And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
Ver. 9. And the third part] Heresy as a gangrene spreads and kills; as the leprosy in the head, it renders a man utterly unclean, Leviticus 13:44. So cunning are some seducers, and so close in the conveyance of their collusion, that if possible the very elect may be deceived.
And the third part of the ships were destroyed] That is, of the Churches, even those that were planted by the apostles themselves, those principal pilots. Howbeit not all the Churches, but a third part only: when the Church was in the wilderness, when Antichrist most reigned and raged, God did preserve some ships, some fundamental doctrines, and the essence of baptism, and the essence of a true ministry dispensing them; and they, that is, her pastors, fed her there, Revelation 12:6,14 .
" Niteris incassum Christi submergere navem;
Fluctuat, at nunquam mergitur illa ratis. "