And the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar and cast it on the earth: and there were thunders and voices and lightnings and a great earthquake.
και ειληφεν ο αγγελος τον λιβανωτον και εγεμισεν αυτον εκ του πυρος του θυσιαστηριου και εβαλεν εις την γην και εγενοντο βρονται και φωναι φωναι και βρονται και αστραπαι και σεισμος
6 Church Fathers comment on this verse
"And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire from the altar, and cast it upon the earth." See verse 4.
"And there were voices and thunders." All this points to the terrors that will precede the end. On Mount Sinai they were likewise symbols of God's presence, terrifying all and bringing the prudent to conversion.
The Lord received the body, that is, the Church, and in fulfillment of the Father's will filled Her with the fire of the Holy Spirit.
"And there were voices and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake." All these are the spiritual proclamations and virtues of the Church.
Then, he says, the divine angel took the censer, filled it with the fire of God, and cast it upon the earth. And there were voices and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
Perhaps it was this very fire of God that one of the angels cast down upon Mount Sinai. Then there came thunders, voices, trumpets, and lightnings, and the mountain was covered with smoke, because God had arrived (see Ex 19:16-19).
Therefore, just as lightnings and terrifying visions came then, so now they precede the glorious manifestation of the Lord.
John rightly said that the censer was filled with fire. For God gives the Spirit not by measure (Jn 3:34). And we know that the human nature of Christ is especially filled with fire, for in Him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Col 2:9).
The fire from the altar, cast upon the earth, is the judgment of the saints upon this world, accomplished by the servants of God (see Rev 6:9-11).
How, then, is God's love to be reconciled with the terrible scourges that strike the earth? For some, these calamities are deserved, a recompense for iniquity. For others, they are a medicine for sin.
"He cast it upon the earth." When the prayers of the saints do not ascend to heaven as a sign of intercession for the earth, but are cast upon it as a sign of the saints' wrath, then they bring terror upon the earth through fearful signs.
The Apostle John seems to have touched on these prayers deliberately, to show what calamity threatens those who do not pray to the saints and do not ask their intercession before God.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 28 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS