Rev 11:13

“"In that hour there was a great earthquake." By mentioning again the persecution, he confirms what he had said above. The Lord also expressed an opinion that is in harmony with this passage. He said, "In that hour let him who is on the housetop not come down to take whatever is in the house, nor let him who is in the field turn back." When he says "in that hour," he is indicating all time. "And a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand were killed in the earthquake." The number ten and the number seven are perfect. Even were it not the case, it would be fitting to understand the whole from the part. He says that a tenth of the city, that is, all of it, fell, along with its builders who allowed the construction of perverse doctrine in the temple of their hearts. For there are two kinds of structures in the church. One structure is laid upon the Rock. The other structure is founded upon the sand and is not able to withstand the onslaught of present dangers. Rather, it crumbles straightway and topples with it whoever had not kept the faith of the true church with a pure heart. "The rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven." These are those who have been laid upon the Rock. When the unrighteous are dying from the earthquake, these fear lest they also become partakers with the unrighteous in this punishment. And through the confession of the Christian name and by the despising of their souls, they glorify the Lord, since they have been spared the torments of the unrighteous. The saint sang of this when he said, "The righteous will rejoice when he sees vengeance; he will wash his hands in the blood of the sinner." For when the righteous sees the death of the sinner, he increases all the more in obedience to the commandments and does them with greater joy and purity, since he is himself being freed from the punishments of the wicked. As it is written, "When a just man sees the wicked punished, he becomes wise."”

“It is possible that these things will happen at that time in a physical way. But we think that the "earthquake" symbolizes the transposition of those things that are shaking and tottering to something more firm and secure. That a "tenth of the city" falls refers to the corpse of impiety, which was not wise in the seizing of those prophets. The "seven thousand" who are killed signify those who remained attached to the seven days of the present life but did not wait for the eighth day of the resurrection and who must also be killed with "the second death" in Gehenna, namely, eternal punishment. Or, perhaps the seven thousand will be those Jews who were persuaded by the antichrist.”

“And they gave glory to the God of heaven. These are the ones built upon the rock, who, while others fall from the earthquake, glorify the Lord with a righteous confession from their stability. For the righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance of the wicked. Some interpret the two prophets as Enoch and Elijah, who, preaching for three and a half years, will strengthen the hearts of the faithful against the soon-following perfidy of the Antichrist. After they are killed, the same period of persecution will ensue, and finally, with the conflict renewed, they will be overcome by the saints, who were believed to be dead in the protection of hiding places. These same prophets are said to rise for the unity of one body, and seeing them again, those who thought them dead will face a heightened persecution, causing many of those considered worthy of the septenary or denary number to fall, as Daniel says: He will confirm a covenant with many for one week, and in the midst of the week he will cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and in the temple will be the abomination of desolation (Daniel IX). And later: And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days (Daniel XII). This number covers approximately three years and six months. Indeed, Elijah once destroyed his adversaries with fire and, hiding for three and a half years, withheld the rains, and finally, after the false prophets were killed, through the sacrifice that had been taken away, he turned Israel back to the Lord.”

“And at that hour there was made a great earthquake. After showing the resurrection, he recapitulates starting from the last persecution. It is not surprising if he calls the time shortened for the sake of the elect an hour, when he says elsewhere concerning all this time, Little children, it is the last hour. [1 John 2:18] Note also that he says it is a great earthquake because, according to the Lord's saying, there shall be a tribulation such as hath not been from the beginning. [Matt. 24:21] And the tenth part of the city fell. The tenth part of the city falls in those who do not belong to the number of the elect. The elect indeed, joining the nine orders of angels, make up for the fallen demons with their own multitude, and fill up the tenth place, which is that of their order. Therefore it is not the whole tenth that we should understand here, but a part of the tenth, which falls, that is the part which, not joining the nine orders of angels, by no means holds the place of the tenth order. And there were slain in the earthquake names of men seven thousand. By these we should understand the part that is now hiding among the lambs, but will be brought to publicly visible error when the last persecution takes place, and will be sent into the body of the beast to be devoured by it. The rest were cast into a fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven. Who are the rest he is talking about? Those who have remained in faith throughout? Or those who denied it, but came back to it afterwards? Or those who have been faithless, but will believe afterwards when Elijah and Enoch are preaching? We may actually understand all of these.”