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Andreas of Caesarea

Late Patristic · AD 500–800

414 passages across 10 books of the Bible · Who was this?

On Revelation

20 of 257
  1. Revelation 14:14
    We think that this cloud is either the visible cloud that took our Lord Jesus Christ from the eyes of the apostles, or that it is a certain angelic power [here called a “cloud”] because of its purity and sublimity, for the psalmist says, “He rode on a cherub and flew.” For this reason, we believe that the one seen upon the cloud similar to a son of man is Christ, and that the crown upon his head signifies his governance over both the visible and the invisible powers. The crown is gold because of the value of this substance among us. The sickle indicates the consummation, for indeed the Lord himself called the end of the world a “harvest.”

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 14:14

  2. Revelation 14:15-16
    The cry of the angel symbolically represents the supplications of all the heavenly powers who desire to see both the honoring of the saints and the separation of the transgression of the sinners. At that time, that which is changeable and transient will cease to exist and that which is immovable and enduring will be manifested. That the harvest is ripe indicates that the time of the consummation has come when the seed of piety, having matured as ripe wheat, will be regarded as ready for the heavenly granaries and will yield for the husbandman thirtyfold, sixtyfold and a hundredfold.

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 14:15-16

  3. Revelation 14:17
    Although Christ is called the “angel of great counsel” of the Father, nonetheless from the following words the present angel is shown to be one of the ministering angels, for he comes out of the heavenly temple with a sharp sickle in order to accomplish the cutting off of those who are the most impious.

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 14:17

  4. Revelation 14:18
    From this passage we learn that angelic powers have been placed over the creatures, one is over water, another is over fire, and another is over some other part of creation. We learn of the fearsomeness of this particular angel because he is placed over fire. It says that he is of the highest angels, for with a cry he commands the one having a sickle to gather grapes of the vine of the earth. The “grapes” indicate the impious and the transgressors who have filled the cup of the wrath of the Lord and who receive as harvest the wrath of demons and of asps instead of the wine of gladness from the good husbandman.

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 14:18

  5. Revelation 14:19
    The “wine press of God” is the place of torment prepared for the devil and his angels. Because of the multitude of those who are to be punished, it is “great.” For the “way of destruction is wide” and spacious.

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 14:19

  6. Revelation 14:20
    However, it is possible to understand this another way. For since those who transgressed by giving themselves over to pleasure have become horses full of lust, they will be overtaken by tortures up to their bridles, for they knew no bridle in their pleasures. By the “1, stadia” we learn of the great chasm that separates the righteous from the sinners. For these were perfect in evil and did that which is abominable, and therefore ten times one hundred signifies the complete magnitude of their evil, while the six hundred suggests their eager engagement in sin through the misuse of the creation, which was created in six days, and also in the six hundredth year of Noah all land was inundated by water.

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 14:20

  7. Revelation 15:1
    Everywhere he uses the number seven, signifying that the injustices done brazenly during the seven days of the present age will be held back by the seven plagues and the seven angels. After these, the future life of the saints, symbolized by the glass sea, will commence.

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 15:1

  8. Revelation 15:2
    We think that the “sea of glass” signifies the multitude of those who are being saved, the purity of the coming reward and the brightness that the saints will radiate by the sparkling of their virtue. The fire that is mixed with it may be understood from what was written by the apostle, “Fire will test the work of each, whatever it is.” Although this fire does not harm the pure and the undefiled, it is divided without mixture into two energies, according to the word of the psalmist: 18 it burns the sinners, and, as the great Basil understood, it illumines the righteous. It is possible that the “fire” indicates both the divine knowledge and the grace of the life-giving Spirit. For God appeared to Moses in fire, and the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in the form of tongues of fire. The “harps” suggest the dying of members and the harmonious life in the symphony of virtues, plucked with the plectrum of the divine Spirit.

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 15:2

  9. Revelation 15:3-4
    From the song of Moses we learn the hymn sent up to God by those who were justified by the law before [the coming of] grace. From the song of the Lamb we learn the thanksgiving of those who lived in holiness after the coming of the Christ. This thanksgiving is for those benefactions and gifts from him that have come to our race, since through the holy apostles he has called all nations to the knowledge of him.

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 15:3-4

  10. Revelation 15:5-6
    The seer says that a “tent” was in heaven, and it was according to the likeness of this tent that God commanded Moses to build the tabernacle below. He says that from this temple angels proceeded out, dressed in “pure linen” or, as some copies have it, in a “pure stone.” Their dress indicates the purity of their natures and the proximity that they have to Christ, the Cornerstone, and the brightness of their virtue. The phrase “girded with golden girdles” refers to the power and the purity and the honor of their nature and to the freedom they have in their works of service.

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 15:5-6

  11. Revelation 15:7
    The angels take the golden bowls filled with the wrath of the Lord from the four living creatures, as it also says in Ezekiel. This shows that eternally in heaven the knowledge of God’s plans is shared by those who are preeminent to those who are of second rank, even as the great Dionysius says.

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 15:7

  12. Revelation 15:8
    From the smoke we learn of the frightful, terrible and tormenting character of the wrath of God. We are taught that the temple is filled with this wrath, which comes at the time of judgment against those who are worthy of it, and especially against those who obey the antichrist and do the works of apostasy.

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 15:8

  13. Revelation 16:1
    From this we are led to think that until the divine vexation with the wicked distinguishes who the righteous are, the saints in no wise obtain the lot of the Jerusalem above or the priesthood in the temple of God or the [final] rest. “It is necessary,” it says, “that the plagues be completed.” By way of the plagues the wages of sin are brought to light for those who are worthy to receive them, and these obtain the judicial sentence that has been determined for them. Then the habitation in the metropolis above will be awarded to the saints. I think that no one who considers each of the plagues in relation to those persons who are found at the consummation shall make an error concerning what is fitting and right. For being beneficent to humankind, God will determine that the unending torments in the coming age be lessened, but that in the present life the avenging scourges be brought upon those who deserve them, either through the prophets, Enoch and Elijah, or through the change of the elements or through the sufferings which occur from wars. Through such scourges there will be a mode…
    From this we are led to think that until the divine vexation with the wicked distinguishes who the righteous are, the saints in no wise obtain the lot of the Jerusalem above or the priesthood in the temple of God or the [final] rest. “It is necessary,” it says, “that the plagues be completed.” By way of the plagues the wages of sin are brought to light for those who are worthy to receive them, and these obtain the judicial sentence that has been determined for them. Then the habitation in the metropolis above will be awarded to the saints. I think that no one who considers each of the plagues in relation to those persons who are found at the consummation shall make an error concerning what is fitting and right. For being beneficent to humankind, God will determine that the unending torments in the coming age be lessened, but that in the present life the avenging scourges be brought upon those who deserve them, either through the prophets, Enoch and Elijah, or through the change of the elements or through the sufferings which occur from wars. Through such scourges there will be a moderation in the payment for sins. However, let us pray that we be chastised in a fatherly manner and not be scourged with harsh treatment by the wrath that comes from the Lord—“for there is no health in our flesh because of his anger”—so that having cleansed through the tears of repentance our robes which have been stained by sins, and being dressed as for a wedding, we might enter into the bridal chamber of Christ, our God, to whom belong all glory, honor and worship together with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:1

  14. Revelation 16:2
    The bowl here, just as the cup, is to be interpreted as a tormenting activity that, when poured out by the angel, produces an evil sore, which here is symbolic of grief that throbs in the heart even as puss oozes from a sore. This grief occurs in the hearts of apostates, for since they are punished by plagues sent from God, they receive no healing from the antichrist whom they have made their god. Perhaps also their bodies are physically wounded as a reproach to their souls, which have been wounded by the arrows of that deceitful rogue, the devil.

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:2

  15. Revelation 16:3
    It is not surprising that to expose the weakness of the antichrist and the light-mindedness of the deceived, the divine power would through the holy prophets, Enoch and Elijah, change the sea into “blood as of a dead man,” that is, as of one who had been slain, and would effect the corruption of all in it, just as long ago in Egypt he worked through Moses to expose the hardheartedness of Pharaoh and to demonstrate his own power. And therefore, those who were of secure faith were strengthened and the unstable were made fearful, seeing the creation arrayed against those who fought for the honor of the destroyer. It is also possible that through these words the slaughters that will happen in wars at the coming [of the antichrist] are indicated. For when Gog and Magog will move against each other in the four parts of the world and, in addition, the kings who had not obeyed will be annihilated with their whole armies and there will be slaughter in every place, then the sea will be defiled by sea battles, and the rivers will be mingled with the blood of those who were killed there.

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:3

  16. Revelation 16:5-6
    Here also it is shown that angels are placed over the elements. One of these, who is over the waters, sings a hymn to God for the just condemnation that has come upon the transgressors. For since they soiled their hands in the blood of the saints, God has given them blood to drink. By means of these words, it is shown either that at that time many are accounted worthy of the prophetic grace because of their remaining steadfast in faith, those, namely, who are killed by the henchmen of the devil, or that those who turn from the preaching of the prophets of God and justify their murder at the hands of the hardhearted Jews, become purposefully participants in their slaughter, as the Lord said to the Jews, “for although you build the tombs of the prophets, you consent in their murder.”

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:4-6

  17. Revelation 16:7
    Sometimes “the altar” signifies Christ, for in him and through him are brought to the Father our spiritual offerings and living sacrifices, which the apostle has instructed us to render. At other times “the altar” signifies the angelic powers who, we read, “are sent forth to serve for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation,” and so they carry upward our intercessions and spiritual sacrifices. From this ministering altar, it says, a voice proceeded, commending as just all the judgments of God that surpass both thought and expression. We have learned from the Gospels that the intellectual powers are glad and rejoice over the salvation of those who turn through repentance but grieve over those who leave the straight way and yet give thanks to God for the punishment of those who transgress the divine commandments. So let us hasten to bestow upon them joy and gladness for our repentance, recognizing that a divine angel attends each one of us and by a certain unutterable word implants in us what must be done, in as much as his mind imperceptibly converses with our mind and he intend…
    Sometimes “the altar” signifies Christ, for in him and through him are brought to the Father our spiritual offerings and living sacrifices, which the apostle has instructed us to render. At other times “the altar” signifies the angelic powers who, we read, “are sent forth to serve for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation,” and so they carry upward our intercessions and spiritual sacrifices. From this ministering altar, it says, a voice proceeded, commending as just all the judgments of God that surpass both thought and expression. We have learned from the Gospels that the intellectual powers are glad and rejoice over the salvation of those who turn through repentance but grieve over those who leave the straight way and yet give thanks to God for the punishment of those who transgress the divine commandments. So let us hasten to bestow upon them joy and gladness for our repentance, recognizing that a divine angel attends each one of us and by a certain unutterable word implants in us what must be done, in as much as his mind imperceptibly converses with our mind and he intends to rejoice over that which is heeded, but like God to grieve over that which is disregarded. And so from this converse that profits the soul we should understand that the angel, sad and from afar, follows a person who has been darkened by many sins and enters into the church. But if this person has been made contrite and confesses from the heart to him who delights in mercy that he has rejected his former life and has converted to a better one, when he departs [from the church], the angel leads the way cheerfully and joyfully, while the wicked demon, having been shamed, follows behind at a distance. May it be, then, that our holy manner of life give cause for dejection to the demons but cause for joy to the angels, so that together with them, rejoicing with a shout of gladness and the sound of confession, we might give thanks to Christ, our God, for his victory over the evil powers, with whom glory is due to the Father together with the Holy Spirit, now and always and forever and ever. Amen.

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:7

  18. Revelation 16:8-9
    Perhaps humankind will literally be burned by the fierce heat of the sun. While God in his goodness “curbs them with bit and bridle who do not draw near to him” so that they might look toward repentance, some have fallen to such depths of evil that by the depravity of their minds they will not turn to conversion but rather to blasphemy. Perhaps, however, the image of the sun signifies the course of the day that burns those worthy of scourging by the heat of temptations, so that by the experience of sufferings they might learn to hate the mother of these things, namely, sin. However, those who are mindless concerning any knowledge of their own faults will “sharpen their tongue” against God, just as even now we see many who are distressed by the unspeakable horrors that encompass us at the hands of the barbarians and who blame the goodness of God, since he has held such evils for our own generation.

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:8-9

  19. Revelation 16:10-11
    Pouring the bowl on the throne of the beast signifies the pouring out of a great wrath upon the kingdom of the antichrist. This kingdom is shown to be in darkness, that is, it is bereft of the light of the “sun of righteousness.” The gnawing of tongues reveals the intensity of the pain that those who have been deceived by him will have when they are struck by these plagues sent from God. These things will occur so that they might recognize that he whom they have worshiped as God is a fraud and so might want to be free from their deception. However, they will not turn from this to repentance. Rather, they will turn to further blasphemy.

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:10-11

  20. Revelation 16:12
    Perhaps by divine providence the Euphrates River will diminish in size and provide passage to the kings of the nations for their wars of destruction against each other and the rest of humankind. According to what is adduced in subsequent portions of the Revelation, we think that the mention of Gog and Magog suggests that these kings will arise out of the region of the Scythians. But it is also possible that the antichrist, coming out of the eastern regions of Persia, where the Hebrew tribe of Dan resides, will cross the Euphrates with other kings or with strong men who have received a royal name, and [they will] inflict upon humankind either bodily death to some on account of their faith and perseverance or spiritual death to others because of their cowardice and faintheartedness.

    COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:12

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