And I saw, it says, seven angels with seven plagues. He speaks of seven to indicate the many [plagues] prepared for the sinners through which the wrath of God will reach its end.

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.

The seven angels are the church full of the sevenfold grace. . . . He calls [the seven plagues] the last, because the wrath of God always smites a rebellious people with seven plagues, that is, he smites them utterly and completely, as it is often stated in Leviticus, I will smite you with seven plagues.^[1] These will be the final [persecutions], since the church will come out from the midst of them.

Somewhere the most wise Paul says, Should anyone build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, fire will test the quality of the work of each, for it will be revealed by fire.^[1] Will then not only sinners, who bring loads of kindling wood through their sins, but also the righteous, who offer gold and precious materials, be tested by fire? He says as much when he here says that those who have in every way defeated the beast stand on the sea of glass mixed with fire. For [the sea] is glass because of the brightness and purity of the righteous in it. However, it is mixed with fire because of the cleansing and purification from all filth, for there is need of purification even for the righteous. For we all make mistakes, as it is written,^[2] and Who is clean from filth, even if his life upon the earth is but one day?^[3] As has been frequently noted, the harps are a figure for the euphonious hymn to God sung by the saints.

[He saw] the water of baptism made holy by the fire of the Holy Spirit. Or, in view of the character of fire, this water has been made red through martyrdom. For this reason we read, The kiln tests the clay vessels, and the trial of tribulation the righteous.^[1] And I saw those standing upon [the sea] who had conquered the beast and his image. The term standing upon^[2] indicates that they are immoveable in the faith. The psalm describes them in virtually the same way. For after it says, who made by understanding the heavens, indicating no doubt those who are spiritual and fully enjoy the clear understanding of the heavenly truth, it adds, who founded the earth upon the waters,^[3] namely, those who are immoveable upon their baptism. And although they seem to be nourished by milk, nonetheless they are not carried about by every wind of doctrine.^[4] And so here they are said to conquer the beast and his image.^[5] [The harps] refer to their hearts, which are devoted to the praise [of God] and which are in full harmony through the harmonious truth of the two Testaments. Or this image speaks of the flesh of the passion, which is extended upon the wood, where not only the sound of the voice but also the effect of a good work is signified.^[6] For this reason he includes also mention of that great man, Moses, to whom God bears witness, saying, My servant, Moses, who is faithful in all my house.^[7]

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.^[1] 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:^[2] it burns the sinners, and, as the great Basil understood, it illumines the righteous.^[3] 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.

And they sing, it says, the song of Moses, clearly indicating that song that Moses sang when Pharoah was drowned along with his entire army: Let us sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and the rider he has thrown into the sea. He has become for me a helper and protector for salvation.^[1] This present song of triumph is because of the punishment of the wicked and the victory over the devil and the son of lawlessness, the antichrist. And the song of the Lamb, it says, referring to the agreement [of Moses] with the Lord and his just judgment against the wicked. And therefore, indeed, they marvel at the truth and righteousness of the Lord. It says, the king of the nations. To be sure, Christ is the king of everyone. However, since it is said by Isaiah, And there will be a root of Jesse, and he who arises to rule over the nations, upon him shall the nations hope,^[2] the prophecy [of the Revelation] says that he is the king of the nations and that all the nations will come and worship him and in this way [this passage] fittingly foretells the call of the nations and the faith which they will have in the Lord.

He expresses here more fully the purpose and goal of the elect, who say from the heart, Put the way of iniquity far from me, O Lord, and graciously teach me your law,^[1] or, For the sake of your law I have endured for you, O Lord,^[2] and things similar to these. [By this scene] he wishes to make clear that these are in the number of the faithful in that they are participants in the victory mentioned. In Moses the Old Testament is signified as the New Testament is signified in the Lamb, and by this it teaches us that the elect were all equipped from both and perfected in both. . . . By a harmonious truth the pages of both Testaments testify to us concerning [their song], for all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth.^[3] He is more aptly called the king of the nations, because he was a God not only known among the Jews, nor did the dew from heaven moisten only one fleece.^[4] But as Malachi said, From the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place a pure offering is sacrificed and offered to my name.^[5]

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.

In the holy Scriptures it is customary to call the tent constructed in the desert by Bezalel, the architect of the things made at that time, the tent of witness because it was the tent of the testimonies and ordinances of God. There was in it the ark of the covenant, the mercy seat, the table, the altars either for incense or for fruit offerings, the lampstand and whatever else God commanded holy Moses to provide, saying, According to all that I show you on the mountain you shall make for me.^[1] Therefore, in view of the image of the ancient tabernacle he has called also the supercelestial temple, which is always a tent of witness. From there, it says, the seven angels came out. Why was it necessary that the heavenly ministers of God be seen coming out from there rather than from the heavenly temple? They had in their hands, it says, seven plagues that they were going to release against the earth. For at the time of the consummation there will be many signs on the earth of which also Christ made mention in the Gospels when he was teaching about the end. That the angels are clothed in a pure, bright stone is indicative of their rank, purity and brightness, and that they possess a nature wholly given to the good, since they have put on Christ. For the Lord is called stone by the divine Scriptures. For example, Isaiah said, Behold, I am laying for the foundations of Zion a costly and select stone,^[2] and the prophet said, The stone which the builders rejected, he has become the head of the corner.^[3] The all-wise Paul also exhorts us to put on this stone, saying, Put on our stone, Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.^[4] And whoever is enclothed with this [stone] is free from every desire destructive of the soul.

The hidden secrets of the testimonies foretold concerning Christ and the church are now revealed. [The seven angels with the seven plagues] are the church against which a hostile portion rebelled through unending treacheries. Therefore it says that plagues come out, either for the defense of the saints in whom the Lord Christ earlier had suffered abuse, as he said to Paul, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?^[1] or, as James noted, the time of judgment begins with the household of God.^[2] To be sure, persons will be scourged in a twofold manner, so that the just God might punish their sins, as in the case of Pharaoh, or that he might test their virtues by a greater trial, as in the case of Job. And therefore we read concerning him, The Lord has tested me, as gold that passes through fire; I have kept his ways, and I have not departed from the commandments of his lips.^[3] The number of the angels and the plagues prefigures the universal extent of the consummation, as it says often in Leviticus, I will smite you with seven plagues.^[4] They are clothed in pure white linen. Mortification is often indicated by a linen garment. If, then, the blameless judgments of God are recognized in that which is white, the sense is aptly applied also to these pure linen garments, so that those who are mortified are made snow-white by this whiteness, when they behold the glory of God at the revelation of his judgments. They were girded with golden girdles. Scripture teaches that gold signifies wisdom, as it says, Receive wisdom as gold.^[5] And it is rightly around the breast, where according to the law the priest is often commanded to wear the logium, that is, what is intellectual, so that his mind is well aware of divine things and does not despise them but rather praises the divine judgments and by the brightness of the gold on him also urges others to praise them unhesitatingly.

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.

This vision corresponds to the hymn. For in order that the Lord might be adored by all nations, the temple of the mysteries of God, once enclosed in the walls of one city, now begins to be opened spiritually to the whole world. Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. This is what Mark spoke about, And they went forth and preached everywhere.^[1] They are robed in a pure white stone, for as the apostle says, For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.^[2] Christ himself is the elect chief Cornerstone. Or, if one should understand the singular [stone] to represent a plural, the stone signifies the various beauties of the virtues. Another rendering has white linen. This would indicate the mortification of the flesh that our teachers endure. It says, I pommel my body and subdue it to servitude, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified.^[3] Their breasts were girded with golden girdles. Whoever desires to preach mighty things, let him not only mortify the body but also bind his breast with the gold of wisdom. Or, to bind the breast with golden girdles is to bind every movement of our changeable thoughts by the chain of love alone.

Their girdles are symbolic of the fact that they are effective and well equipped for their task. For concerning them it is said, Mighty in strength are those who do his word.^[1] These seven angels take from one of the four living creatures, concerning whom we have said much, the wrath of God in seven golden bowls. And aptly did he say golden, for the wrath of God is worthy, bearing within itself that which is good and beneficial rather than just, even though those who are tormented might experience distress.

Previously [the seer] mentioned seven angels with the same number of bowls containing the prayers of the saints.^[1] Now he says that they are full of the wrath of God. The very same bowls are said to hold both the sweetness of supplication and the wrath of destruction, for [prayers] are poured out from the saints for the coming of the kingdom of God, at which time the judgments of God will no longer be hidden as in an abyss but will be open as in bowls. Moreover, they will bring salvation to the righteous but will inflict ruin upon the impious, as the apostle says, For we are the good aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to some a fragrance of death to death.^[2] For if it was said of our Lord, Behold, this [child] is set for the ruin and resurrection of many,^[3] why would it be surprising were the bowls to bring sweetness to the righteous but inflict the vengeance of the plagues upon the impious.

The angels take the golden bowls filled with the wrath of the Lord from the four living creatures, as it also says in Ezekiel.^[1] 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.^[2]

The smoke of the divine anger is a sign, for it is written, Smoke went up in his wrath.^[1] This fiery smoke is symbolic, but so was the smoke that the holy Isaiah saw when he said, and the lintel shook at the voice which the holy seraphim uttered, and the house was filled with smoke.^[2] That smoke revealed the wrath of God against [the temple] of Jerusalem. He speaks periphrastically when he says that the smoke was from the glory of God and from his power. It is as though he said, It was filled with smoke from the wrath of God, for God is himself power and himself glory, and who can withstand his wrath? [No one could enter the temple], for who will confront the wrath of God, or who will live when enveloped by it? For if no one has stood in the counsel of the Lord, as it is written,^[3] one could hardly be able to endure the wrath of God.

The smoke indicates that no one can penetrate the secrets of the judgments of God. Rather, the minds of mortals grow dark and tremble at the thought of the plagues that are inflicted, which he now begins to narrate, and he says that the smoke will remain in the temple until the plagues are completely ended. Rightly, then, there follows, No one could enter the temple, that is, that innermost secret, until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended. Therefore, also the psalm says, It seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God and I understood their ends.^[1] Another interpretation might be that in the smoke we are to understand confession, as is often the case. As smoke precedes fire, so the confession of sins precedes the flame of faith and of love. And the psalm indicates such things when it says, Who looks on the earth and makes it to tremble, who touches the mountains and they smoke.^[2] And the Lord looked at Peter,^[3] and he washed away his confession in tears, because when he denied, he was reduced to a fearful trembling. And so this is the meaning: No one could enter the temple until the seven plagues were ended, that is, no one shall ever be able to say, I will walk in the innocence of my heart in the midst of your house,^[4] and the king brought me into his chambers,^[5] except he who shall have taken care to efface by confession all iniquitous behavior that he has previously committed. The thought of man will confess you, behold, the smoke, and the remainder of his thoughts will celebrate solemn feasts for you,^[6] as a certain praise for the righteousness that has been obtained. And so, until all the plagues are ended, the church remains in the lament of confession, both in those who, as we said, pay the fruitful penalty for previous faults and in those who it will become clear are approved by a better worship.

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.

When she is about to preach to the nations, the church herself is first set aglow with the fire of love and emits the smoke of a pious confession, giving thanks to God for his inexpressible gift.^[1] No one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended. No one may be incorporated among the members of the church except one who hears the mysteries of the faith and is taught by our teachers that Jesus is ordained by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead.^[2] However, if one interprets the smoke to be the hidden mysteries of the judgments of God, these remain impenetrable and closed to mortal beings until the plagues of the present age are ended and the Lord then shall come, who both illumines what has been hidden in the darkness and makes manifest to what extent the coming of the antichrist will be useful either for the testing of the faith of the church or just for the blinding of the Jews, who have not received the love of the truth that they might be saved. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE15.8.