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1 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 2 for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” 3 And again they shouted: “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.” 4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: “Amen, Hallelujah!” 5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small! 6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” ~ Revelation 19:1-7
Today, we transition into the crescendo chapter of all of the book of the Revelation. The events, in today's text, will take place in heaven where we will hear rejoicing for the revealing of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle John, for the seventh time in this book is given another vision of heaven. He hears the heavenly hallelujahs in the immediate anticipation of the revealing of the Christ. His final action on earth will be to destroy the remaining ungodly, and then, He will set up His Millennial kingdom on earth.
In v.1-3 we hear the great roar of the angels. In v.4, the twenty-four elders and four living creatures respond by bowing down before God and worshiping Him. In v.5, there is a voice coming from the throne of God, commanding people and every creature to worship and praise God. And, in v.6, again the voice of a great multitude. This time a little bit louder, a little more intense. It's like the voice of thunder, the voice of many waters. And, in v.7, we have the introduction of the Bridegroom come to receive to Himself His bride.
In v.1-2 we read, "1 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 2 for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants."
Used four times in these verses is the word "Hallelujah." This is the first and only time the word is even mentioned in the New Testament. It is as if heaven has waited all these years to use this word until now and when they do, they will use it over and over again. By the way, "Hallelujah" is first used in the Old Testament in Psalm 104:35 which reads, "Let sinners be consumed from the earth and let the wicked be no more. Hallelujah."
Hallelujah is a word reserved in the Bible for praising the Lord because of His complete salvation for all who are dependent enough on Him to believe, and His complete judgment on those who oppress God's people. It is a special word reserved for the joy of those who are delivered from their enemies.
This great multitude in heaven will include millions and millions of holy angels. They must number in the millions, because there are two hundred million demons in Revelation 9:16 who were bound at the River Euphrates. And, in Revelation 12:4 we are told all demons total one-third of the total amount of the angels. This means there are millions and millions and millions of angels. This celebration will be due to a few different reasons.
The first reason for this great celebration will be for God's salvation. We will all honor God because of His, and His only, salvation. He has saved us from sin's penalty and power. And, when we all get to heaven, He will have saved us from the presence of sin. This will be the reason that this massive multitude will be singing God's praises.
The second reason we will celebrate will be due to God's true righteousness. In v.2 we will say, "for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants." The kingdom of Satan, will, as a result, be rendered null and void.
In v.3-4 we read, "3 And again they shouted: “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.” 4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: “Amen, Hallelujah!”"
The first two hallelujah's were in response to the judgment of God on Babylon. But, the second one will not only be spoken for the judgment, but because the judgment will be permanent as indicated by the fact that the smoke goes up forever and ever.
The twenty-four elders represent all of those who have ever trusted the Lord Jesus as Lord and Savior throughout the Church Age. And, the four living creatures are special, exalted angelic beings called Cherubim throughout the Scriptures. They are given close proximity to the throne of God in heaven. In Revelation 5:6–14 we read their duties include falling down and worshiping the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. They offer the same reverence to Him that they did to the Father in Revelation 4:6–9. This is yet another example of the deity of Jesus Christ. We will all fall down down before the Lord Jesus who gave His life for His bride. This is how one treats royalty.
In v.5 we read, "Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small!"
Throughout the Bible, there is a connection between praise and fear. A better translation for the word fear here is respect. In Proverbs 1:7 we read, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Until we understand who God is and develop a reverential fear of Him, we cannot have true wisdom. True wisdom comes only from understanding who God is and that He is holy, just, and righteous.
Notice the phrase "small and great." It is just like God to mention the least first. We live in a fallen world where class distinction is highlighted and exploited. There will come a day, soon, when class warfare will be a thing of the past and all of God's people will be one in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In v.6-7 we read, "6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready."
We come now to the "Marriage supper of the Lamb" which is best understood in light of the wedding customs during the first century. These wedding customs had three major parts. First, a marriage contract was signed by the parents of the bride and the bridegroom. Then, the parents of the bridegroom or the bridegroom himself would pay a dowry to the bride or her parents. This began what was called the engagement period.
The second step in the process usually occurred a year later, when the bridegroom, accompanied by his male friends, went to the house of the bride at midnight, creating a torchlight parade through the streets of the city. The bride would know in advance this was going to take place, and so she would be ready with her maidens, and they would all join the parade and end up at the bridegroom’s home.
The third phase was the marriage supper itself, which went on and on for days. The Apostle John pictures for us here the wedding feast of the Lamb and His bride in its third phase. The implication is that the first two phases have already taken place.
In fact, the first phase was completed on earth when each individual believer placed his or her faith in Christ as Savior. The dowry paid to the bridegroom’s parent (God the Father) would be the blood of Christ shed on the Bride’s behalf. The Church on earth today, then, is “engaged” to Christ, and, like the wise virgins in the parable, all believers should be watching and waiting for the appearance of the Bridegroom. The second phase symbolizes the rapture of the Church, when Christ comes to claim His bride and take her to the Father’s house. The marriage supper then follows as the third and final step. And, tomorrow, we will consider that in more detail.
