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JUBILATION
OVER THE FALL OF BABYLON
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trumpets,
(multitudes)
. These things the Church now says in part,
but will say perfectly when the separation has taken place, and
when it has been more openly avenged.
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corrupted.
He relates two actions of the harlot, namely, that she corrupted
herself with the bad, and persecuted the good; and in these two,
I suppose, he comprehends all the crimes of the wicked.
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Alleluia.
The Church extols the Lord for His judgements with unceasing love.
For Alleluia signifies, "Praise ye the Lord." Lastly,
the Psalms which have for the beginning, "Praise ye the Lord,"
begin in the Hebrew with Alleluia.
rises
up.
"Rises up," he says, not "will rise up." But
Babylon always goes into perdition, and is in part already burning,
while Jerusalem passes into paradise, as the Lord manifests in
the poor man and the rich.
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worshipped.
The Church worships God, not with the service of the lips alone,
but with the sweetness of the highest devotion.
Amen;
Alleluia.
Although these words can be interpreted, for they are translated,
as I said, "to the faith," or "truth," and
"praise of the Lord," yet in reverence for their sacredness
the authority of the original language is preserved to them. For
the Church also continually sings Alleluia on the Lord's day,
and the whole period of the fifty days,
because of the hope of the resurrection, which is to be in praise
of the Lord.
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Praise
ye. Seeing he commands this to be done, and
mentions that it was done, he indicates, that the praise of the
elect servants was approved. "Small," he says, "and
great," for slightness of understanding does not harm, where
heart and tongue are filled with the praise of the Lord.
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trumpet,
(multitude.)
Great is the voice of those who sing, great the devotion of heart.
For with a manifold repetition of praise it celebrates at once the
fall of the ungodly, and the eternal glory of the Lord and His own.
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THE
MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB
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marriage.
It is the marriage of the Lamb, when the Church is to be united
unto the Lord in the marriage-chamber of the heavenly kingdom.
ready.
By always insisting on works of righteousness, she has shewn herself
worthy of the spiritual feast and the everlasting kingdom. It
may also be taken in accordance with the parable of the Gospel,
which relates, that on the bridegroom's coming, "the virgins
arise and trim their lamps," that is, reckon with themselves
their works, for which they expect to receive eternal blessedness.
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arrayed.
It was given to her to be arrayed in her own
deeds. But on the contrary, they who according to Isaiah "weave
a spider's web,"
will not be clothed with their own works. For their works are unprofitable
works.
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supper.
He relates that they are called not to dinner, but to supper,
because assuredly the banquet at the end of the day is a supper.
Accordingly, they who come to the refection of heavenly contemplation,
when the time of the present life is ended, are called to the
marriage-supper of the Lamb.
true.
That is, the things will assuredly come to pass which I have announced
as future.
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fellowservant.
He had said above,
"I am the first and the last." He shews, therefore,
that the angel was sent as a figure of the Lord and the Church.
In the same manner he also says
at the end, "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these
things to you in the churches."
testimony.
After that the Lord Jesus Christ raised the person of man, which
He assumed, above the heavens, the angel feared to be worshipped
by man, namely, as worshipping the God-man above himself. Yet
we read of this having been done before the Incarnation of the
Lord by men, and not in any wise forbidden by the angels.
prophecy.
For whatever the Spirit of prophecy said, is the testimony of
Jesus, Who receives testimony from the law and the prophets. Do
not thou, then, worship me, he says, as God, seeing that I have
come to bear testimony to His powers. Thus far concerning the
fall of Babylon, henceforth concerning the future glory of Jerusalem.
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white.
The Lord, "Who is the way, the truth, and the life,"
and to Whom it is said by the prophet, "Because thou hast
wrought wonderful things, the faithful counsels of old, Amen,"
ascends upon a white, that is, an immaculate body, to vanquish
the powers of the air.
judge.
He judges, as the King of ages. He makes war,because in His members
He Himself of His compassion always contends.
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eyes.
He sometimes calls the precepts, sometimes the Spirit, the eyes
of the Lord. He says, "Thy word O Lord, is a lantern unto
my feet
;" and of the Spirit, "I have come to send a fire upon
the earth."
diadems,
(crowns).
In Him, in Whom we shall do mighty things, the multitude of the
saints is said to have the ornament of a crown.
name.
"No one knows but He Himself," he says, because all
the Church is in Him. For the perfect knowledge of the Word of
God is manifested to those who have obtained to be the body of
Christ and His members. In the same manner the Lord says,
"No one has ascended up to heaven, but He Who descended from
heaven, the Son of Man, Who is in heaven."
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vesture.
The vesture of Christ ought to be understood according to the
place. Here, accordingly, it appears to indicate the very act
of the Passion, so that in the white horse is designated the immaculate
birth, in the vesture stained with blood, the innocent death.
The
Word.
Because the same Who appeared for a time as a man of suffering,
"in the beginning was God with God."
He is called the Word, because nothing in His nature was visible,
nor corporeal; or because the Father made all things by Him, the
perfect knowledge of Whose nature, as he says above, is known
to Himself alone, and to the Father. For "the peace of God
passeth all understanding;"
that is, the peace by which God Himself was reconciled unto Himself,
exceeds the wisdom of any creature, whether human or angelic,
for "Of his wisdom there is no number."
For when it is said, "And he, to whom the Son will reveal,"
That is, the Father and the Son, "knows," this has respect
to the capacity of the creature.
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armies.
That is to say, the Church in white bodies imitated Him. For because
of the intensity of its conflict, it rightly receives the name
of an army.
linen.
This he himself explained above to be "the righteousness
of saints;"
as it is said by the Psalmist, "Let thy priests be clothed
with righteousness."
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sword.
So also Isaiah says, "And he hath set my mouth as a sharp
sword;"
and the Apostle, "And the sword of the Spirit, which is the
Word of God."
winepress.
It is even so. For now also He treads until He tread without the
city.
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Name.
This is the Name, which no one of the proud
knows. But it is written on the Church, "not with ink, but
by the Spirit of the living God
," that is to say, "on the tables of the heart."
For by the thigh is designated the posterity of seed. Therefore
Abraham also,
in order that his posterity might not be mixed with aliens, made
use of his thigh for a third testimony between himself and his servant.
And of this also the Apostle, as it were raising up seed to a brother
who has died, says, "In Christ Jesus I have begotten you through
the Gospel."
It may also be understood, that the Church by serving reigns
in Christ, and has lordship over lords. The same Name is also inscribed
on the vesture, because by the mystery of the Nativity, and the
act of the Passion, His majesty and kingdom are revealed to us.
In that which follows, he explains what the appearance of the King
and of the army signifies, namely, the glory of the last conflict,
and of the kingdom which succeeds to it.
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sun.
That is, preaching in the Church, which shines more brightly,
and thunders forth the more freely, the more it is oppressed.
birds.
He
calls the saints birds, as passing their life in heaven. For "wheresoever
the body is, there will the eagles be gathered together;"
and as bringing them together into one body, he had said,
"flying in the midst of heaven."
Come.
Come, he says, ye who hunger and thirst after righteousness, to
the banquet of the kingdom to come, when, the fierceness of the
proud repressed, ye shall be satisfied with the light of divine
justice.
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sit.
I suppose that these are the horsemen whom, at the opening of the
seals,
he had described as having come against the white horse of the Lord.
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beast.
He explains in what manner the supper of the
Lord was prepared, namely, in that the devil fought against the
Church, and was vanquished.
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both.
He appears to signify, that the devil and Antichrist are to be visited
with so much greater a punishment than the rest of men and demons,
as it is more grievous to be burned alive with flames of brimstone,
than to die quickly, and be slain with the stroke of a sword; unless,
perhaps, he intends that the divine attention was directed to them
first. For "he who does not believe is already judged;"
whether thou understand Antichrist to be intended by the false prophet,
or heretics, for not one of mortal men sins more obstinately than
heretics, who after they have known Christ, deny Him.
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filled.
"If the righteous shall even now rejoice when he seeth the vengeance"
upon the wicked, how much more then, when in the presence of the Judge
Himself, he will be made one spirit with Him. The birds may also be
understood to be evil spirits, who will be satiated from their destruction.
Tichonius expounds this supper as follows: "In all time the Church
devours the flesh of its enemies, while it is devoured by them. But
in the resurrection it will be satiated, as avenged for their carnal
work. |
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