Chapter IX.
(Vers. 1.)
(Verse 1) And the fifth angel blew his trumpet. The fifth angel represents the defenders of the orthodox faith of the Church: they blew their trumpet when they labored in every way to defend the faith. And I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth. By the star, heretics are represented; for just as the stars shine in heaven, so these, before they fell, shone with doctrine and wisdom in the Church. It fell from heaven to earth, because they have been cut off from the Church and have joined the company of the reprobate, who are represented by the earth. But we must inquire why first the heretics, who are designated as the star and the locusts, were mentioned; and afterwards the persecutors, who are designated as armored horsemen, about whom the sixth trumpet angel will speak later. Because before the Roman emperors began to persecute the Church of God, heretics began to arise, like Nicolas, who existed in the times of the apostles, and many others. And to him was given the key to the bottomless pit (Acts 6:5). The key of free will of heretics, which they had in evil, is designated by the key; but their hearts are designated by the abyss: and their mouths are designated by the well. Therefore, to heretics was given the key of the well of the abyss, because God allowed heresies, as the Apostle Paul says: Heresies must be, so that those who are approved may be made manifest among you (I Cor. XI, 19).
(Vers. 2.)
(Verse 2.) And he opened the well of the abyss. The star that fell from the sky opened the well of the abyss; because heretics, to bring forth the evils that lay hidden in their hearts, opened their mouths. And the smoke of the well ascended, like the smoke of a great furnace. By the smoke, the teaching of heretics is designated; because just as smoke quickly vanishes when driven by the wind, so too the teaching of heretics vanished through the teaching of the holy Fathers, like smoke: but often the hearts of the wicked are designated by a furnace, as the prophet says: Like a glowing oven are their hearts. (Hosea 7:4).
And the sun and air were obscured by the smoke of the pit. Often Christ is understood as the sun, but in this place, his members, that is, the holy preachers, are designated; and the faithful people, who were subject to them, are designated as the air. But how were the chosen ones obscured, whom heretical wickedness could not deceive? But they were obscured to those whom heretics could deceive, who are also designated in the following by locusts: but their glory could not be hidden from the rest of the faithful, just as a lamp cannot be hidden under a bushel.
(Vers. 3.)
(Verse 3.) And out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth. Out of the smoke, that is, out of the teachings of those who are called heresiarchs, a great multitude of heretics was generated. They came upon the earth because they were separated from the society of the elect and joined with those who are called the earth, that is, the unbelievers. And power was given to them, as scorpions of the earth have power. Often God is said to give what he permits; for God permits the wicked to do evil, so that he may bring forth good from their evils. But we can take demons as scorpions; because just as scorpions, when they are not foreseen, infect and extinguish the bodies of men with their poison: so demons also inject the poison of evil persuasions into unsuspecting men, and while they drag them into the commission of crimes, they kill their souls infected with the poison of their evil. Therefore, the power of locusts, that is, heretics, is similar to the power of scorpions, that is, demons; because just as demons always insist on deceiving anyone they can: so heretics worked with all their might to plunge anyone they could into the pit of their destruction.
(Vers. 4.)
(Verse 4) And it was commanded to them, not to harm the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree. What signifies the grass of the earth, also signifies every green thing; for as mentioned earlier (Chapter 8) under the sound of the first angel's trumpet, all green grass, which is said to be burned, represents the chosen ones who existed in the early times: so here also the faithful people are designated by the grass of the earth and every green thing; but the trees represent the teachers of the Church. Therefore heretics were prohibited, so that they would not harm the hay of the earth, neither all the greenery nor every tree. For God did not allow those who had the greenness of faith, that is, those who fulfilled the faith they professed with works, nor the holy preachers who were not thorns or thistles, from which neither grapes nor figs are gathered; but rather the trees bearing the fruits of good works, from which the faithful people were nourished, lest the heretics deceive them; hence it follows: Unless those men who do not have the sign of God on their foreheads. But what is the sign of God, if not love, of which the same John speaks, saying: God is love (1 John 4:8)? Indeed, through the faces, which often demonstrate the qualities of the mind, we can understand the hearts of the disreputable. Therefore, those who did not have the sign of the living God, that is, love in their hearts, were easily deceived by heretics.
(Vers. 5.)
(Verse 5.) And it was commanded to them not to kill them. When He says, 'It was commanded to them,' it seems to me to pertain to demons; for the wickedness of demons is so great that if God had permitted it, as soon as a mortal man committed a crime, they would kill him. But God waits for impious men, so that they may eventually return to Him through repentance and be saved, or so that the righteous may be proved through them. For even the Psalmist, when speaking about the wicked, prayed, saying, 'Do not kill them, lest my people forget' (Psalm 59:12). And it is written in the Book of Judges, that God let the Canaanites and the Philistines remain so that Israel could experience them and learn how to fight against their enemies (Judges 3:1-2). Therefore, God commanded, that is, He did not allow them to be exterminated, whether they were all heretics or all wicked, so that the righteous would have someone by whom they could be tested, just as gold is tested by fire.
And it follows: But they were tortured for five months. Through the five months of present life, which consists of five ages, we can understand. For the first age is infancy, the second childhood, the third adolescence, the fourth youth, the fifth old age; although blessed Gregory, in order to conform the ages of men to the six ages of the world, divided old age into two parts. Therefore, in five months, that is, in all the time of present life, not only heretics, but also all the wicked are tortured. Whether they want it or not, when they reflect on death and the punishment that follows death, although they may seem to rejoice in the prosperous affairs of this world, they are tormented internally because they know that they will be eternally tormented for their sins. On the other hand, the righteous, although they may be afflicted in various ways externally, rejoice internally in the hope of heavenly glory, which they believe they will attain. We can also understand all the time of this world in five periods: the first month is from the origin of the world until the flood, the second is from the flood until Moses, the third is from Moses until David, the fourth is from David until Christ, and the fifth is from Christ until the end of the age. Therefore, in these five months, all the makers of errors are tormented, either in the way we mentioned above, or because they see their false inventions overcome by the truth.
And their torment is like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. As we mentioned earlier, scorpions are designated as demons; for just as a scorpion wounds the body with its sting, in order to introduce venom through the wound and kill the man, so the devil, whether through anger, pride, lust, or some carnal pleasure, wounds the mind, in order to infuse the venom of his malice through it and kill the soul. Therefore, the torment of locusts is said to be similar to the torment of a scorpion, because heretics, imitating their father the devil, would wound the minds of ignorant men with gentle and well-composed words, and infusing the venom of their error, would kill their souls. We can indeed understand the torment of the killing of souls.
(Vers. 6.)
(Verse 6.) And in those days people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death will flee from them. This saying applies to the chosen ones. In those days, that is, in the days when the grace of the Gospel shines throughout the world, people will seek death. Paul sought death by persecuting the Church of God, and he did not find it; for Christ, who is an impenetrable wall, standing in his way, forcibly brought him from the death he sought to the life that he himself is. There were also many others who sought death by persecuting the Church of God or committing other evils, but death fled from them because they were called back to life through the preaching of the saints. We have also seen some who sought death and did not find it; they desired to die, but death fled from them. For we know that there were some who, loving the world more than they should have, labored for a long time and in many ways to become rich, desiring to live in luxury and fulfill the desires of their flesh. But when they could not obtain what they desired, they rejected the false promises of the world and turned themselves towards acquiring heavenly riches, and by persevering in good works, as we believe, they deserved to attain them. We have seen, nevertheless, some monasteries having been abandoned, and having passed into the secular world, and having surrendered themselves into the service of certain powerful men, so that they could obtain earthly riches and possessions, which they themselves could not have; but when they could not achieve what they desired, they left the secular world and returned to their monasteries, and ended their life in good works. Therefore, they sought death and did not find it; and they wanted to die, but death fled from them. The Lord speaks to the prophet under the guise of Jerusalem, saying: Behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and I will wall it with a wall, and she shall not find her paths. And she shall follow after her lovers, and shall not overtake them: she shall seek them, and shall not find them (Hosea 2:6). Our lovers are carnal desires: we follow our lovers when we strive to become possessors of riches, so that we may have means to fulfill carnal desires. We follow our loved ones, but we do not grasp them, since the mercy of God hinders us from attaining what we desire in vain.
(Vers. 7.)
(Verse 7.) And the likenesses of locusts are like prepared horses for battle. The holy preachers are often symbolized by horses, as the prophet Habakkuk speaks in his song, saying: You made a way in the sea for your horses, in the mud of many waters (Habakkuk 3:15). God made a way in the sea for his horses, in the mud of many waters, when at the beginning of faith he bestowed peace upon the world, so that his apostles could go throughout all the nations, which were symbolized by the sea and mud, and spread the seeds of faith. Therefore, the horses of God were prepared for battle, when holy preachers were armed both with word and virtues for this purpose; in order to rescue the human race from the power of the devil. The locusts, on the other hand, are said to be like prepared horses in battle; because just as the holy preachers labored with all their strength to rescue as many as they could from the snares of the devil, so too heretics were always armed for this purpose, to deceive whomever they could and involve them in the abyss of their own damnation. And over their heads were crowns like gold. Often wisdom is symbolized by gold, as we have already said: secular wisdom is shown by locust crowns. Therefore, the locust crowns themselves were not gold, but had the likeness of gold; because secular wisdom, in which heretics trusted greatly, was not gold, that is, wisdom; but rather foolishness, as the Apostle Paul says: The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God (I Cor. III, 19).
And their faces will be like the faces of men. Man is a rational animal: through the face of man, we can understand the knowledge of divine Scriptures, which the heretics sought to have, so that they could more easily deceive even the simplest. Therefore, locusts seemed to have the faces of men, but it was a resemblance, not truth; for the heretics indeed seemed to have the knowledge of divine Scriptures, but they were far from the truth because they did not understand it correctly.
(Vers. 8.)
(v. 8) And they had hair like the hair of women. By the hair that falls without feeling, we can understand a great multitude of fools who were easily deceived by heretics; for just as hair falls without harm, so these were cut off from the Church without any loss. By the different women, we can understand different Churches. Therefore, locusts had hair like the hair of women; for just as the holy Church of God had its ranks, which gathered at certain times to celebrate divine offices, so the heretics had insane people who gathered in different places, not to celebrate divine mysteries, but to celebrate diabolical ones. And their teeth were like the teeth of lions. The function of teeth is to grind and consume whatever they capture, and to plunge it into the pit of the stomach. Therefore, we can understand the lions and teeth as the persecutors of the Church: the lions representing the rulers and the teeth representing those who tore apart the holy ones of God under their rule. So, the teeth of the heretics were like those of lions; just as the pagans persecuted the Church of God and, through terror and torture, cast whomever they could into the pit of destruction, the heretics, associating themselves with certain powerful men, also persecuted the Church of God, afflicting many with threats and attacks like teeth, and plunging them into the belly of their own malice.
(Vers. 9.)
(Verse 9) And the sound of their wings, like the sound of many horses rushing into battle. We can understand the words of the heretics through their wings; just as wings lift birds from the ground, so the heretics were exalted by their own speeches: but the preachers are represented by horses, as we have already said. Therefore, the sound of the locust wings was like the sound of many horses rushing into battle; because the holy preachers sent forth the voices of their preachings when they went to war against the devil, to free mankind from his power: and likewise the heretics were running everywhere, spreading false doctrine, in order to deceive and subject whomever they could to the devil.
(Vers. 10.)
(Verse 10) And they had tails like scorpions, and there were stingers in their tails. The prophet Isaiah says that a prophet teaching lies is a tail (Isaiah 9:15). Therefore, heretics who consider themselves to be prophets because of their knowledge of divine Scriptures are properly compared to scorpion tails, because their doctrine was false and poisonous, hence they are said to have stingers in their tails. By stingers, they signify the blasphemies that they mixed in with the divine Scriptures. And just as a scorpion would be harmless if its stinger were absent, so too would the teachings of heretics be good if they were not defiled by blasphemies. Their power can harm people for a period of five months. What these five months are has been stated above.
(Vers. 11.)
(Verse 11.) And they had over them a king angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, in Greek is Apollyon, and in Latin is called Exterminans. It is certain that the prince of heretics is the devil, as the Lord says to Job: For he is the king over all the sons of pride (Job 41:25); therefore he is also called the exterminator, because he is the exterminator of all goodness.
(Vers. 12, 13.)
(Verse 12, 13.) Woe! One has gone, and behold, two more woes are coming. And the sixth angel blew his trumpet. By the sixth angel, the martyrs are indicated: the sixth angel blew his trumpet because the martyrs of Christ proclaimed the doctrine of faith to the unbelievers. And I heard one voice from the horns of the golden altar, which is before the Lord, saying to the sixth angel. By the golden altar, as we have already said above, the Church is indicated. Therefore, the four horns of the altar demonstrate the four evangelists: thus, he says that he heard one voice from the four horns of the golden altar, because there is one faith, one doctrine that the four books of the Gospels teach.
(Vers. 14.)
(Verse 14.) However, what this voice of the sixth angel says is made clear by the following: Go, and release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. First, let us explain what the four angels are, what the bonds are, and what the Euphrates is; and then we will investigate more diligently why the sixth angel commands the Gospel to release the four angels. For, as mentioned earlier (Chapter 7), in the opening of the sixth seal, four angels were seen standing on the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth; so that they may not blow on the earth, nor on any tree: and here, under the sound of the trumpet of the sixth angel, it is reported that four angels are bound in the great river Euphrates. Therefore, these four angels have the same meaning as those ones; for they signify four kingdoms, namely, the Assyrians, the Persians, the Macedonians, and the Romans. And since the power of the four kingdoms, as we mentioned above, had passed to the Romans, the Romans are represented by these four angels in this place. But by the Euphrates is understood the world here. What the four angels' chains are, is made clear above; for it is written above that John saw an angel descending from heaven, having the seal of the living God, and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea, saying: Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads (Rev. 7:2-3). We have said that through the angel who possessed the sign of the living God, Christ was designated: therefore, the words of the Lord are the chains of the four angels, not that the Lord commanded persecutors to cease their persecution until the seeds of faith were spread throughout all nations, but rather that He, by His power, is said to have commanded it with words. For before the coming of Christ, the Romans could not be satisfied in any way by murders, robberies, and the shedding of human blood. But when Christ came in the flesh, He bestowed peace upon the world, and the Romans, who were unable to restrain the hands of the human race from shedding blood, were bound by peace and prohibited from shedding blood. Then a voice, which came forth from the four horns of the golden altar, commanded the sixth angel who had the trumpet to release the four angels; for the teaching of the Gospel commanded this to the preachers of the word of God, that they should not be terrified by any threats or terrors of impious men; that they should cease from the duty of preaching, as the Lord says in the Gospel: 'Fear not them who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul' (Matthew 10:28). For indeed the emperors of the Romans and the other rulers of the earth, when they saw the Christian religion daily increasing and the worship of idols being abandoned, they threatened death to all who worshipped or preached Christ. Therefore, the sixth angel, that is, the martyrs, silenced the four angels, that is, their persecutors; for they armed themselves to persecute them because of their invincible steadfastness in preaching the gospel.
(Vers. 15.)
(Verse 15.) And hence it follows: And the four angels were released, who were prepared for the hour, and day, and month, and year, to kill a third part of men. The four angels were released because wicked men, having cast aside peace and with hands loosed, which peace had bound, persecuted the people of God. But what he says: Were prepared, indicates the will of wicked men; for before the time of persecution came, they were prepared by their desire to kill the people of God. Indeed, the third part of humanity, as mentioned earlier, signifies the chosen ones. Furthermore, concerning the hour and day, and month, and year, four angels are said to be prepared to kill the third part of humanity. We can refer this to all the impious ones, who have been since the beginning of the world and will be until the end. For, by the hour, the time from the beginning of the world to the flood is designated, by the day, the time from the flood to the Law, by the month, the time under the Law, and by the year, the time under grace. Therefore, in these four seasons, the reprobates always persecute the chosen ones.
(Vers. 16.)
(Verse 16.) And the number of the equestrian army is twenty thousand times ten thousand, I have heard their number. They are represented by four angels, both themselves and by the equestrian army, namely the persecutors of the Church. The army of persecutors is said to be equestrian, because just as God has His horses, that is, His holy preachers, who have carried Him throughout the whole world, so the devil has his horses, that is, all the wicked ones on whom he sits, and impels them to commit various crimes. They are called twenty thousand tens of thousands; for through a finite number an innumerable multitude of persecutors is expressed.
(Vers. 17.)
(Verse 17) And so I saw horses in the vision: and those who were sitting on them had fiery, hyacinth, and sulfur breastplates. In this place, the insane people are designated by the horses, while the riders on the horses are the leaders of the land. The breastplates, which repel the blows of swords, symbolize the hardness of the hearts of the wicked, which does not allow the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, to approach their hearts. These breastplates are said to be fiery, hyacinth, and sulfur. The cruelty of the persecutors is symbolized by fire, which they used to torture their victims. The honor of divinity, which they attributed to their own gods, is symbolized by the hyacinth stone with its heavenly color. The blasphemies against Christ are represented by sulfur, which has a foul odor. It is said that the persecutors had fiery, hyacinth, and sulfur armor. This is because they had hardened their hearts due to their unbelief, not only refusing to believe in Christ, but also persecuting his followers. They did this partly because of their defense of false gods and partly because of the blasphemies against Christ, calling him a magician and a deceiver. And the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions. The heads of horses were designated as the emperors of the Romans because they seemed to be the heads of all persecutors, who were also likened to lions because of their insatiable rage. And fire, smoke, and sulfur come out of their mouths. By fire, the impious commands of the emperors are designated, by which the people of God were ordered to be killed; but by smoke, the honor of divinity, which they were ordered to offer to their gods. And rightly falsehoods are designated by the smoke of idolatry, because just as smoke disappears from the face of the wind, so too the worship of idols perishes in the sight of the proclamation of the Gospel: but by sulfur, as it was said above, the blasphemies that they threw at Christ are designated.
(Vers. 18.)
(Verse 18) From these three plagues, a third of the people were killed, that is, a multitude of martyrs: by fire, smoke, and sulfur that came out of their mouths. For fire came out of their mouths, that is, the most wicked command by which the holy martyrs of God were ordered to be killed: smoke also came out, because they commanded that all men should render honor to their gods: and sulfur came out, that is, blasphemies against Christ, commanding that the Christian religion should be utterly extinguished from the world.
(Vers. 19.)
(Verse 19) For the power of horses is in their mouth and in their tails. The heads of the horses are said to be like lions: but in the mouth of the lions are teeth, with which they grind and tear apart everything they have caught. Therefore, through the teeth we can understand the tormentors, who in the mouth of lions, that is, in the power of the persecutors, tortured the bodies of the saints with various tortures. The persecutors had control over the bodies of the saints, that is, in their power, but they did not have control over their souls, as the Lord says in the Gospel: Fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul (Matthew 10:28). And therefore the power of the persecutors was only in their mouths; for they had power over the bodies of the saints, but not over their souls: they could kill those whom they could not defeat. However, the doctrine of philosophers and poets is represented by tails. For their tails are like snakes, having heads, and they harm with them. The doctrine of philosophers is rightly compared to snakes, because it was full of the poisons of lies. Those who are said to have serpents for heads, had all the errors of the pagans as their authors. Therefore, the power of the horses was in their tails, because the persecutors of the Church, through the teachings of philosophers, wanted to overthrow the Christian religion.
(Vers. 20, 21.)
(Verse 20, 21.) And the rest of the people who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts; it is understood, they perished. The third part, which was killed, was saved, that is, the chosen ones, from whom many were killed for the sake of Christ's name: the others would gladly have yielded, if necessity had required it. But the rest, that is, the pagans who refused to believe in Christ, perished without repenting of their sins.