REVELATION SIMPLIFIED

 

CHAPTER 19.1

Gleanings from the Book of Revelation:

A Weekly Verse-by-Verse Bible Study Series

 

The

REVELATION TO JOHN

 

Chapter Nineteen

The End of Tribulation

Rejoicing in Heaven

 

 

Introduction

Chronologically, Chapter 19 follows Chapter 16. Chapters 17 and 18 are parentheticals designed to present a close-up review of Tribulation events, namely, the demise of religious and political-economic Babylon.

The destruction of Babylon, the capital of Antichrist's kingdom marks the end of the Great Tribulation (cf. Revelation 18:21). The response from the angel's command to rejoice (cf. Revelation 18:20) reverberates in verse 1 of Chapter 19. John, in the realm of the Spirit, is observing the destruction that caused weeping and moaning on Earth transition to a song of triumph and rejoicing in Heaven. The tenor of Revelation finally moves from darkness to light and judgment to blessing.

Meanwhile, while Babylon and the rest of the earth are being destroyed, the kings of the earth join forces and gather their armies together in preparation for Armageddon, before Christ's return.

 

Outline

1. The Hallelujah Chorus of Heaven’s Inhabitants (Vv. 1-10)

a.  The alleluia of the multitudes of angels (Vv. 1-3)

b.  The praise from 24 elders and living creatures (v. 4)

c.  The universal call for rejoicing (Vv. 5-6)

2. The  Wedding of the Bride and Bridegroom (Vv.7-8)

3. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb (v. 9)

a.  The rule for worship (v.10)

4. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ (Vv. 11-15)

a.  His apparel (v. 13)

b.  His army (v.14)

c.  His armament (v. 15)

5. The Supper of the Great God (Vv. 17-18)

6. The Battle of the Armies (v. 19)

7. The Lake of Fire Recipients (v. 20)

a.  The slaying of the wicked remnant (v. 21a)

b.  Their final demise (v. 21b)

 

 

1. The Hallelujah Chorus of Heaven’s Inhabitants

(Verse 1)

 

And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in Heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God.

 

Let the Heavens Rejoice

Verse 1 is a continuation of Chapter 18 and Verse 24. [On a historic note: Chapter divisions in the Bible were added during the thirteenth century. And, not until the sixteenth century were verses and numbers introduced].

So, after these things [the usual introduction to a new phase of his vision (cf. 4:1; 7:1, 9; 15:5; 18:1; 20:3)], John heard something extraordinarily fantastic.

 

Question: After what things?

Answer: After the fall and destruction of Antichrist's political and economic Babylon of Revelation 18.

 

Question: What does John hear?

Answer: A great (loud, roaring) voice of a multitude (vast chorus of people) in Heaven.

 

Question: Who are those shouting in Heaven?

Answer: The multitude includes:

1. Millions of holy angels

2. Martyred Tribulation saints

3. Messengers, i.e.,  God's prophets (evangelists or teachers)

 

Saying, Alleluia…unto the Lord our God.

Alleluia

Alleluia is Heaven’s response to the angel’s (18:4) command given earlier:

Revelation 18:20 - Rejoice over her (Babylon), thou Heaven, and ye Holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.

Only appearing four times in the New Testament, the word alleluia is a celebratory exclamation of praise reserved for God by believers.  It is a compound Greek transliteration of Hallelujah – Hallel-ye’-Jah! – “Praise (Jah) Jehovah (the sacred name for God)”, “Praise ye the Lord” or simply, “Praise the Lord.”  

In Scripture, Hallelujah is used for the first time in Psalms:

Psalms 104:35 - Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless Thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.

This boastful expression is employed twenty-four times in Psalms. Most noted include:

Psalm 146:1 - Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.

 

Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power.

Immediately after praising God, these attributes from God are attributed back to God:

1. Salvation

Signifies complete deliverance from sin – The glorification of saints, for the enemy, is judged and the hope of the righteous is fulfilled. Therefore, the saints are free from not only moral judgment but also from the Great Harlot forever.

 

2. Glory

Glory refers to splendor and majesty, i.e., What God is in Himself. Glory to God for He has executed His promise of judgment over His enemies.

 

3. (Honour)

Honour does not appear in most manuscripts. However, it represents the highest degree of dignity only attainable by God.

 

4. Power

Only God Almighty (El Shaddai) is all-powerful (omnipotent) to the nth degree, i.e., only He can act perfectly and eternally. “For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” (cf. Revelation 19:6 [The Hallelujah Chorus from George Friedrich Handel’s Messiah (1792), libretto by Charles Jennens]).

 

Significantly, all attributes echo David’s thanksgiving prayer and blessing of the materials gathered for the building of Solomon’s Temple:

1 Chronicles 29:11 - Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine; Thine is the Kingdom, O LORD, and Thou art exalted as Head above all.

 

Unto the Lord our God.

Ascribed to God is the redemption of the world – God is honored and Christ is properly exalted. Now the earth will be filled with righteousness, wisdom, and truth - Why Alleluia! is being sung.

 

 

(Verse 2)

 

For true and righteous are His judgments: for He hath judged the Great Whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of His servants at her hand.

 

Verse 2 is a continuation of the multitude in Heaven’s Alleluia praise. Everyone is rejoicing and giving glory to God for righteousness and true are His judgments. Consequently, justice and judgment have been meted out against the Great Harlot-whore and His adversaries who corrupted the earth with unfaithfulness and immorality.

 

This religious harlot has riddled God’s people in every empire throughout human history and now she is being judged. There is no more questioning God about why He allows evil and suffering to prevail and the righteous to suffer. The prayer has been: Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.

 

Alleluia, because all shadows of earthly suffering and rebellion have ended, and the blood of the martyred saints of Revelation 6:10 has been avenged. Jeremiah anticipated:

Jeremiah 23:5 - Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

 

 

(Verse 3)

 

And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.

 

Sounds of the second of four Alleluias are reverberated in Heaven by the multitude as Babylon’s smoke rises forever and ever (the Greek rendering is unto the ages of the ages, i.e., never again to rise from her ashes). Incidentally, the intent is not just a physical burning, but a spiritual one as well.

 

Babylon’s doom fulfills a double prophecy: (1) Destroyed by the Babylonians, a literal prophecy against Edom (capital city, Petra) has been fulfilled, and (2) ironically Isaiah looks toward future Babylonian destruction:

Isaiah 34:9-10 - And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it (Edom) shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.

 

 

(Verse 4)

 

And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.

 

Elders and Living Creatures Rejoice

Two additional sets of people are called to lend their voices to the angelic chorus praising God:

A. The twenty-four elders

Representatives of the Church in its totality as first seen in Revelation 4:4 – A heavenly priesthood fashioned after the Levitical priesthood (see Revelation 4.4 study).

 

B. The four beasts (living ones)

Representatives of God’s creation are first mentioned in Revelation 4:6 - They also symbolically allude to four tribes of Israel (see Revelation 4:6 study).

 

[They] fell down and worshipped God

Joining the angelic chorus, the twenty-four elders and the living ones prostrate themselves in the usual posture of worship before God.

 

[They] worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.

God (Theos), the one and only true God (dative masculine singular in Greek, meaning God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as Triune God) is seen sitting on His Throne. The verb for sat in Greek is kathēmai meaning sitteth, remains seated, or resides. So, as God Who resides on His Throne in Heaven, He is being worshipped and praised by the elders and living ones saying two universal words:

A. Amen

A Hebrew word conveying agreement (i.e., verily, surely, trustworthy, let it be, or so let it be)

 

B. Alleluia

Another Hebrew word, the third of four alleluias signifying, “Praise ye the Lord.” 

 

 

(Verse 5)

 

And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him, both small and great.

 

The Universal Call for Rejoicing

Some say the voice from the direction of the Throne is God Himself, however, in keeping with the train of thought from which John writes, it is more likely to be Jesus Christ (cf. Revelation 4:1-2; 10:4, 8) summoning all His servants and the heavenly hosts to continue praising the only One that deserves worship.

 

 

Saying, Praise our God

Saying is a verb in the aorist tense, meaning keep on keeping on or continue praising God for all He has done and is about to do. Our God: Jesus Christ has also included in the word our (first-person possessive pronoun), For example, in the Garden, He cried to His Father [Jesus called God our Father, His Father]:

Matthew 27:46 - And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?

 

All ye His servants, and ye that fear (revere) Him, both small and great

Every true bondsman or servant of God, both small and great includes:

1. Every level of society

2. Every level of aptitude

3. Every level of spiritual progress

Small and great is an all-inclusive term, rich or poor, no matter whom, from the least important to the most notorious, join in the praise.

 

 

(Verse 6)

 

And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

 

The last thing John hears is another dynamic voice. It is a voice beyond imagination, as the continuous sound of a roaring ocean [(many waters) cf. Revelation 1:15; 14:2]. In addition, the sound is amplified by rolling thunder. In celestial harmony, the heavenlies, and the entire multitude saved by the blood of the Lamb through His finished work on the Cross is resounded in chorus:

ALLELUIA: FOR THE LORD GOD OMNIPOTENT [soon] REIGNETH

 

In response to the universal call in verse 5, this phrase is the Hallelujah Chorus of the book of Revelation in adoration for God --- the fourth and final Alleluia --- also the battle cry of the saints.

[Greek: Hallelujah: The Lord God of us, the Almighty, has reigned]

 

Here is the only time omnipotent is used in the Bible. It references God Almighty (Pantokratōr, the Almighty ruler-king of all things) reigneth (aorist tense – reigns, continues to reign). Recall the Psalms:

Psalm 47:1 - O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

 

Psalm 97:1 - The LORD reigns; Let the earth rejoice; Let the multitude of isles be glad!

 

Psalm 96:11 – Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.

Additionally, in the promise God made to David (known as the Davidic Covenant), One would sit upon David’s throne Who would rule forever and ever:

2 Samuel 7:16 - And thine (David’s) house and thy (his) kingdom shall be established for ever before Thee (Me, God): thy (his) throne shall be established for ever.

 

So then, the Hallelujah Chorus is proclaimed celebrating the end of three major prophetical events:

1. The termination of the Tribulation Period

2. The destruction of the world’s apostate religious system

3. The defeat of the Antichrist and the false prophet

God reigneth forever and ever, i.e., without beginning, without end, never ceasing and everlasting.

 

The Marriage and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb will be exposited in the next study.

 

 

QUESTIONS:

1.   Why is this rejoicing in Heaven so important?

2.   Name the players involved in Heaven’s rejoicing.

3.   What specific word is peculiar to this cause?

4.   What is its definition?

5.   Why does God deserve all the Glory?

6.   How is God identifiable in this section?

7.   What is the universal call for rejoicing?

 

 

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