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1. Exultation before the Throne of God (Revelation 19:1-4)
REVELATION 19:1-4
1 After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation, power, and glory belong to our God: 2 for true and righteous are his judgments. For he has judged the great prostitute, who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.” 3 A second said, “Hallelujah! Her smoke goes up forever and ever.” 4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, “Amen! Hallelujah!”
In heaven, a broad victory celebration began, even while dense clouds of smoke were rising on earth above the burning, great city of Babylon. This multi-voiced worship of God united countless groups and choirs in praise to the Father and to the Son. The victory celebration of the fall of the great seductress of all people represents one of the most significant events in the historical fulfillment of God's plan of salvation. Indeed, the pious acting mixer of religions had deceived and drawn away more people from God and His Lamb than the Antichrist and his false prophet had killed. The end of this cunning super-power had to be celebrated.
In heaven, John heard a great voice that spoke to him (Revelation 19:1). “Voices” are expressly mentioned five times in this worship service (Revelation 19:1, 5-6). The voice articulates the thoughts of the heart: “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). To be a “person” means to express thoughts and feelings through words (“per sonare” is a term out of the Greek-Roman theatre: The actors wore masks with small funnel-shaped mouth openings, through which the voice of the actor was “channeled and strengthened”).
Among the residents of heaven a super-charged joy exploded in one word: “Alleluia!” This cry of joy means: Yahweh be praised! Originally the word had been the praise and welcome call for the Covenant God of the Old and New Testament, a “joyous trill” of many harmonizing and supplementing voices. Thanksgiving, jubilation, joy, glory, praise and honor are all contained in this joyous cry of greeting. Such trills of joy are still heard today at weddings in the Middle East, or at welcoming celebrations for political leaders in Ethiopia. Women, who in the Semitic world have little to say, can drown out all other voices with the penetrating trills that bring their exuberant joy to expression. In the last third of the Psalms we read the cry of “Hallelujah” twenty-two times: (Psalm 104:35; 105:45; 106:1, 48; 111:1; 112:1; 113:1, 9; 115:18; 116:19; 117:2; 135:1, 21; 146:1,10; 147:20; 148:1, 14; 149:1, 9; 150:1,6).
All the choirs of heaven sang together and confessed the great word “salvation”, which encompasses liberation, salvation, victory, healing and peace. The world, which has fallen away from God, is a frightful world, in which war, hate and death reign. When the salvation of God penetrates this realm of sin, it signifies the redemption, reconciliation, new-creation and birth of a new spiritual world. With the destruction of the seductress of Babylon, a new, far-reaching salvation had begun.
Following this, the choirs rejoiced over the “glory” of God, which is the radiant summation of all His qualities, names and strengths. The glorification of God remains a fundamental element of all Biblical worship. To Him belong all honor, magnificence and majesty. Jesus glorified His Father at all times (Matthew 6:9; 16:27; John 4:34; 5:19-23; 14:10; 15:26; 17:4). Therefore, He was justified in asking Him to glorify Him with the glory He had before He became man (Matthew 17:2; 25:31; John 17:4-5; Philippians 2:5-11; Revelation 1:13-16; 20:11-13). Jesus will come again in His own glory (Matthew 25:31) and in the glory of His Father (Matthew 16:27), in order to draw us to Himself (John 14:3), so that we might see His glory (John 17:24) and be transformed to reflect this glory in His likeness (Romans 8:29; I John 3:2). The singers in heaven were already reflecting this glory of the Father and of the Son.
The choir sang of the power and might of God. There is no other constructive power in the universe, only the power of the Almighty Father and the power of His beloved Son, Jesus, to whom the Father gave all power in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18), and the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). Why do we Christians often seem so powerless, even though our triune God has elemental power, authority and eternal life in Himself? Jesus said: “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20) A Tanzanian Christian prayed fervently: “Lord, throw Islam, which is being strengthened all around us, into the sea of oblivion…just like Mount Kilimanjaro!” We believe, together with this Christian, that his prayer will be heard. Jesus assured us: “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matthew 7:7-11; 18:19-20)
The praise psalm of heaven's choirs spurs us on to increased faith, pure love, and to a daring hope, so that together from our hearts we can glorify our Creator, Redeemer and Comforter. From Him alone come salvation, glory and power.
Heaven's choirs gave further reasons for their great “Hallelujah” cry: All honor and power belong to God, for He is not only the Father, Savior and Renewer, but is also the incorruptible and righteous judge (Revelation 19:2). He does not judge according to the status of a person, and is not venal. His judgments correspond to reality, and are unerringly just. He knows and looks through every single person, sees every conscious and unconscious sin, recognizes every hereditary factor and environmental influence that shapes man. Nothing more need be said! The judgments of the thrice holy God are irrefutable; He is the final authority.
Our God is longsuffering. He is not angered quickly. He knows that none are righteous, and that all men are liars (Psalm 14:1-3; 116:11; Romans 3:4). Therefore, He sent His Son, who, as the Holy sacrificial Lamb, took upon Himself our sin and died in our place. Whoever accepts the expiatory death of Christ and believes in and offers thanks to the Lamb of God, is counted justified before God. Whoever does not accept the atonement of Christ, and does not thank Him for it, will have to bear his own sin and judgment before God. Apart from the blood of Jesus Christ we have no righteousness (Romans 3:23-26; 5:1; Ephesians 2:8; Hebrews 4:16).
The harlot of Babylon, however, maintained that man is good, and would be able to justify himself –in the event there even is a God and a judgment. She furthermore announced that other religions would be able to show the way into eternity. Christians should not be so arrogant as to claim salvation for themselves alone. The harlot of the Antichrist deceived the masses by cunningly assuring them that, as far as the Antichrist was concerned, it continued to go without saying: “The one who always tries his best is the one we can save!” This humanistic enlightener was the most dangerous enemy of Christendom. She watered down the wine of the gospel and dripped the poison of self-righteousness and insolent pride into it. The harlot slowly disconnected millions of people from God and His Lamb, contaminated them with her antichristian teaching, bound them to the son of the evil one and his institutions, and spiritually slew them. As far as the gospel was concerned, she became the greatest mass-murderer of all time.
But God had patience, even with the harlot, and sent His witnesses again and again to offer her the completed salvation in Christ. But she became beside herself with rage, had the witnesses tortured and killed, and spread wicked lies about them. Whoever rejects salvation in Christ and does not cease fighting it, condemns himself. With the sudden downfall of Babylon, God finally exacted the blood of His servants from her, and avenged His witnesses. The harlot was killed, and then devoured by her egotistical lovers. There is no sacrificial love apart from Christ and His kingdom.
The Choir in heaven again cried out “Hallelujah!” (Revelation 19:3) They praised God and His Lamb for the sudden undoing of this mixer of poisons, the harlot and mother of all abomination on earth. The revelation assured the praise -singers in heaven that the smoke from the torment of this great seductress would ascend throughout all eternity. Her guilt was immeasurably great, and her eternal judgment was just.
Until now, the 24 elders around the throne and the four living creatures had remained silent. Horror and amazement over the great guilt of this spiritual harlot and the holy judgment of God upon it had made them speechless! They were shocked and consoled at the same time, and could only stammer out the words: “Amen! Hallelujah!”(Revelation 19:4) With these two words they said: Yes, certainly, absolutely! That is the one thing right for this deceiver. The Lord be praised who, in the event that someone rejects or blasphemes the eternally valid atoning sacrifice of Christ, uncovers and judges every sin. Hallelujah!
The worship services in heaven did not just glorify the completed salvation of God, but also His righteous judgments. That accords with the mystery that every gospel proclamation in the Holy Spirit always has two effects. It unbinds and redeems sinners from their bondages, when they repent and believe the gospel. But the same proclamation also binds and hardens unbelievers in judgment when they don’t repent of their sins and trust the Redeemer to save them from the judgment of God. Praise to God and the proclamation of His gospel bring about two diametrically opposite results (Matthew 16:19; 18:18).
PRAYER: Holy God, Father of Christ Jesus, we worship to You with the saints in heaven because of Your great grace for the repenting sinners who believe in their only Savior. We also worship to You because of Your just judgments and for avenging the blood of Your martyrs shed for the glory of Your Holy name. Preserve us in Your name, hallelujah. Amen.
QUESTIONS:
- What is the significance of the first Hallelujah for the salvation, glory and power of God?
- What is the significance of the second Hallelujah for the judgments of God and His avenging the blood of His martyrs?