Isaiah 24

1–3

(Chapter 24 - Verses 1 and following) Behold, the Lord will lay waste the earth, and make it desolate, and afflict its face, and scatter its inhabitants. And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor. The earth shall be utterly laid waste and utterly plundered, for the Lord has spoken this word. After the special punishment of certain nations, namely Judaea, Babylon, the Philistines, Moab, Damascus, Israel, Egypt, the desert of the sea, Idumaea, and Arabia, the valley of vision, and finally Tyre, of which we have said what we could in their explanation; now the prophetic discourse describes what the whole world will suffer in its consummation, and it prophesies not individually about each nation, but universally about all. And first, it describes the torments that the wicked will suffer, and how, according to the Gospel and the Apostle, heaven and earth will pass away, and the figure of this world (Matthew 24; 1 Corinthians 7), and sinners will be led into hell (Psalm 30), as it is written: They shall go to the ends of the earth, they shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall be the parts for foxes (Psalm 62:10). Then, because of the diversity of merits, there are many mansions with the Father, it is said how the saints are caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and will always be with Him (John 14; 1 Thess. 4). For the wasted world, seventy corrupt orbs were interpreted; and for its afflicted face, that is, the earth, the same ones were moved, and He will reveal His face; so that the dead may come forth from their tombs: whether He exposes it, so that all His works may be brought forth publicly, and its inhabitants may be scattered in different places, designated for rewards or punishments. Then there will be no distinction between noble and commoner, priest and layperson, slave and master, maid and mistress, rich and poor, lender and borrower, buyer and seller. For all will stand equally before the judgment seat of Christ, and there will be no partiality with God. (Romans 14; Colossians 3). About this, Job speaks in almost the same words: There, the small and the great are together, and the slave is not afraid of his master. (Job 3, 19). And the Savior testifies in the Gospel, to whom all judgment is entrusted, in full discourse. Therefore, the earth will be dispersed, and all earthly works will be reduced to nothing, so that the image of the earthly may be abolished, and the image of the heavenly may remain. For the first man is from the earth, earthly, and the second is from heaven, heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthly, let us also bear the image of the heavenly (I Cor. XV, 47-49). The same Apostle says: Flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God. It is not that the nature of bodies perishes according to the heretics, but rather that corruptibility will put on incorruption, and mortality will put on immortality. And all these things will happen, because what is to come, the Lord has spoken through the prophets.

Commentary on Isaiah

565. Behold the Lord. In this part, he threatens the destruction of the entire earth, either that which was carried out in particular kingdoms and different regions, or that which is to come in the day of judgment, according to what is said above, this is the counsel, that I have purposed upon all the earth (Isa 14:26); however, some explain this as pertaining to the land of the Jews, or the land of Babylon, or the land of the Idumeans. And it is divided into two parts: in the first, he threatens against the inhabitants of the land; in the second, against the rulers of the peoples: and it shall come to pass, that in that day (Isa 24:21). Concerning the first, he sets out three things: first, the destruction of men; second, the removal of joys, where it says: the vintage has mourned (Isa 24:7); third, a multitude of dangers: the prevaricators (Isa 24:16).

566. Concerning the first, he does three things. First, he threatens destruction: the Lord shall strip it, purging it of inhabitants; lay waste, depriving it of those who cultivate it; afflict, with various punishments, the face, that is, inhabitants on its surface; scatter abroad, dividing them into various parts by captivity: I have stripped you bare (Joel 1:7).

Commentary on Isaiah

Nor indeed is there any distinction between the state of the people and that of the priesthood: but it seems to me to be a simple fulfillment of the ancient curse, “As with the people, so with the priest.” Nor again are the great and eminent men affected otherwise than the majority; no, they are openly at war with the priest, and the piety of the people is an aid to their powers of persuasion. And indeed, provided that it is on behalf of the faith and of the highest and most important questions, let the people be thus disposed, and I do not blame them. To say the truth, I go so far as to praise and congratulate the people.

In Defense of His Flight, Oration 2:82

We are put as guards in the vineyards, but we do not cultivate our own. When we are involved with external affairs, we neglect to watch over our own activities. I think that God suffers greater outrage from no one, dearly beloved, than from priests. Those he has placed to reprove others he sees giving an example of wickedness in their own lives. We who ought to have restrained sin, ourselves commit it. More seriously, priests who ought to give of their own possessions frequently plunder the goods of others. If they see others living humbly and chastely, they often make fun of them. Consider what will become of the flocks when wolves become shepherds! They undertake to guard the flock and are not afraid to waylay the Lord’s flock.We do not seek to gain souls; we devote ourselves daily to our own pursuits, we attend to earthly matters, we strive for human praise with all our will. From being set over others we have greater freedom to do anything we like, and so we turn the ministry we have received into an occasion for display. We abandon God’s cause, and we devote ourselves to earthly business; we accept a place of holiness and involve ourselves in earthly deeds. What is written in Hosea is truly fulfilled in us: “And so it will be, like people, like priest.”

Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 17

And this indeed is what the Lord, in the wrath of just retribution, menaced through the prophet, saying, “And there shall be like people, like priest.” For the priest is as the people, when one who bears a spiritual office acts as do others who are still under judgment with regard to their carnal pursuits.

Pastoral Care, Part 2, Chapter 7

What is written has surely been fulfilled in us: And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest. For the priest does not differ from the people when by no merit of his own does he transcend the common conduct.

Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 17

567. Second, the universality of destruction as to those punished, making equal those who differ in rank: as with the people, so with the priest; in condition: as with the servant so with his master; in possession of things: as with the buyer, so with the seller: the small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master (Job 3:19).

Commentary on Isaiah

As to the diversity of punishments: with desolation, setting out the loss as to immovable things: the earth shall be laid waste; as to movable things: it shall be spoiled: with desolation is all the land made desolate (Jer 12:11).

Commentary on Isaiah

4–5

(Verse 4, 5.) The earth mourned and declined, and became weak: the world declined, the height of the people of the earth became weak, and the earth was destroyed by its inhabitants. (LXX: The earth mourns, the world is corrupted, the lofty ones of the earth mourn, but the earth acts wickedly due to its inhabitants. God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). From the first sentence, it is against those who are lofty in the earth, so that everything that is now strong may be weakened because of those who mixed blood with blood, and caused the blood of the slain to cry out to God in a manner similar to Abel's blood (Gen. 4).

Commentary on Isaiah

As to the downfall of power, the earth mourned, and faded away, using the past tense for the future, that is, it shall fade away, mourning for its weakness; and this is: is weakened, that this may be said as to the common people; but as to the powerful, the world, that is, leaders of the world, faded away, above: I will visit the evils of the world (Isa 13:11).

Commentary on Isaiah

And he sets out the killing of men: and the earth is killed: the land was killed (Ps 106:38).

568. Third, he shows the equity of the punishment: because they have transgressed, and he does this by comparing it to their fault; hence he does two things. First, he sets out their fault: they have transgressed the laws, written or natural; the ordinance, of custom; the covenant, of friendship, everlasting, because it is caused by likeness of kind: they have transgressed my covenant, and have violated my law (Hos 8:1); they have polluted the sanctuary, they have acted unjustly against the law (Zeph 3:4).

Commentary on Isaiah

After he rebukes those of the circumcision who have trespassed the law of the covenant of God and warns them with what he has written, he prophesies that only a small number of them will be saved. These few are those whom the apostle calls “the remnant according to the election of grace.”

Proof of the Gospel 2:3

(Verse 6.) Because they have transgressed the law, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse devours the earth, and those who dwell in it are held guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left. LXX: Because they have transgressed the law, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse devours the earth, because its inhabitants have sinned. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth shall be poor, and few men shall be left. Let the Jews listen, who boast that they alone have received the law of the Lord, that the whole world and all nations first received the natural law, and therefore the law was later given through Moses, because the first law was dispersed. Concerning this, the Apostle says: For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they, not having the law, are a law to themselves; who show the work of the law written on their hearts (Rom. II, 14). Therefore, those who observe these laws will receive rewards: but those who neglect them will suffer the punishments that the prophetic word now pronounces. And just as at the beginning God blessed all the creatures He had made (Genesis 1): so at the end of the world He will curse those who are earthly and have not been pilgrims, but residents of the earth, and have sinned in it; those who have forgotten their condition and have raged against each other in mutual fury. And only a few will remain who have the image of the heavenly: or, according to the Septuagint, the poor will be the inhabitants of the earth, because they have lost the spiritual riches.

Commentary on Isaiah

569. Second, he threatens a fourfold punishment because of this fault: first, a divine curse: a curse: the land has mourned by reason of cursing (Jer 23:10); second, divine desertion: they shall sin, as if the Lord has abandoned them: for this cause, God delivered them up to shameful affections (Rom 1:26); he that is filthy, let him be filthy still (Rev 22:11); third, they shall be made foolish: therefore they shall be mad: they were turned aside into vanities (Ps 78:57); fourth, reduction in numbers: few men shall be left: you shall remain few in number (Deut 28:62).

Commentary on Isaiah

7–12

(Verse 7 and following) The grape harvest has failed, the vine is weakened, all those who rejoiced in their hearts have sighed. The joy of the tambourines has ceased, the sound of the rejoicers has quieted, the sweetness of the lyre has been silenced, as those who do not drink wine with singing, bitter will be the drink for those who drink it. The city of vanity is worn away, every house is closed with no one entering. There will be a cry over wine in the streets, all joy is deserted, the pleasure of the land has been moved elsewhere. And the solitude was left in the city, and calamity will oppress the gates: for these will be in the midst of the earth, in the midst of the people. In the end of the world, the remembrance of past delights will be the material of torments. Wherefore even that rich man, clothed in purple at a banquet, who had received his good things in his life, lifting up his eyes from hell, sees Lazarus in rest (Luke XVI). And the Lord, reproving the rich and luxurious and laughing, speaks in the Gospel: Woe to you who are rich, because you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are now satisfied, for you will hunger. Woe to you who are now laughing, for you will mourn and weep (Luke 6:25). Therefore, when the resurrection of the dead will have occurred, and the day of judgment will have come, then the wine and the harvest will mourn, of which Moses speaks: Their vine is from Sodom, their vineyard is from Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter. The fury of dragons is their wine, and the incurable fury of asps (Deuteronomy 32:33). Then every drink, or as it is said in Hebrew, 'sycerah', that is, drunkenness, which overturns the state of the mind and does not allow people to stay awake, will be changed into bitterness, which deceives those who use it with its sweetness for a time, and in the end is found to be more bitter than gall. Then all the sweetness of those who rejoice and the sounds of tambourines and lyres will be turned into mourning and groaning. Let us present this testimony to those who in banquets not only indulge in gluttony and drunkenness but also in the luxuries of the ears, so that strength of the soul may soften through all the senses. The city of vanity is destroyed, that is, every city, or spiritual Babylon, which sits on seven purple mountains, whose punishments we read about in the Apocalypse of John (Apoc. XVIII). It is well said, the city of vanity. For if it is said of heaven and earth, and of all things that are earthly: Vanity of vanities and all is vanity (Eccl. I, 2); how much more should this be said of one city, which is a small part of the whole world! Then the houses, whose ceilings are now gilded, and the poor without shelter and dying in hovels, will be adorned with marble veneers and shining ivory panels, but they will remain empty. There will be clamor in the streets over wine, not on the narrow and cramped road that leads to life, but on the wide and spacious road that leads to death (Matthew 7). Their error is over wine and drunkenness, those who have fallen asleep in their slumber, and all the wealthy men found nothing in their hands (Psalm 75). For indeed the joy of the earth has been translated to the heavens, and the once famous solitude is left in the abandoned city, and calamity will oppress the inhabitants of the crowded gateways through which the streams of peoples used to flow. And in order that we may know clearly the news of the destruction of the whole world, it added, These things shall happen in the midst of the earth: in the midst of nations or peoples.

Commentary on Isaiah

570. The vintage has mourned. Here he threatens the removal of joys as to the wicked; and second, he sets out the joys of the good: as if a few olives (Isa 24:13). Concerning the first, he does three things. First, he sets out the ending of joy which came from three things: either in the fertility of things, the vintage has mourned, failing, that is, it was the cause of mourning, above: there shall be no rejoicing nor shouting in the vineyards (Isa 16:10).

Commentary on Isaiah

Or in the playing of games: the mirth of timbrels has ceased: the voice of harpers, harping on their harps (Rev 14:2).

Commentary on Isaiah

Or in the pleasures of feasts: they shall not drink wine with a song, above: the harp, and the lyre, and, the timbrel and the pipe, and wine are in your feasts (Isa 5:12).

571. Second, he sets out the recompense of sadness: the drink shall be bitter, for in their feasts, they will have sadness, against the pleasures of feasts: I will turn your feasts into mourning (Amos 8:10).

581. Note on the words, the drink shall be bitter (Isa 24:9), that the drink of sin is bitter: first, because of the remorse of conscience: her end is bitter (Prov 5:4); second, because of the fear of death: O death, how bitter is the remembrance of you (Sir 41:1); third, because of the lack of divine sweetness: know you, and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing for you, to have left the Lord your God (Jer 2:19); fourth, because of the mourning of penance, below: I will recount to you all my years in the bitterness of my soul (Isa 38:15).

Commentary on Isaiah

The city of vanity is broken down, against the vanity of games, all things are vanity (Ps 39:5); vanity of vanities, and all is vanity (Eccl 1:2); the city, of Babylon, any soul.

Commentary on Isaiah

There shall be a crying, of those lamenting over the lack of wine, against fertility: in all vineyards there shall be wailing (Amos 5:17).

572. Third, he concludes the exchange: all mirth is forsaken, exchanged for sadness: woe to you that laugh: for you shall weep (Luke 6:25); laughter shall be mingled with sorrow (Prov 14:13).

Commentary on Isaiah

13–15

(Verses 13-15) Just as when a few olives, which remain, are shaken from the olive tree, and the grape harvest is finished, these will lift up their voice and praise when the Lord is glorified, they will neigh from the sea: therefore, glorify the Lord in your teachings, in the islands of the sea proclaim the name of the Lord God of Israel. The following words will show how much the LXX translation differs from the Hebrew truth in this place: LXX: Just as if someone shakes an olive, they will shake them: and if the grape harvest rests, these will shout with a loud voice. But those who are left on the earth will rejoice together with the glory of the Lord, the water of the sea will be troubled, therefore the glory of the Lord will be in the islands of the sea, the name of the glorious Lord will be, the Lord God of Israel. With few men left, when the curse devours the earth, and there is solitude in the city, and all these things happen in the midst of the earth, in the midst of peoples and nations, the number of the saints will be so few, of whom the Lord speaks in the Gospel: Many are called, but few are chosen (Matt. 20:16); and the pressure on the righteous will be so great that, if possible, even the chosen of God will be tempted; and their number will be compared to the rarest berries of olives, which, when shaken and harvested, very few remain on the top of the branches; and just as after the harvest, the poor, forced by poverty, go around empty vines and gather a few grapes. Therefore, those who remain, and after the harvest of the world and the pressure, their hands trembling, will flee from the persecuting Antichrist or the impending flames of punishment, and they will raise their voices on high and praise God. When the Lord comes in the glory of his Father, with the holy Angels, and they see him reigning in majesty, then they will neigh like horses, rejoicing with great joy, and they will neigh from the sea of this age. Therefore, you who are now learned in the holy Scriptures and know that great joy and rewards are reserved for you, glorify the Lord in your teachings, hearing what is written: 'Whoever boasts, let him boast in the Lord' (2 Corinthians 10:17). Not in the land of Judea, but in the islands, that is, in the Churches of this sea and age, where the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, is blessed and praised, or, the name of the man who sees God. According to the Septuagint, everything that we understand about the saints can be referred to as the wicked, because when the vintage is finished, then those who are established in punishment will cry out. But those who have escaped the number of the wicked shall rejoice in the glory of the Lord, and the waters of this people in this age shall be troubled.

Commentary on Isaiah

573. As if. Here he places the joys of the good. And first, he foretells the praise of those to come, whose salvation he foretells: as if a few; few will be saved, in relation to the others, above: the fruit thereof that shall be left upon it, shall be as the shaking of the olive tree, two or three berries in the top of a bough (Isa 17:6).

Commentary on Isaiah

And he places their praise: these shall give praise; they shall whinny, like horses to signify their great joy, below: the voice of your watchmen: they have lifted up their voice, they shall praise together (Isa 52:8).

Commentary on Isaiah

“Therefore, the glory of the Lord is in the islands of the sea.” That pertains obviously to the church, which is located in the midst of the godless nations as if an island in the sea. It is in that island that the glory of the Lord shines.

Commentary on Isaiah 7:19

By “sea” he means the multitude of nations, and by “coastlands,” perhaps, he means cities. All their inhabitants will “raise their voices” when the divine wrath comes upon them. But the majesty of Christ will somehow be in the sea, that is, in all those nations, and they will realize that it is through divine Providence that they are destroyed and annihilated. They are destroyed because their impiety provoked the Almighty God; hence they will reject their gods who are unable to help them. That is how the majesty of the Lord is celebrated. It is clear that the purpose of the prophecy is to point to the mystery of Christ and to remind about the coming salvation in him.… Now, when the preaching of the holy apostles, which leads the nations from the idolatry to the grace of Christ, is spread to the ends of the earth, then, he says, “they shall cry aloud from the sea,” that is, all the nations of the world.

Commentary on Isaiah 2:5.24

“And God remembered Babylon the great, who came into his sight.” This designates the confused multitude of all the lost. “That he might give it to drink from the wine of his wrath.” The retribution of due punishment to be returned to the wicked is here recorded. “And all the islands fled, and no mountains could be found.” I believe that these islands and mountains are literary figures for the church on account of the prominence of its stability, concerning which it is also said through Isaiah: “Glorify the Lord in doctrine, the name of the Lord God of Israel in the islands of the sea.”

Commentary on the Apocalypse 4:16

574. Second, he introduces praise in the present: therefore. And first, he places the precept, glorify the Lord in instruction, that is, in teaching others; another translation has: in praises: glorify the Lord as much as ever you can, for he will yet far exceed (Sir 43:30).

Commentary on Isaiah

(Verse 16) From the ends of the earth we have heard praises, the glory of the Just One. And I said: My secret to me, my secret to me. Alas for me! LXX: From others we have heard wonders of the earth: the hope of the just, and they say + my mystery to me **. This which is said my mystery to me is not found in the LXX, but it has been added from Theodotion's translation in Greek. Again, instead of what they placed as woe, so that it is joined to the following verse, in Hebrew it is said Oi LI (), which properly means woe to me. Furthermore, for the ends that we have set forth more clearly for the sake of explanation, it is found in Hebrew 'Mecchenaph' (which means 'wing', not 'end'). Therefore, concerning those about whom it was said above, 'They shall lift up their voice and praise, when they neigh from the sea, and glorify the Lord in their teachings, and see the name of the Lord God of Israel praised in the islands of the sea', then they shall sing with united voice and say: 'From the ends of the earth, that is, from the prophets and the saints of the Lord, who, with wings assumed like a dove, hasten to the kingdom of the heavens, we have heard His praises proclaimed; and may it be fulfilled that the glory and hope of the Just may not be in vain, but that all things may be fulfilled.' And while they were saying these things, and the saints were neighing from the sea, and lifting up their voice and praising, the Prophet speaks to himself: When, he says, I heard these things, and perceived that the prophecy of the prophets was to be fulfilled in the overthrow of the world, I spoke to myself with an internal affection of the heart: I cannot narrate all that I see. My tongue sticks to my throat, my voice is cut off by pain. Woe is me, how great a order of torments is passing before my eyes! I perceive things that are present and things that are to come. However, those who think that this should be understood as the person of God are mistaken, not following the order of things. And I wonder in what sense the Psalms and praises, which are read in Hebrew as Zemroth, were interpreted as portents by the LXX, unless perhaps it is a sign and portent that, with the Jewish people excluded, the unbelieving multitude of gentiles might be saved first.

Commentary on Isaiah

“The Spirit of the Lord filled the world.” But that will be done with the broken horns of sinners. The horns of the righteous one are said to be exalted, concerning which Isaiah prophesied: “From the ends of the earth we heard praises announcing the glory of the righteous one.” The church is understood to have seven horns, as does every world in which the sevenfold grace of the Spirit rules on account of his remarkable sevenfold operation. And eyes are mentioned here because of illumination. It is in relation to this, I believe, that Zechariah said, “These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which run through all the earth.”

Commentary on the Apocalypse 2:5

Second, he designates the fulfillment of the precept: from the ends of the earth we have heard praises, the glory of the just one, that is, Christ, below: behold the Lord has made it to be heard in the ends of the earth (Isa 62:11).

Third, the reward of those who fulfill it: and I said: my secret, of their reward: eye has not seen, nor ear heard: neither has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for them that love him (1 Cor 2:9); to myself, alone. Woe is me, for I cannot tell of it to others: I heard secret words which it is not granted to man to utter (2 Cor 12:4). Of the punishments of the damned: woe is me, such great punishments I see; and thus this belongs with the following part.

575. The prevaricators. Here he threatens a multitude of dangers, and concerning this, he does two things. First, he denounces the diversity of their sins: prevaricators, by omission, transgressors, by commission, I have accounted all the sinners of the earth prevaricators (Ps 119:119).

582. Note on the word, secret (Isa 24:16), that the mighty works of God are secret: first, because of their greatness: all men take not this word (Matt 19:11); if I have spoken to you earthly things, and you believe not: how will you believe, if I shall speak to you heavenly things? (John 3:12); second, because of their dignity: to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (Matt 13:11), but to others, in parables; third, because of the unsuitableness of others: give not that which is holy to dogs (Matt 7:6).

Commentary on Isaiah

17–18

(Verse 17, 18.) The treacherous have dealt treacherously; indeed, they have dealt treacherously with treachery. Fear, the pit, and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall be that he who flees from the noise of fear shall fall into the pit, and he who comes up from the midst of the pit shall be caught in the snare. LXX: woe to the treacherous who deal treacherously! Fear, the pit, and the snare are upon you, O inhabitants of the earth. And it shall come to pass that he who flees from the noise of fear shall fall into the pit, and he who comes up from the midst of the pit shall be caught in the snare. This is the cause of my grieving and crying out, for which I have said again and again, my secret to myself, my secret to myself: because all have transgressed God's law, and the punishment of the Lord is not delayed, nor is it foretold, but it is imminent and holds captive the inhabitants of the earth. And when they think they have escaped, they will fall from one thing to another, and wherever they turn, they will not escape the impending anger of the Lord.

Commentary on Isaiah

Second, he threatens a multitude of dangers. And first, he sets out this multitude: fear. He speaks in likeness to those who flee pursuers because of fear, above: they shall fall, and shall be broken in pieces (Isa 8:15); a voice of terror (Jer 30:5).

Commentary on Isaiah

576. Second, the impossibility of escaping: and it shall come to pass, that he that shall flee from the noise of the fear, shall fall into the pit: as if to say, he will decide upon Scylla, wanting to avoid Charybdis: that which the palmerworm has left, the bruchus has eaten (Joel 1:4). And he assigns the cause: for tribulation will come to them from both heaven and from earth, and this is the flood-gates, that is, hidden channels through which water flows: the floodgates of heaven were opened (Gen 7:11).

Commentary on Isaiah

19–20

(Verse 19, 20.) For the gates from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth will be shaken. The earth will be crushed to pieces, shattered, and shaken. It will be thrown into agitation like a drunkard, and it will be taken away like a temporary shelter, and its own iniquity will weigh it down, and it will fall and not be able to rise again. Therefore, no one will escape the fear, snare, and pit of the Lord, because the gates from on high, or as the LXX has made clearer, the windows of heaven, are open, so that the Lord may behold all the sins of mankind that he previously seemed to ignore because he did not punish sinners. But when, however, he saw all the works of mortals with the windows open, the foundations of the earth were shaken, according to what is written in another place about the divine sight: He looks at the earth, and it trembles (Ps. 103:32); then it will be shattered and broken, and the earth will be moved and agitated like a drunkard: not that the earth itself will be reduced to dust and to nothingness; but that all earthly things will pass away, and another way of life will succeed. And just as a drunk person doesn't know what they are doing, but with the nerves dulled by drunkenness, neither foot nor mind stay in their proper function, so all the earth, that is, all the people who dwell on the earth, will be drunk with the magnitude of evils and punishments, and they will be astonished at everything they see. And just as the tent and dwelling place of one night is moved from place to place, and the previous location of the tent is abandoned by the traveler, so that no trace of the past dwelling remains: in the same way, the figure of this world will pass away, and the earth will be deserted, burdened by its iniquity, as is written in Zachariah: She who sits upon a talent of lead (Zech. V, 32). And it will fall, he says, and it will not be added so that it may rise again. Not that the resurrection of humans, and all who inhabited the earth, is denied, but there will in no way be an earthly conversation, and the former state of life, when human bodies rise for this purpose, so that souls may be clothed in the same bodies they had previously laid aside, and receive from God either the good or evil deeds they had done on earth.

Commentary on Isaiah

577. Third, he shows the impossibility of reparation under a threefold similitude, namely, of divided things, which are not restored: breaking, as to division into large parts, crushing, as to division into small parts: behold the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will crush it from the face of the earth (Amos 9:8).

Commentary on Isaiah

And through the similitude of shaken things, which are not made stable: with trembling shall the earth be moved, from place to place, shaken, as if trembling in its own place, as a drunken man, above: they have caused Egypt to err in all its works, as a drunken man staggers and vomits (Isa 19:14); and through the similitude of a traveler's tent, which is not fixed firmly in the same place: as the tent, below: my generation is at an end, and it is rolled away from me, as a shepherd's tent (Isa 38:12). And he assigns the cause: and the iniquity thereof shall be heavy upon it, like a heavy weight, so that it does not rise again: what is heavier than lead? (Sir 22:14); sin sits on a talent (Zech 5:7); my iniquities are as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me (Ps 38:4).

Commentary on Isaiah

21–23

(Verse 21 onwards) And it will happen in that day, the Lord will visit upon the host of heaven on high, and upon the kings of the earth who are on the earth. And they will be gathered together into one assembly, into a pit, and will be shut up there in prison, and after many days they will be visited. And the moon will be ashamed, and the sun will be confounded, when the Lord of hosts shall reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and shall show forth his glory before his ancients. For what we have interpreted, the moon will turn red, and the sun will be confused. The Seventy translated it as 'to melt the brick and to make the wall fall.' The following words will show what the cause of the error is. The sun is called by the Hebrew language in three ways: Semes, meaning heat; Hamma, which means brightness; and Heres, which sounds like 'testam' or dryness. Maor, which in Greek is φωστὴρ, is called 'luminare' in Latin and is common to both the sun and the moon. Again, the moon is called Jaree ( ), which in Greek is called μήνη, because it completes the month in a cycle of thirty days, and Labana ( ), that is, white or bright. In the present place, instead of Labana, that is, the moon, Seventy interpreted laterem, which in Hebrew is called Lebena, deceived by the ambiguity of the word. Again, for Hamma, that is, heat, by which the sun is understood, they placed a wall, which in Hebrew is called Homa ( ). And the meaning of this whole chapter is as follows: The windows of heaven are opened, so that the Lord may look upon the earthly sins, and every form of earthly work may pass away, and fall, and never rise again to its former state. On that day, which is the day of judgment, the Lord will visit upon the heavenly host, or upon the adornment of the high heavens, so that He may judge not only the earthly, but also the celestial things. But let us learn from Moses, who is writing, what is the adornment of the heavens or the heavenly host: Be careful not to look up at the sky, and see the sun and the moon. You are deceived and worship the stars and all the adornment of the heavens (Deut. IV, 19). But the Lord will visit, according to the language of the Scriptures, as if he were visiting a sick army, needing both weapon and cauterization, according to this: I will visit their sins with a rod, and their iniquities with scourges (Ps. LXXXVIII, 3). For also in the following we read: My sword is drunk in heaven (Infra XXXIV, 5); And in Job: The stars are not clean in his sight. And concerning his angels who sinned, God found something perverted (Job 25:5). He will also visit the kings and princes of the earth, the rulers of these dark regions, and the spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. Of these princes, who preside over different provinces, it is written in Daniel: 'A prince of the kingdom of Persia came to meet me, and a prince of the kingdom of Media, and a prince of the kingdom of Greece' (Dan. 10). Therefore, the Lord will gather these princes who did not keep their proper position, on the day of judgment, binding them together as in one bundle, and will cast them into the lake of hell, so that it may also be fulfilled in them what is written about the wicked: 'He made a pit, and excavated it, and fell into the hole he made' (Ps. 7:16). And they shall be cast into prison, according to what the Lord says: Go into the everlasting fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41) . But what follows: And after many days they shall be visited, seems to support the claims of my friends who say that the devil and demons will repent, that they will be visited by the Lord after a long time. But they should consider that the divine Scripture does not clearly say: They shall be visited by the Lord, or they shall be visited by the angels, but simply, they shall be visited. From this ambiguity of word and remedy, it can be understood both correction, in that after the just have received rewards, they are visited with perpetual punishments. However, it must be known that the judgment of God cannot know human frailty, nor can it pass sentence on the magnitude and measure of punishments, which is left to the discretion of the Lord. Then the moon will blush, and the sun will be confused, according to what the Apostle says: For the creature itself groans and gives birth (Rom. VIII, 22), seeing that men who enjoyed its light have done nothing worthy of the goodness of God, who makes his sun rise on the just and the unjust (Matth. V). If the steward and the overseer, when the master comes, see the household subjected to various tortures and have not fulfilled their commands. Concerning this same matter, the Savior teaches more fully in the Gospel: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, when the sign of the Son of Man appears in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (Matthew 24:29-30). We have learned the overthrow of the earth, the visitation of the heavenly army, the gathering together of kings and princes into one bundle, and their casting down into the lake, and the keeping of the prison, and the visitation of those shut up after a long time, the reddening of the moon and the darkening of the sun. After all these things, the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in the celestial Jerusalem, of which it is also written in the Epistle to the Hebrews: And in the sight of his elders he will be glorified (Heb. XII). What kind of man was Abraham, who died in old age and was buried with his ancestors (Gen. XXV)? He was commanded to choose elders, whom he knew to be elders (Num. XI): for the wisdom of a man is seen in his grey hair (Sap. IV, 8), they who imitate the old days, whose hair is described as white, to show the length of their age (Dan. VII, 9). This can also be understood in terms of ecclesiastical rank, if they do not destroy the dignity with their actions.

Commentary on Isaiah

578. And it shall come to pass. Here he threatens against the rulers of the people; and concerning this he sets out three things. First, he sets out their punishment: in that day, of judgment; the Lord shall visit upon the host of heaven on high, that is, the demons, and upon the kings of the earth, these same demons: now shall the prince of this world be cast out (John 12:31); or also the wicked kings. Or, in that day, namely, the day of the destruction of particular kingdoms; the host of heaven on high, the idols, namely, of the sun and moon and the other stars: he adored all the host of heaven (2 Kgs 21:3).

583. Note on the words, and it shall come to pass, that in that day the Lord shall visit (Isa 24:21), that the visitation of the Lord is manifold: first, of condemnation: in the time of their visitation they shall fall (Jer 8:12); second, of correction: I will visit their iniquities with a rod (Ps 89:32); third, of consolation: the Orient from on high has visited us (Luke 1:78).

Commentary on Isaiah

And they shall be gathered together, at the same time in hell: which was prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt 25:41); as in the gathering of one bundle: bind it into bundles to burn (Matt 13:30), that they may be alike in punishment who were alike in sin: I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, gathered together (Rev 19:19). And they shall be gathered together, through destruction, below: all the host of the heavens shall pine away (Isa 34:4).

579. Second, he designates the measure of the punishment as to time: and after many days they shall be visited, for after however much time of torment, they shall be punished in eternity: go, you cursed, into everlasting fire (Matt 25:41); or in the day of judgment, that, when the judgment has been executed, they might return to hell immediately; or, according to another interpretation: they shall be consoled, for after the storm, he makes a calm for all (Tob 3:22).

Commentary on Isaiah

He [Isaiah] was pricked by the thorn of sin; you are decked with the flowers of virtue. “The moon shall be ashamed, and the sun confounded, when the Lord shall punish the host of heaven on high.” This is explained by another passage. “Even the stars are unclean in his sight”;21 and again, “He charges his angels with folly.” The moon is ashamed, the sun is confounded, and the sky covered with sackcloth. Shall we fearlessly and joyously, as though we were free from all sin, face the majesty of the Judge? After all, the mountains shall melt away, that is, all who are lifted up by pride, and all the host of the heavens, whether they are stars or angelic powers, shall fade away like heavens when the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll.

Against the Pelagians 2.24

The stars on the day of judgment will be seen obscurely, not because of a gradual waning of their own light but due to the overwhelming brilliance of the true light, who is the supreme Judge coming in majesty, and the light of the Father and the holy angels. Nevertheless, nothing should prevent us from understanding that the sun, the moon and other stars will be deprived temporarily of their own light, as happened to the sun at the Lord’s passion. But because the moon, which should have been full at that time, lay hidden behind the earth, Joel’s prophesy remains unfulfilled still today, for after he had said “the sun will be turned to darkness,” he added, “and the moon to blood before the great and magnificent day of the Lord comes.” Isaiah also spoke about the day of judgment, saying, “The moon will be ashamed and the sun confounded when the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and is glorified in the presence of Jerusalem’s elders.”

On the Gospel of Mark 4:13.24

580. Third, the glory of him who punishes, and first, of the judge: and the moon shall blush, that is, its splendor shall be thought nothing in comparison to the splendor of the body of Christ: the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood: before the great and dreadful day of the Lord doth come (Joel 2:31); or, the worshippers of the sun and moon.

Second, of the judge's assessors: when the Lord of hosts shall reign . . . and shall be glorified in the sight of his ancients, above: the Lord will enter into judgment with the senators (Isa 3:14).

Commentary on Isaiah