The Hallelujah Chorus - Revelation 19:1-6
INTRODUCTION:
The entire book of Revelation has been building up to this chapter, the long-awaited return of Jesus Christ is quickly approaching. God’s judgment on the earth is nearly complete with the seventh bowl of wrath having been poured out and the city of Babylon destroyed forever. All that is left is for Jesus Christ to completely destroy those who oppose Him. The scene in Revelation 19 shifts from earth where John has been viewing the judgment of Babylon, to heaven where a great celebration is taking place.
The praise seen in heaven throughout the book of Revelation reaches a crescendo in this chapter. The heavenly rejoicing is praise to God for His righteous and just judgment of the earth and the city of Babylon. The rejoicing is in response to the call to rejoice that we looked at last week in Revelation 18:20 where John recorded, “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.” (Revelation 18:20, NASB95)[1] The rejoicing is not over those who have rejected Christ, but that God will now be properly honored, the Lord Jesus Christ will be enthroned, and the earth restored to its lost glory. Heaven rejoices because history is finally going to reach its consummation as the true and rightful King sets up His kingdom on the earth.
Three groups give praise to God and each group uses the term “Hallelujah” a word transliterated from Hebrew that means “Praise the LORD!” This word is only used four times in the New Testament and all four times are in the first six verses of Revelation 19. It is a word that was used in the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms beginning in Psalm 104 and often translated “Praise the LORD.” Let’s Pray and then open up the Scriptures for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to Revelation 19:1-6 our Scripture for this morning. I intended to do this chapter in two messages, but as I began studying I discovered that would not be possible, so it will be three or four messages. So, this morning we will look at the fourfold Hallelujah chorus. Please stand if you are able in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Revelation 19:1-6,
“After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, ‘Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her.’ And a second time they said, ‘Hallelujah! Her smoke rises up forever and ever.’ And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, ‘Amen. Hallelujah!’ And a voice came from the throne, saying, ‘Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.’ Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.’” (Revelation 19:1–6, NASB95)[2]
THE HALLELUJAHS OF THE GREAT MULTITUDE (Revelation 19:1-3)
John opens this chapter with the phrase “after these things” which marks for us the beginning of a new vision. John finds himself again in the courts of heaven where this vision takes place and he hears something like the loud voice of a great multitude. In relation to time this experience in heaven follows the destruction of Babylon as the great harlot of the one-world false religion and as the great harlot of the economic and political system of the Antichrist’s one-world government. The time then is just before the second coming of Jesus Christ.
This great multitude I believe are the martyred dead of the Great Tribulation. Remember back in chapter 6 with the opening of the sixth seal John had seen under the altar the souls of those who had been martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ and they were asking God, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:10b, NASB95)[3] They were told to rest a little while until the full number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ was complete. Then in chapter 7 John saw a great multitude who had come out of the Great Tribulation, those who had been martyred for their faith in Jesus. Now John hears this great multitude, the full number who had given their lives for their faith in Christ and had died at the hands of the great harlot Babylon. John hears them as they praise God for answering their pleas that He judge and avenge their blood.
There praise opens with the first hallelujah of the Hallelujah chorus and it begins, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; because His judgments are true and righteous…” (Revelation 19:1b-2a, NASB95)[4] With the opening hallelujah, this multitude in heaven gives three attributes that God is worthy to be praised for: His salvation, His glory and His power.
Salvation speaks of God’s deliverance, God is first of all a Savior, and foremost is His deliverance of man from sin through the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, a deliverance that was offered to all mankind, if a person would by faith agree with God that he or she was a sinner and believe that Jesus was the only One who could cleanse them of their sin and believe that His death on the cross paid the penalty for their sin and that He died and was buried in our place, but rose from the dead three days later proving His triumph over sin and death. The one who believes this will be saved from the God’s wrath on sin. This is the great hope of us who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ at this time, that He will return for us to deliver us from the hour of testing that is to come on all the earth. For the saints of the Tribulation, those who put their faith in Christ after the rapture of the church God is also their Savior from sin and He has delivered those martyred from the further effects of the Tribulation through their death, which brought them to their eternal home free from fear and pain and death.
Second, God is praised for His glory which has been displayed through His righteous judgments upon sinful, unrepentant man on the earth. The day will come and is soon approaching when the church will be removed and the opportunity for salvation will come to an end. Because man refused to recognize God’s glory displayed in the heavens and displayed in what He has made, man will see God’s glory and acknowledge it in His judgment. Paul in Romans 1:20-21 wrote, “For since the creation of the world His [God’s] invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” (Romans 1:20–21, NASB95)[5] Because they refused to acknowledge God and His glory that was displayed in all that He had created, Paul says they are without excuse, they became futile in their speculations making up excuses for what was clearly displayed as God’s glory. God will display His glory through His righteous judgment of unrepentant man and they will acknowledge it.
Third, God is praised because of His power, it is by His great power that Babylon was swiftly and catastrophically judged and destroyed forever. God does not lack anything when it comes to power, He is the omnipotent Sovereign of the universe and there is nothing that He plans that will fail, because by His power it will be accomplished.
The salvation, the glory and the power are ascribed as belonging to our God, He alone is worthy of this great praise. Because God displays these attributes His judgments are true and righteous. God does not just judge for the enjoyment of it, He never judges falsely. When He judges it is because He is the Judge of all the earth and it is true that man has turned away from Him and rebelled against His goodness, so His judgment is true, and His judgment is righteous.
John goes on to tell us that God is worthy to be praised because He has judged the great harlot, which personified Babylon both as the false religious system in chapter 17 and as the economic and political system in chapter 18. The wickedness of both these systems had corrupted the whole earth and the whole earth had lusted after the great harlot committing immorality with her and drinking the wine of her deception, but not only did God judge her for deceiving the world, but He also avenged the blood of His servants who were murdered by her hand.
This tribute of praise is followed by the second hallelujah and a statement that the smoke of Babylon will continue to rise forever. This cannot mean that the city will continue to burn forever, but it will be fulfilled by the unending judgment upon the people who participated in her wicked deeds.
This praise is the response of the martyred saints for God answering their pleas for judgment and to be avenged for their deaths at the hands of evil men who participated in the wickedness of Babylon.
THE HALLELUJAH OF THE 24 ELDERS AND THE CHERUBIM (Revelation 19:4)
The 24 elders, who represent the church in heaven, and the four living beings that are always around the throne of God, are stirred to worship by the praise of the great multitude. There response is to fall prostrate before God on His throne and add their “Amen. Hallelujah!” The third hallelujah of the Hallelujah chorus.
The fact that the four living creatures and the 24 elders are introduced here as worshipping God separates them from the great multitude in the first three verses and suggests that they are different from that first multitude which would seem to confirm that the great multitude are the martyred dead of the Tribulation who suffered from the wickedness of Babylon both as the harlot of the false religious system, and as the harlot of the economic and political system.
The 24 elders as representatives of the church, are witnesses of these events from heaven even though they have not participated in them since they were taken from the earth to heaven prior to the Tribulation. Their “Amen. Hallelujah!” is their solemn agreement with the great multitudes rejoicing over Babylon’s judgment and destruction.
THE HALLELUJAH OF THE GREATER MULTITUDE (Revelation 19:5-6)
As the “Amen. Hallelujah!” rings through the courts of heaven, John hears another voice from near the throne. This voice cannot be the voice of God since He says, “Give praise to our God, so it must be the voice of an angel or maybe one of the four living beings and this voice issues a call to all who are the bond-servants or bond-slaves of God and to all who fear God, to all in heaven whether small or great. In other words, this call was issued to all of heaven’s inhabitants, the church, the Tribulation saints, the innumerable angels that serve God, all were called to “Give praise to our God!”
John says that as all the inhabitants of heaven began to lift their voices in praise to God it again was like the voice of a great multitude, but an even greater multitude as angels, the church, the martyrs of the Tribulation all lifted their voices in praise to God. John said the sound of it was like the sound of many waters and like the sounds of mighty peals of thunder. John is describing for us the deafening sound of a mighty thunderstorm with its pounding rain and its loud thunder. One time when we lived in South Dakota we were camping in our little pop-up trailer and in the night a thunderstorm came through the campground and the pouring rain and the pounding thunder was so loud that it drowned out all other sounds. John on the island of Patmos was probably very familiar with violent thunderstorms and knew how loud they could be and he uses this to describe the sound of the voices in heaven that drowned out all other sound. What were the words of praise lifted up to God? A fitting finale for this Hallelujah chorus. “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.” The Almighty, the Omnipotent One, has triumphed! The Almighty who by the word of His power created everything and now reigns over all the Universe that He has created. He has shown us His great power again. The evil world system has been destroyed, it did not stand a chance against the Almighty. God is and has always been on the throne. As the Almighty He has never stopped reigning, as the Almighty His plan for the universe and especially His plan for the earth and its inhabitants was never in jeopardy. He knew before He created anything what would happen on the earth and His plan has been playing out just as it was planned. He knew Adam and Eve would rebel and plunge the world into the darkness of sin and death, and at just the right time He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth to die for man’s sin and offer forgiveness and adoption into His family. The Almighty has a plan for Israel and He is moving in time and history to fulfill all His promises to this nation which He chose out of all the earth to send His Son through, and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ is about to return and take back what was wrongfully usurped from Him by Satan. His kingdom will be established upon the earth and the curse will be lifted and Christ will rule the world as the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is all a part of God’s plan and we know it will be fulfilled, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.”
CONCLUSION:
What can we take away from this message this morning? Well, first and foremost is that God is reigning and His plan for this world will be fulfilled, this we can be sure of. God is intimately involved in His creation and all His creation must answer to Him. He is the Judge of all the earth.
What does this mean for us who have put our faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? For us it means that Jesus Christ took the punishment that we deserved upon Himself. His death paid the penalty required for our sin, His burial proved that He had died in our place, and His resurrection was proof that His payment for sin was accepted by God and that the power of sin and of death had been defeated. Because of the salvation that is ours through Christ Jesus we have hope that He will return for us soon and take us home to be with Him, so that the time of the Gentiles will come to an end and our Savior will reign forever and ever.
What if you are here this morning and you have never put your faith in Jesus Christ? This message should be a warning that the time of the end is quickly approaching and when it arrives then judgment for sin will come. I am glad I will be on heavens side of judgment and not on the earth, and you can know that as well by agreeing with God that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness of your sins and by believing that Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for your sin and that He was buried and three days later rose from the dead defeating sin and death forever. When you believe this you are saved, your sins are forgiven, and you have the hope of going home to be with Jesus Christ in heaven before any of the judgment of God on the earth begins. You will be with that mighty multitude that will praise our God with the Hallelujah chorus.
[1]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[3]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[4]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[5]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995