Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
Ver. 12. Rejoice, ye heavens] Ye that have your conversation in heaven, and shall shortly remove your tents thither.
Woe to the inhabiters of the earth] Earthworms that load themselves with thick clay, and strive, with the toads, who shall die with most earth in their mouths.
And of the sea] Seamen are, for the most part, very profane and godless. See Judges 1:13; Isaiah 57:20. Mr Brightman by these inhabitants of the sea understandeth the clergymen, as they call them, who set abroach gross, troubled, brackish, and sourish doctrine, which doth rather bring barrenness of godliness to their hearers, and doth gnaw their entrails, than quench their thirst, or yield any other good fruit.
For the devil is come down] Indeed he was cast down; but that the devil dissembles, and makes as if he came for his pleasure's sake, and so makes the best of an ill matter.
Having great wrath] Indignation, commotion of mind, perturbation of spirit, inflammation or heaving of the blood, by apprehension of an injury, θυμον. Satan's malevolence was a motive to his diligence. Natural motion is more swift and violent toward the end of it.
Because he knoweth] By the signs of the last judgment, which cannot be far off, and by conjectures, wherein he hath a singular sagacity.
That he hath but a short time] He therefore makes all haste he can to outwork the children of light, in a quick despatch of deeds of darkness. Certain hawks in colder countries are most eager and earnest to take their prey when the daylight there is of least continuance.