After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”
So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Rev 7:9–17)
Those who are shepherded by Christ then, it says, will not be afraid of attacks by wolves, inasmuch as they [the wolves] will be sent to the “unquenched fire,” but instead they [who have washed their robes] will be spiritually shepherded towards the clean and clear fountains of the divine thoughts, being meant by the waters, characterizing the already abundant flow of the Spirit, as the Lord has said about “him who sincerely believes” in Him that “out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.” The saints, those watered by it abundantly, will live endlessly in great joy and gladness, the “partial knowledge” being abolished, and they will possess perfect and escape the change of corruption.
Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse 7.20
He says, And they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Yet it should follow that robes dipped in blood would turn out to be scarlet rather than white. So how did they become white? Because baptism enacted into the death of the Lord, as Paul in his great wisdom said, purges all filth resulting from sin and renders those who are baptized in it white and pure. But participation in the life-giving blood of Christ also bestows this favor. For the Lord says concerning His own blood that it is being poured out “for many” and “on behalf of many, for the forgiveness of sins.” Thus these serve God forever, and God dwells among them. Indeed, the dwelling-place of God, said one of God’s saints, is where the souls of His saints continually remember Him; therefore God naturally dwells with those who serve him day and night.
Oecumenius, Commentary on the Apocalypse 5.7–8
No comments:
Post a Comment