Revelation of John 9 · The Lantern

The Fifth Trumpet

And the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star having fallen out of heaven to the earth, and the key of the pit of the abyss was given to it.

Of the idols which the Gentiles think to be gods. In the Wisdom of Solomon: "All the idols of the nations they counted gods, which neither have the use of their eyes for seeing, nor their nostrils to receive breath, nor their ears for hearing, nor the fingers on their hands for handling; but their feet also are slow to walk.

The abyss and the pit are people who are hiding places for error, that is, they hide iniquity in their hearts even though they are in the church.… I think that they receive this key to the pit, and through it they open the poisons of their hearts and, once made manifest, burst forth into the open.

And the fifth angel sounded the trumpet, and I saw a star fall from heaven upon the earth, and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss. And he opened the pit of the abyss: and the smoke of the pit arose, as the smoke of a great furnace. What is represented by the angel and the star has already been said.

And he opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke went up out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit.

'On this Caius objects, that according to this, the unrighteous are consumed by the locusts; whereas Scripture has said that sinners prosper and the righteous are persecuted, in the world' [Ps. lxxiii. 12 ] ; and Paul, that the faithful shall be persecuted and the evil shall flourish, deceiving and being deceived [2 Tim. iii. 12, 13].

[The devil] revealed his own heart, which sins without any fear or shame. "And smoke rose from the pit," that is, from a people that covers and obscures the church, so that it is said that "the sun and air were darkened with the smoke." It says that the sun was darkened, not that it fell to the earth.

And the smoke of the pit arose, like the smoke of a great furnace, etc. Proclaiming the great furnace, that is, the final persecution, the heretical madness rages, not only attempting to obscure the light of the weaker ones, who, like the air, touch the boundaries of the earth and heaven in some way, but also striving to obscure the light of the exalted ones, though not able to…

And out of the smoke locusts came forth unto the earth, and power was given to them like the scorpions of the earth have power.

But the sun now shone out a little, and, lo! I see a mighty beast like a whale, and out of its mouth fiery locusts proceeded.

The "locusts" signify those who come forth from the smoke. For, like smoke, the heretics desire to rise high, since by their teachings they strive for positions of eminence, yet, again like smoke, they are dissipated.

And from the smoke there came out locusts upon the earth. It is fitting for the heretics to be represented by locusts, for just as we see locusts, neither flying perfectly like birds nor walking by steps, but making leaps, chew up the crops of the earth, so do the heretics, having neither the flight of full knowledge nor the walk of perfect work, but only moved by the leaps of…

And it was said to them that they will not harm the grass of the earth nor any green thing nor any tree, except the men who do not have the seal of God on the foreheads.

And it was said to them "that they should not harm the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, except for the" humans alone, "who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads", because the earth is undergoing a renewal. For it is said somewhere that "if you send forth your spirit, they shall be created, and you will renew the face of the earth." (Ps.

Except those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They are said to have the seal of God on their foreheads, by whom it is properly held. Whose number above the angel who brought the seal of the living God from the rising of the sun has counted as inviolable and fixed.

And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree: but only the men who have not the sign of God on their foreheads.

And it was granted to them that they may not kill them, but that they will torment them five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it may strike a man.

And in those days the men will seek death and will certainly no more find it; and they will long to die, and death flees from them.

By this death no human soul dies. For if it did die, it would not be punished after death. "They will seek," it is said, "death and will not find it." The souls being punished will seek death. They will rather desire not to be than to endure punishment. Therefore they will seek death and will not find it. In this sense all human souls are immortal.

Through these words the magnitude of the evils is revealed. For it is common among those in severe troubles to call upon death. But it is from the judgments of God that death does not come to those in the midst of trouble who seek it. For he considers it beneficial to use the bitterness of tribulations to make hateful that sin which was the mother and patron of their torments.

And in those days men shall seek death, and shall not find it: they shall desire to die, and death shall fly from them. The days in question run all the way from the Lord's coming to the end of the world.

And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle, and upon their heads were something like crowns like gold, and their faces like the faces of men.

In the image of the horses he shows the suddenness of persecution that runs around so that it might oppress the innocent and obstruct [their path] to the celestial kingdom.… We recall that it was written that upon the heads of the twenty-four elders, who were a figure of the church, there were crowns of gold.

Some have interpreted these words and those which come afterward to indicate that the locusts are angels who administer the divine punishment and who are metaphorically described through each of the various images.

And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle: and on their heads were, as it were, crowns like gold. It is right for the heretics to be represented by horses because of their rapidity in running about. They are prepared unto battle against those about whom it is said in Habakkuk, Thou sentest into the sea thy horses, stirring many waters. [Hab.

And they had hair like hair of women, and their teeth were like those of lions.

And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses rushing into battle.

And they have tails like scorpions, and stingers; and in their tails is their power to injure the men for five months.

They have over them a king, the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.

The first woe has passed. Behold, two woes are still coming after these things.

"Woe", he said, "one has gone; behold, two more woes are coming". The woe [οὐαὶ] as an forceful expression indicates the severe afflictions present and those to come upon them. Therefore, he says that one punishment has been declared; two more remain to be spoken of.

One woe is past, and behold, two woes are still to come. Since he predicted that three woes were to come, he now mentions that one has already come in heretical deceit, but two remain, which will occur in the time of the Antichrist and on the day of judgment for the wicked.

One woe is past. That is, it preceded in the narration, or was actually fulfilled in the past. Behold there come yet two woes more hereafter. That is, in the narration, or they are actually to be fulfilled in the future.

The Sixth Trumpet

And the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard one voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God,

"And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is in the presence of God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels." That is, the four corners of the earth which hold the four winds.

When "the angel sounded", "I heard a voice" coming "from the horns of the altar". "The horns of the altar", he says, are those that stand out among the angels and surpass the others. He calls the altar "golden" because of its honor and divine nature, made from precious material known to us, depicting a marvelous altar.

After these things the sixth angel also sounded the trumpet: and I heard the voice of one of the horns of the golden altar, which is before the eyes of God, saying to the sixth angel, who had the trumpet: Loose the four angels, who are bound in the great river Euphrates. The altar is the Church, and it is golden because it is illuminated by heavenly wisdom.

saying to the sixth angel, the one having the trumpet, “Release the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates.”

In these four angels that are bound at the Euphrates River we understand those adversaries that God will command to be loosed for the testing of his church. To be sure, this passage shows that the winds and the angels are the same thing, for it said that the winds were held back by the angels and now that the angels are to be loosed by an angel.

I think that these [angels] are the most evil of the demons who were bound at the coming of Christ and who, according to a divine command that comes from the heavenly altar (whose image was the ancient tabernacle), will be loosed by a divine angel so that they might trouble the nations.

Release the four angels, etc. It indicates how much the ancient enemy with his satellites will persecute the Church at the end of the world, who from the time of the Lord's passion has been shut up in the hearts of the impious, so that he cannot harm as much as he would like, restrained by divine power.

And the four angels were released, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, so that they may kill the third of mankind.

And the number of the armies of the cavalry was twice ten thousand ten thousands; I heard the number of them.

"The number of that cavalry was eighty thousand." … He again uses different ways to suggest the whole body of evil persons. Here it says eighty thousand. Just as through the perfection of the number six, he signifies for us the form of sixty good people, so that we read "there were sixty queens," so sometimes the number eighty is used in a bad sense.

And the number of the army of horsemen was twenty thousand times ten thousand. I heard the number of them. This number refers specifically to preachers of errors, but in such a way that the seduced people are also understood in the seducers.

Two hundred million—This is also written in Ezekiel of that large number: All his host he will gather from the sun's rising to the sun's setting. Both those whom he called and those whom he did not call will go with him.

And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those sitting on them, having fiery and hyacinthine and brimstone breastplates. And the heads of the horses were like heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone.

The "fire" of wrath and punishment is a symbol; the "hyacinth" signifies that those sent are heavenly, for heaven is akin to the "hyacinth"; and the godlike ones please God, as if they were divine, for to please is to sing. And who would please God more than the holy angels?

And from their mouths proceeds fire and smoke and sulfur. He shows what he had said about hyacinth smoke. But these things do not clearly come out of their mouths, but by harmful preaching, they generate punishment for themselves and their listeners. For, he says, I will bring forth a fire from the midst of you, which shall devour you (Ezek. XXVIII).

Their breastplates like fire and hyacinth and sulfur—By this he shows the clothes of those who will come from the places of the nations, because the peoples are dressed in a variety of colors who live at the banks of the Euphrates.

By these three plagues the third of mankind was killed — by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone proceeding out of their mouths.

[The smoke, fire, and sulphur from their mouths] are the blasphemies that proceed from their mouths against God. "Their tails are like serpents." The leaders [of the heretics] we call "tails," and the rulers of the world we call "heads." It is through these that the devil does his harm, and without these he is not able to do harm.

Then the vision varies and exalts the power of the holy angels, warning against "lions" and "fire", "smoke" and divine beings and serpents, through all of which their terrible and incredible nature is signified.

"The fire that proceeds with smoke and sulfur from their mouths," through which one third of humankind is killed, signifies those sins that consume the fruits of the heart by means of the poisonous assaults and instigations of the demons.

For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads, and with them they injure.

And the rest of the men, who were not killed by these plagues, did not even repent of the works of their hands, so that they will not worship the demons and the golden and silver and bronze and stone and wooden idols, which are able neither to see nor to hear nor to walk.

The prophet, striking the spiritual harp, recounted to us concerning those punished in Hades, saying to God: "that there is no one in death who remembers you; and in Hades, who will confess to you," (Ps. 6:6) depriving them both of joy according to God and repentance?

And the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues, etc. Because he had described false Christians and heretics, now, to encompass the entire body of the devil, he also mentions the error of the Gentiles, to whom it benefits nothing not to be killed by these plagues, as it is evident they will continue in their Gentile malice even then.

Then, in order to show that the Gentiles also belong to this body, he said after that, And the rest of the men, who are not, and did not do penance from the works of their hands, that they should not adore devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and wood, which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: and did not do penance from their murders, nor from their fo…

And they did not repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their sexual immorality, nor of their thefts.

Revelation of John9

The Fifth Trumpet

The Sixth Trumpet