meaning that crystal has there, fire has here; for they both signify spiritual intelligence, which is found in the divine Scriptures. Therefore, the sea is said to be made of glass, because the divine Scripture is mixed with spiritual intellects. Therefore, those who have conquered the beast are seen standing on the glass sea, because the holy ones of God who will fight against the Antichrist will establish their steps in the teachings of divine Scripture and will not be moved from their faith by any temptation. By the harps they had, the mortification of the flesh is signified; but the song of Moses signifies the Old Testament, while the new song of the Lamb signifies the New Testament. So Moses and the Lamb were singing a song; for both the old and the new Testaments will proclaim the saints. Let us hear what kind of song it is.
(Vers. 4.)
(Verse 4) Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. This hymn agrees with both the Old and New Testament; for there are found seven blessings there, which can be related to the seven parts we spoke of above (In chapter 5 and 7). For indeed, the first blessing is: Great and marvelous are your works, Lord Almighty God; which can be attributed to the first time, in which heaven and earth were made, and all creatures, which are exceedingly wonderful. The second is: Your ways are just and true, King of ages; which corresponds to the second part, in which all creatures that had the breath of life were justly destroyed by the waters of the flood. The third is: Who will not fear you, Lord? To the fourth part, namely those to whom the Law was given, it corresponds that they exercised the commands of the Law out of fear rather than love. The fourth is: And your name will be magnified; this clearly applies to the prophets, who magnified the name of God in their preaching and writing. The fifth is: For you alone are merciful; in the fifth part, we have placed the coming of Christ, in which our Lord, who alone is merciful, deigned to become man for the salvation of the human race, and to suffer and die. It is the sixth: Since all nations will come and worship in your presence; it is evident that after the ascension of the Lord all nations have come to the faith of Christ, which we have placed in the sixth place. It is the seventh: For your judgments are made manifest; it is evident that they pertain to the day of judgment, in which the just and true judgments of God will be made manifest. May the mercy and kindness of the Lord and our Redeemer Jesus Christ deliver us from the condemnation of this judgment, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen.
De Visione Quinta.
In the fifth vision, with the help of the Lord, we have arrived at a point where the meaning is clarified. It is largely consistent with the previous vision, which we have explained with the grace of the Lord. Just as seven angels were seen there, to whom seven trumpets were given, it is also mentioned here that seven angels were given seven bowls. And just as in the sound of the trumpet the first angel struck the earth with a great hailstorm, so it is said that in the pouring out of the bowl the first angel struck men, often referred to as those who inhabit the earth, with the worst afflictions. And just as in the sound of the trumpet the second angel turned one third of the sea into blood, similarly in the pouring out of the bowl it is described that the entire sea turned into blood by the second angel. The others also follow the same meaning: but how these agree with the ones before, we will discuss in what follows. Therefore, they have the same significance as those; for they signify the preachers, who have been from the beginning and will be until the end. But they are placed twice, because as we have shown above, the things that were seen to have been done under the sound of the trumpet of the first, second, third, and fourth angels belong to the elect. Furthermore, it is reported that things were done by the sounds of the trumpets of the fifth, sixth, and seventh angels, to which three woes are joined, in which the persecutions of the Church, which it suffered from heretics and pagans, and which it will suffer from the Antichrist at the end of the world, are described, on one hand, as pertaining to the reprobate, and on the other hand, as pertaining to the elect; for the wicked, from the evil that they inflict upon the righteous, receive eternal punishment, while the righteous, from the evil that they endure, acquire eternal glory for themselves. Therefore, all that is described under the pouring out of the seven bowls belongs to the wicked; hence, the first trumpets, by which the army of God was called to battle, are said to have sounded: but it is reported that the following bowls full of God's wrath were poured out upon the wicked.
(Vers. 5.)
(Verse 5.) After this, I saw, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony was opened in heaven. In Exodus it is written that Moses made a tabernacle in the desert: but afterwards, when the people were already dwelling in the promised land, Solomon built the temple. Therefore, by this desert is signified the present age; by the tabernacle, which is transferred from place to place, the present Church is designated, which daily passes from the desert of this age to heavenly blessedness, and proceeds from virtue to virtue, that it may see the God of gods in Zion (Psalm 83:8). And the curtains of the tabernacle, which were painted with various colors, were covered with skins and cilices; to demonstrate that the mortification of the flesh and humility are the guardians of virtue. But what is signified by the promised land, if not the heavenly homeland that God promised to those who love Him? And what is represented by the temple, which was built with the finest stones, if not the heavenly Jerusalem, which is built daily with living stones (James 1:12)? Therefore, when He says: The temple of the tabernacle is open; it is as if He were saying: The temple of the Church is open. And what is the temple of the Church but the heavenly homeland? In this temple, the Psalmist desired to dwell when he said: One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life (Psalm 26:4). Therefore, this temple has been opened through Christ, because the entrance to the heavenly kingdom has been revealed to all the faithful through Him.
(Vers. 6.)
(Verse 6.) And the seven angels came out, having the seven plagues from the temple, clothed in clean and bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden belts. If by the temple the celestial homeland is meant, and by the seven angels the preachers are designated, how can they be said to have come out from the temple? Do the holy ones descend from that heavenly homeland to preach? But the holy preachers go forth as if from the heavenly homeland, since they are sent by Him who is the glory of the saints, and from whom all their teaching proceeds. They are said to have had seven plagues: and it was said above that they had seven plagues, because in them the wrath of God was accomplished. If the seven plagues of God's anger existed, how were they made holy? But the holy ones of God had seven plagues in their power, not in their punishment; for the Lord says in the Gospel: In the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his majesty, you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28). But seven principal sins, from which all evils arise, are designated by the seven plagues. Therefore, it is seen that the seven angels had the seven plagues, because holy preachers on the day of judgment will have power over the seven principal sins, that is, all the workers of evils, so that they may be punished with perpetual judgment. Indeed, the wrath of God is accomplished in the holy preachers, that is, through them, because by their judgment the wrath of God will be perfected. We can understand the seven plagues in another way. Above, we divided the entire body of the wicked into seven parts (On the first chapter): therefore, there are seven plagues, which are more fitting for each part; for those who lived before the flood will be judged differently, who deceived the people of God by uniting with women (Gen. VI, 2); differently those who, after the flood, found idolatry and various errors through which the human race was deceived; differently those who were under the Law and did not keep the commandments of God; differently the false prophets, who deceived the people of God; differently the impious Jews, who killed the Lord and persecuted his apostles; differently the persecutors of the Church, who tried to extinguish the faith of Christ; differently the ministers of Antichrist, who are going to desert Christ and follow Antichrist. Therefore, the plagues of the holy God will have power, because individually they will condemn those who were in their time and despised their warnings, with their own judgment of eternal punishment. But the stone that is described as being clean and white, in which the seven angels were seen clothed, represents Christ, about whom the Apostle says: All of you who have been baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ (Galatians 3:27). And the golden belts with which they are girded around their chests signify the wisdom of the preachers, which contains the hearts of the saints within itself in such a way that it does not allow them to wander astray through various errors.
And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. Although the four living creatures signify the four evangelists, they also collectively and individually represent Christ. But because brevity does not allow us to explain how each one signifies Christ, let us understand Christ through this one living creature. The vials, on the other hand, are the hearts of the saints, which are rightly called golden because of their wisdom. Therefore, one of the four animals gave the seven angels seven golden vials, because Christ filled the hearts of his holy ones with wisdom. But if wisdom has filled them, how can they be said to be full of the wrath of God? The Lord says in the Gospel about the wicked Jews: 'If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin' (John 15:22). Did the Jews not have sin before the coming of Christ? Therefore, they were sinners before, but they did not have the sin of unbelief, the sin of blasphemy in which they called him Beelzebub, the sin of murder in which they crucified him, and many other crimes they committed because of his coming. But in the cup of Christ, in which the life of the world was contained, the Jews, demanding punishment for their own sins, found death. Therefore, the seven cups of the angels were full of God's wrath, because as far as the reprobate are concerned, the preaching of the saints contained God's wrath within themselves, because they incurred God's wrath for disregarding their preaching.
(Vers. 8.)
(Verse 8.) And the temple was filled with smoke from the majesty of God and from His power. We have stated above that the heavenly temple symbolizes the homeland: but smoke, if it is within a house, obscures the eyes of those looking from outside, so that they cannot see perfectly what is happening inside. Therefore, the temple of the heavenly homeland is now filled with smoke; because the chosen ones, placed in this life, while raising the eyes of their minds to contemplate heavenly things, are obscured by a certain darkness that they cannot pass through: this obscuration is called smoke. Paul suffered this dimness when he said: Now we see through a glass in an enigma, but then face to face. And again: Now I know in part, but then I shall know even as I am known (I Cor. XIII, 12). And it should be noted that the chosen ones endure this dullness as long as they are placed in this life; but when they transition to that heavenly beatitude, it will be removed from the eyes of their mind. Hence it follows: And no one could enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed. Do the righteous not enter into that heavenly blessedness every day? But let us understand that this is said about the entrance of bodies; for in that heavenly blessedness, the righteous do not enter with their bodies until the sevenfold plagues of the seven angels are completed. We have spoken about the seven plagues above: the last plague, however, will be when the Antichrist infects the human race with his errors. But after the seven plagues, for which the day of judgment will be appointed, the saints will receive their bodies and will dwell without end in the temple of their heavenly country with the Lord. Concerning this dwelling, the Psalmist says: Blessed are those who dwell in your house, O Lord; they shall praise you forever and ever (Psalm 84:5).