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Chapter 49. About the fact that people are scorched by the heat from the fourth plague Rev. 16:8–9. “And the fourth angel poured out his vial on the sun: and it was given to him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched by the great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, who had the domain of these plagues: and did not repent to give Him glory.” Perhaps people will then be scorched by the sensual burning of the sun, when God, the lover of mankind, with the bridle and bridle of his jaw will draw those who do not approach Him (Ps. 31:9), so that they will heed repentance, although those who have fallen into the depths of evil will be drawn away by the malice of the mind not to conversion, but to blasphemy. Perhaps the sun denotes the course of the day, in which those worthy of punishment will be scorched by the heat of temptation, so that from the discovery of sorrows they will hate their cause - sin. But the foolish, instead of realizing their failures, will sharpen their tongue against God, as today you can see many who, being saddened by the unspeakable disasters surrounding us at the hands of barbarians, accuse Divine grace that it has preserved so many disasters for our generation. Chapter 50. That the fifth plague darkens the kingdom of the beast Rev. 16:10–11. “And the fifth angel poured out his vial on the throne of the beasts: and his kingdom was darkened: and he chewed his tongues with sickness: and blasphemed the God of heaven with sickness and with his wounds, and did not repent of his deeds.” That the vial is poured out on the throne of the beast, this means that this wrath will befall the kingdom of the Antichrist, and it will be darkened, as if it does not receive illumination from the Sun of Truth. Biting the tongue shows the excessive severity of the disease with which those seduced by him will be possessed, being punished with plagues sent from God so that, having learned that the one glorified by them as God is a deceiver, they will lag behind the deception. But even then they will turn not to repentance, but to blasphemy. If these, as a result of the plagues sent, turn to blasphemy, then those who will also be struck with hail the size of a talent (Rev. 16:21) will also suffer, as having reached this place, with God’s help we will explain as much as we can. And the crafty demons, being in human bodies, which they use as instruments, being struck by the saints, do not refrain from blaspheming those who punish them. We must consider what we should think about the wicked who are punished in fiery hell, whether by this punishment they will be completely restrained from the evil innate in them, so that the very thought of it will cease, or will they only be restrained from carrying out evil desires, just as villains, thrown into prison, are restrained from slandering others not by the disposition of the soul, but by necessity. Hearing about eternal torment, I cannot help but believe the one who declares this, but knowing about His goodness and goodness, always ready, I am confirmed in the thought that He would not threaten or subject to endless condemnation those who deserved it, if He saw that those condemned would repent and hate that which they spontaneously loved. For it is not out of necessity, but of their own free will that they are punished for it. For if, prayed by Moses, He freed him from the punishments of Pharaoh, although he knew that during the punishments he softened, and when they ceased, he became hardened: is it not much more so if he knew that in the fire they would lay off their filth like gold, which some point to in this regard? But to gold, as a soulless substance, impurity comes naturally, but to rational ones it is added consciously, better, and is generated from them themselves. Therefore, those who believe that the goodness and foreknowledge and power of God serve as an obstacle to eternal torment, let them add to this justice, distributing to each according to their dignity, and then they will not think in any way about changing the Divine determination. If they don’t want to, let them blame themselves and the kings of the earth, so that they can be in agreement with themselves. For they, knowing in advance that those who entered the games in wrestling, or in fist fights, or in running races, or in horse racing, will not all be winners, but will be crowned only one for each type of games, despite the lists being opened for everyone to fight. What a lists is for games, so is entry into this life for all people. For to be born or not to be born is not from us, but to fight and defeat the evil demons and receive eternal benefits is from us. And for the vanquished, of necessity, it will be useless to repent and cry, enduring eternal torment, for there is no confession in hell, according to the saying of the Psalm (Psalm 6:6), because with the condemned the help of the Holy Spirit is not present, as now. For they will be cut in half, as the Lord says, when the Life-giving Spirit, which they have dishonored, is taken away from them. We think that the intended meaning is also indicated by the Psalm saying that the Lord will not leave the rod of sinners in the lot of the righteous, lest the righteous stretch out their hands in iniquity (Ps. 124:3), since their life can be consistent with the life of those, not only because of the difference in behavior and disagreement with how each lived, but also because of firmness in goodness and constancy, so that by the addition of the worst their will is not irritated to sin, and joy is not diminished by the weakness of the flesh or the fear of change, but so that they inherit unshakable firmness according to God. About this hitherto, since the word must move on to what was promised, we will go in order. Chapter 51. That the sixth vial opens the way through the Euphrates to the kings from the east Rev. 16:12. “And the sixth angel poured out his vial on the great river Euphrates: and the water thereof dried up, that the way might be prepared for the king that is from the east of the sun.” Perhaps the Euphrates River, by God's permission, will decrease in order to give the kings of Egypt a passage to destroy each other and other people who are moving, as we think, according to what is indicated further in Revelation, from the Scythian borders, from the region of Gog and Magog. There is also no inconsistency in the fact that the Antichrist, descended from the Hebrew root, from the eastern parts of the Persian land, where the tribe of Dan, together with other kings or nobles who received the royal name, will cross the Euphrates, inflicting physical or mental death on people - some for faith and patience, others for lack of courage and licentiousness. Rev. 16:13. “And I saw out of the mouth of the serpent, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the lying prophet, three unclean spirits, like frogs coming out.” The fact that he saw three unclean spirits coming out of the three shows that he separately mentions the devil as a serpent, the Antichrist as a beast, and the false prophet as different from them. From them he says, three spirits came out like toads, because of their poisonousness, their habit of being dirty and unclean, and the serpentine inclination of evil spirits to shameful pleasures. They, according to the commands of the devil, the Antichrist and the false prophet, which is signified by their lips, will show people false signs and wonders, as we learn from what follows. Rev. 16:14. “The essence of the demonstrators is that they create signs: those who go out to the kings of the whole universe, I will gather God Almighty to battle on that great day.” For, performing false signs through demons, those who believe in arming them for war against the great and enlightened day of God, the Judges of the living and the dead, and on this day the God-fighters will be completely defeated, they will weep, uselessly mourning the previous error. Rev. 16:15–16. “Behold, I come like a thief: blessed is he who is watchful and guards his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them to a place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.” To stay awake and keep your clothes means to be alert in good deeds. For they are the garments of the saints, the deprived of which will necessarily be ashamed, as if naked and full of shame. Armageddon is translated as dissection or dissected. For one must think that the nations gathered there, led to battle by the devil, will be flogged, since they are comforted by human blood. since we learn from here that it is abominable to be stripped of the garments of virtues, and from the Gospel parable we know that he who did not have it was cast out of the bridal chamber, and from the Apostolic saying, in which he speaks of incorruptibility, even if one who has put on it is not found, i.e. good deeds, let us diligently pray to our Lord that here He will wash our spiritual garments, so that we may be whiter than snow according to the Psalm word, and not hear: friend, how did you come in, not having a wedding garment, and bound hand and foot, we will not be cast out into utter darkness (Matthew 22:12-13), but at all times, according to To the wise Solomon, having white robes (Eccl. 9:8) and carrying the bright lamps of a God-pleasing life, adorned with compassion, together with the pure and immaculate Bridegroom of our souls - Christ our God, we enter into His palace. With Him befits the Father with the Holy Spirit glory, power, honor, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.