Rev 9:1

“Of the idols which the Gentiles think to be gods. In the Wisdom of Solomon: "All the idols of the nations they counted gods, which neither have the use of their eyes for seeing, nor their nostrils to receive breath, nor their ears for hearing, nor the fingers on their hands for handling; but their feet also are slow to walk. For man made them; and he who has borrowed his breath, he fashioned them. But no man will be able to fashion a god like to himself. For since he is mortal, he fashioneth a dead thing with wicked hands. But he himself is better than they whom he worships, since he indeed lived, but they never." On this same matter: "Neither have they who have regarded the works known who was the artificer, but have thought that either fire, or wind, or the rapid air, or the circle of the stars, or the abundant water, or the sun and moon, were the gods that rule over the world; and if, on account of the beauty of these, they have thought thus, let them know how much more beautiful than these is the Lord; or if they have admired their powers and operations, let them perceive from these very things that He who has established these mighty things is stronger than they." Also in the cxxxivth Psalm: "The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have a mouth, and speak not; they have eyes, and see not; they have ears, and hear not; and neither is there any breath in their mouth. Let them who make them become like unto them, and all those who trust in them." Also in the ninety-fifth Psalm: "All the gods of the nations are demons, but the Lord made the heavens." Also in Exodus: "Ye shall not make unto yourselves gods of silver nor of gold." And again: "Thou shalt not make to thyself an idol, nor the likeness of any thing." Also in Jeremiah: "Thus saith the Lord, Walk not according to the ways of the heathen; for they fear those things in their own persons, because the lawful things of the heathen are vain. Wood cut out from the forest is made. the work of the carpenter, and melted silver and gold are beautifully arranged: they strengthen them with hammers and nails, and they shall not be moved, for they are fixed. The silver is brought from Tharsis, the gold comes from Moab. All things are the works of the artificers; they will clothe it with blue and purple; lifting them, they will carry them, because they will not go forward. Be not afraid of them, because they do no evil, neither is there good in them. Say thus, The gods that have not made the heaven and the earth perish from the earth, and from under this heaven. The heaven hath trembled at this, and hath shuddered much more vehemently, saith the Lord. These evil things hath my people done. They have forsaken the fountain of living water, and have dug out for themselves worn-out wells, which could not hold water. Thy love hath smitten thee, and thy wickedness shall accuse thee. And know and see that it shall be a bitter thing for thee that thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord thy God, and thou hast not hoped in me, saith thy Lord. Because of old time thou hast resented my yoke, and hast broken thy bonds, and hast said, I will not serve, but I will go upon every lofty mountain, and upon every high hill, and upon every shady tree: there I will be confounded with fornication. To the wood and to the stone they have said, Thou art my father; and to the stone, Thou hast begotten me: and they turned to me their back, and not their face." In Isaiah: "The dragon hath fallen or is dissolved; their carved works have become as beasts and cattle. Labouring and hungry, and without strength, ye shall bear them bound upon your neck as a heavy burden." And again: "Gathered together, they shall not be able to be saved from war; but they themselves have been led captive with thee." And again: "To whom have ye likened me? See and understand that ye err in your heart, who lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, bringing it up to the weight. The workmen have made with their hand the things made; and, bowing themselves, they have adored it, and have raised it on their shoulders: and thus they walked. But if they should place them down, they will abide in their place, and will not be moved; and they will not hear those who cry unto them: they will not save them from evils." Also in Jeremiah: "The Lord, who made heaven and earth, in strength hath ordered the world, in His wisdom hath stretched forth the heaven, and the multitude of the waters in the heaven. He hath brought out the clouds from the end of the earth, the lightnings in the clouds; and He hath brought forth the winds from His treasures. Every man is made foolish by his knowledge, every artificer is confounded by his graven images; because he hath molten a falsehood: there is no breath in them. The works shut up in them are made vain; in the time of their consideration they shall perish." And in the Apocalypse: "And the sixth angel sounded with his trumpet. And I heard one of the four corners of the golden ark, which is in the presence of God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound upon the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, to slay the third part of men; and the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred thousand of thousand: I heard the number of them. And then I saw the horses in the vision, and those that sate upon them, having breastplates of fire, and of hyacinth, and of sulphur: and the heads of the horses (as the heads of lions); and out of their mouth went fire, and smoke, and sulphur. By these three plagues the third part of men was slain, by the fire, and the smoke, and the sulphur which went forth from their mouth, and is in their tails: for their tails were like unto eels; for they had heads, and with them they do mischief. And the rest of the men who were not slain by these plagues, nor repented of the works of the deeds of their hands, that they should not worship demons and idols, that is, images of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood, which can neither see nor walk, repented not also of their, murders." Also in the same place: "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and hath received his mark in his forehead or upon his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of His wrath, and shall be punished with fire and sulphur, under the eyes of the holy angels, and under the eyes of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torments shall ascend up for ever and ever."”

“In this star he speaks of the body of those many persons who have fallen from heaven through agreement [with the devil].… We ought to understand the key to the pit to be false teachings that confine those within it in such a way that they are not able to look upon the light of truth. And so the devil fell from heaven and received the key to the pit, and [he] opened his mouth in blasphemy and taught his followers not to do the will of God but to do their own will.”

“The abyss and the pit are people who are hiding places for error, that is, they hide iniquity in their hearts even though they are in the church.… I think that they receive this key to the pit, and through it they open the poisons of their hearts and, once made manifest, burst forth into the open. For, as the apostle says, "There must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized." Whenever error arises, the truth is preached all the more, and as the integrity of the faith is being defended, that deceptive falsehood that had been hidden for such a long time is at the right time uncovered. For schismatics and heretics frequently arise from those who have fallen, and of these the church truly speaks in the Song of Songs, "The sons of my mother fought against me."”

“And I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, etc. The flame of heretics, which he had mentioned briefly, he explains with what kindling it has grown: indeed, the ancient enemy, whom the Lord saw falling like lightning from heaven (Luke X), opened the hearts of his own with a blasphemous doctrine, and taught them, as if they were smoke, to seek high places, to speak iniquity in lofty terms.”

“And the fifth angel sounded the trumpet, and I saw a star fall from heaven upon the earth, and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss. And he opened the pit of the abyss: and the smoke of the pit arose, as the smoke of a great furnace. What is represented by the angel and the star has already been said. By the abyss are symbolized the hearts of the wicked, darkened by the darkness of errors. By the pit of the abyss, we should understand preachers of errors, for if the mouth of an abyss is a pit, it is right to symbolize by the pit those through whom the iniquity of the wicked pours out the venoms of its heart. By the key of the pit is represented temporal power, with which the old adversary unlocks the mouths of the reprobates so that they may speak wrong doctrines, and it is right for these doctrines to be compared to smoke because they turn the light of truth into darkness for themselves, and even seem to darken the brightness of faith in others. As for the great furnace, it is the Antichrist's persecution, out of which comes smoke, that is wrong doctrine, to turn the souls of those who perish into darkness. However, how can it be said that this smoke is similar to that of a great furnace whereas the Lord says concerning that tribulation, There shall be then great tribulation, etc.? [Matt. 24:21] One should know then that it is not on account of torments or false doctrines that that tribulation is said to be more terrible than all the others (among which is this "similar" one) but on account of miraculous signs through which it will deceive people more easily. And the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke of the pit. See, the fifth angel says that what the fourth had foretold would happen with the sun, the moon, and the stars, has already happened with the sun and the air.”

“Until now, the vision has been describing to us the manner and the kinds of plagues by which the completion is brought about, alternating both those on the earth and in the sky, and with them, the people. But now, as if the completion has already occurred and the resurrection has taken place, it recounts the punishments against the sinners. He says, "I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth", calling the star an angel of God who descended to the earth because of its brightness. For in it will be the judgment of the sinners, in a certain place that one of the holy prophets named "the Valley of Jehoshaphat." (Joel 3:2)”