[11:19] And the
temple of God was opened in heaven; and the ark of his covenant was seen in his
temple;
The temple of the Lord, when it stood on earth, once
covered the ark of the covenant draped in a mystic veil. But with the veil of
the old Temple and the dividing wall rent by the blood of the Lord, the ark of
his Incarnation is now revealed to the whole world in the Church, the temple of
the living God, whose conversation is in heaven. For just as the heavenly manna
[was stored] in [a vessel of] pure gold, so is [Christ’s] divinity in his holy
body.
and there were
lightnings and voices and an earthquakevand great hail.
All of these are powers of flashing, and proclamation, and
of the wars of the Church. He had said that these things also happened in the
description of the proclamation of the seven angels from the Lord’s coming,
when he stood upon the altar, but in general terms, from beginning to end. Then
he described each in turn, and how it would come about. So also now, that the temple
of God might be opened and that battles might ensue, he says:
[12:1] And a
great sign appeared in heaven: …
[This is a sign] that now also appears in the Church, that
God came into being from man.
a woman clothed with
the sun, and the moon under her feet, …
The Church, girded with the light of Christ, treads upon
temporal glory. ‘In his days shall justice spring up, and abundance of peace,
until /387/ the moon be taken away (or slain)’. That is, the abundance
of peace will wax to the point where it removes all the mutability of
mortality, when ‘death the last enemy shall be destroyed’. Or else it is
because this same Church in part rejoices in Christ, the Sun, in heaven, and in
part is on pilgrimage in the body, apart from the Lord. One can here understand
his statement His left hand under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me.
and on her head a
crown of twelve stars.
The head of the Church is adorned with the number of the
twelve apostles. Or else you should understand what is designated by the word
‘head’ to be Christ, or the first beginning of this same new-born Church. You
have set on his head a crown of precious stones.
[12:2] And
being with child, she cried out, travailing in birth, …
Spiritually, the Church both brings those with whom she
travails to birth, and does not cease to travail in birth with those already
born. As she herself says, My little children, with whom I am in labour again,
until Christ be formed in you.
and was in pain to
be delivered.
As the Lord says in the Gospel, A woman, when she is in
labour, has sorrow, because her hour is come; but, when she has brought forth
the child, she remembers no more the anguish because of her joy. To explain
this to his disciples, he adds, So also you now indeed have sorrow; but I will
see you again and your heart shall rejoice. /389/
[12:3] [And
there was seen another sign in heaven.] And behold, a great red dragon, having
seven heads and ten horns [and seven diadems on his heads;]
The Devil, bloody in his fury against the Church, is
armed with the might of an earthly kingdom. For in the seven heads he names
[the Devil’s] kings, and in the ten horns, all kingdoms.
[12:4] And with
his tail he dragged down a third of the stars in heaven and cast them to the
earth.
He shows the strength and malice of the enemy – the enemy
whom the Church, with the Lord’s help, defeats – who has hurled down a
countless number of angels or men by cunning deceit, as if with his tail. For
the tail is a hidden part, an unclean part, covering the unclean parts with a
veil lest they be seen. Tyconius in his usual fashion interprets the third part
of the stars which fall as false brethren; the second third is the Church, and
the third third is enemies without.
And the dragon stood
before the woman [who was ready to be delivered], that he might devour her son when
she had given birth.
The Devil lies in ambush for the Church, striving to
snuff out the faith of Christ in the hearts of believers, so that the one whom
she engenders by her instruction, he can as lord (so to speak) kill. His
symbolic meaning [figura] is displayed in the trickster Herod who, like the
enemies within, pretends that he wishes to adore the Lord, in order that he may
destroy him.
[12:5] And she
brought forth a man-child,
The Church continually gives birth to Christ, despite the
dragon’s attack He said that the victor over the Devil who had conquered the
woman, was a man-child. For what son is not a man-child? (Bede, Commentary on
Revelation, Book Two, Chapter 19, in Bede: Commentary on Revelation
[trans. Faith Wallis; Translated Texts for Historians 58; Liverpool: Liverpool
University Press, 2013], 189-91)
To Support this Blog:
Email for Amazon Gift
card: ScripturalMormonism@gmail.com
Email for Logos.com Gift
Card: IrishLDS87@gmail.com
