Revelation 7:16Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

And rightly so. They will have heavenly bread and the water of life. They will not suffer sickness or endure calamities, which are depicted under the image of the sun and scorching heat, for the time of suffering has ended.

They will no longer hunger or thirst, for those from the nations had formerly passed through every kind of temptation. Now, of course, they will be filled with inexhaustible good.

It is said: and the sun shall not scorch them. Some writers of Scripture present the sun figuratively as temptation. Thus the prophet says: "The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night" (Ps 120:6). Or the Evangelist writes that the rising sun dried up the shoots of seed that had sprung up on rocky ground (cf. Mk 4:5-6). Here the sun is interpreted as temptation. Therefore it is said that stumbling blocks will no longer torment them.

Death shall be swallowed up forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces (Isa 25:8).

All His elect followed the Lord along the path of temporal sufferings into blessed eternity. It is impossible for us to remain in fleshly pleasures and at the same time remain in a spiritual state. Therefore the Lord continually gives His beloved His Cup. Through it He preserves in them deadness to the world and the capacity to live the life of the Spirit. St. Isaac the Syrian said: "A man for whom God has special care is known by the sorrows continually sent to him" (Homily 35). What fruit do temporal sorrows bear for eternity? When Heaven was shown to the holy Apostle John, one of the heavenly inhabitants questioned him.