Rejoicing in Heaven
Study Scripture: Revelation 19: 1 – 8
Background Scripture: Psalm 104 & Revelation 19
Lesson 12 November 20, 2021
Key Verse
Let’s rejoice and be glad and give the glory to him, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself. Revelation 19:7
INTRODUCTION
Victories are always occasions for celebrations and military victories more so than others as they very often mark the survival or birth of nations. Just about every nation or tribe has some such memorial but the greatest victory and celebration will be the liberation of planet earth from the tyranny of Satan’s rule termed ‘Babylon’ in the Book of Revelation. This assured victory will be celebrated by all the heavenly hosts around the Throne and beyond and by all the ‘saints’ as the ‘Marriage Supper’ of the ‘Lamb’ inaugurates His millennial reign and kingdom. This will be the fulfilment of the age-old petition, ‘… Thy kingdom come…’.
It is very important that Christian believers understand the importance of history. They need to understand that when we look at all the events in history we are actually looking at God the Father clearing the world of evil so that the perfect kingdom that He has willed to come on earth as it is in Heaven. This of course will be climaxed at the arrival and the entrance of the King.
It is therefore been pointed out from time to time to followers of Jesus that understanding history is critical to their faith for their faith in Christ is really a belief in history. We believe that Jesus came and was resurrected from the dead and that He has spoken of future events and the event of His return to earth. So we believe what will happen in the future and the significant things in the world that will happen.
We therefore must grow in anticipating what is described in our Study Text because we know that history is moving toward the coming of Jesus and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb to which we believers have been invited.
This is an actual Dinner that we should be pointing out to everyone that we meet so that they want to attend this Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The choice they face is experiencing this infinite joy and the amazing possibilities that will be available to all those that come to this Marriage Supper as opposed to the eternal pain and death that all those that reject the invitation that the Lord Jesus Christ offered will face.
Before our Study looks at this event we will see what happens at a heavenly worship that rejoices at this coming event and celebrates.
We like to say a lot of Hallelujahs and Amen’s in church when we hear something that speak of our personal spiritual victories as we face the difficulties in life. But as we shall see in this Study Text Hallelujah or literally “Praise Jah” a word which is for the first time used in the New Testament, it is extremely important to note that this first expression is one of praise over the destruction of evil.
This passage in Revelation connects directly with the sentiments of Psalm 104 which praises the Sovereign Lord for His creation and His Providence and concludes with the powerful statement the meaning of which we do not like to face up to in our modern world and our attitudes to the faith. The psalmist uttered his Hallelujah and said:
“May sinners be consumed from the earth,
And the wicked be no more.
Bless the LORD O my soul!
Praise the LORD”.
One writer comments issue as follows:
“Praise ye the LORD”, that’s hallelujah in the original text, is the hallelujah of heaven and earth over the overthrow of Babylon and Babylonianism. We generally think of hallelujah as being celebrating something that is a spiritual experience of something like heavenly bliss. Well it so happens there is a heavenly place went evil is destroyed on this earth”.
We can only recommend you therefore that you look at the things on this earth that you like and consider carefully whether or not you should like them.
We should all consider whether we understand the deep influence of evil and what it has done throughout the history of the world. Only then can we come to appreciate that we are a “separated people”. Believers are separated from the world and therefore they are called “holy”. The world that exists now is not our home and the way it operates is not something that we should ever accept as being good.
We therefore look at this Study Text should reorient our minds to what is our goal and to what belief in Christ means for us. We should therefore understand and have an extremely deep appreciation of what is happening in heaven as the King of Kings prepares to bring justice to earth.
What shaped up to be the ‘mother’ of all military battles, Satan and his cohorts the ‘Beast’, ‘False Prophet’ and the lackey armies of the nations arrayed against the Lamb will turn out to be a walk-over. The enemies of God suffer ignominious defeat.
Christians should understand that God’s victory is assured; sin and death were defeated at Calvary and the ultimate manifestation will come about at Jesus’ Second Coming when the satanically deluded governments of earth, called ‘Babylon’ will finally be ‘put down’.
Interestingly, Jesus’ sacrifice at Calvary made Him ‘the Lamb of God, a title tied to Him throughout all eternity, for it is the act for which the saints are eternally grateful.
The question of the origin of evil and why it is allowed to continue might never be fully answered while we are in the flesh, however the end of and eradication of evil in the world and universe has a set time and event as revealed in the Book of Revelation.
Jesus Christ will put an end to sin and evil at His Second Coming and this reality will spark spontaneous praise and worship starting at the very throne of God and radiating out to all the universe! All who oppose God, led by Satan and his special emissaries and represented figuratively by ‘Babylon’ will be defeated and removed from the very consciousness of the saints.
A major figurative image throughout the book of Revelation is that of “Babylon” (Revelation 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2, 10, 21). John uses the image of Babylon to picture forces that oppose the will of God and oppose His people. We should never forget that this name comes from the name of the city established by Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord, for he hunted men and twisted the worship of God into a satanic form. That was the start of Babylon and we can trace its location today and note the spread of Babylonianism. This spiritual wickedness and opposition to God has continued throughout all the ages in different forms and will continue until Jesus returns.
Note that the word figurative does not mean “not real” or “fictional”; rather, it means to express one thing in terms of another (Matthew 16:5–21; John 16:25–30).
So it is with the word Babylon which symbolizes worldly powers that oppose God and His people. The actual city of ancient Babylon, so powerful during the sixth century BC, was in the dust of history by the first century AD. In its day it opposed the God of Heaven and subsequent world powers have followed in its wake, notably the Roman Empire of John’s day.
Those on the outside often view the Christian life as one long, dull, dour trudge. While the too often melancholy Christian creates this misconception, the reality is Christians have much to be joyful over and have an enduring reason for celebration as we will see in the Study Text. We should be practicing our hallelujahs now in preparation for that great day when we join the chorus!
TEXT
Verse 1. … these things refer to the announcement of the judgment and destruction of Babylon
(Revelation 18:2, 10, 21). The great voice of much people speaking in unison reminds us of the great crowds of the redeemed in previous visions of the Throne room in heaven (Revelation 5:11; 7:9).
This could be an allusion to Jeremiah 51:48.
… Alleluia… a plural command, means “Praise God!” and is a translation of only two words in Hebrew; millions of people all over the world know this as the single, compounded word hallelujah. The first word, hallelu, is a command to praise. The –jah that follows is a shortened version of Yahweh, the Hebrew name of God—the object of the praise.
The two words hallelu and jah occur adjacent to each other twenty-four times in the Psalms, beginning in Psalm 104:35 and ending in the last line of 150:6—the final phrase of the Psalter. Scripture also has longer forms of this phrase in Isaiah 62:9; Jeremiah 20:13; and Psalms 117:1; 148:1b, 7.
In the New Testament, the Hebrew is transliterated (not translated) into Greek, so it sounds the same whether one is speaking Greek or Hebrew. The result is the four occurrences of our English “Alleluia” (also a transliteration, not a translation) in this verse and verses three, four and six. So whether we say English “Praise ye the Lord” or Hebrew “Hallelujah” or Greek “Alleluia,” we are saying the same thing!
… Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God… here is by now a familiar ascription.
…salvation… characterizes God’s work and ultimate gift to His people, (John 3:16; 4:42; I John 4:14). It can refer to the Old Testament concept of physical deliverance, but probably relates to a total, eternal, cosmic salvation for believing individuals and all physical creation (Acts 3:21; Rom. 8:18-25).
… glory and power… these are attributes and throughout the book heavenly choirs break into songs of praise to God. Often these praise songs are the key to interpreting the immediate context. (7:10; 12:10 4:9–11; 5:12–13; 7:11–12).
We too should praise God for His attributes and how He works out our salvation. He deserves all praise for all these and more. It is strange however to see that some are afraid to saying hallelujah even though they know that it is a wonderful word and that they will be seeing it in heaven.
Verse 2. The voice of the great chorus continues, focusing on God’s destruction of the great whore (Babylon) as stated in Revelation eighteen. His judgments on her have been true and righteous—as all have ever been and ever will be (Psalm 119:160). This would have been very encouraging to a group of Christians undergoing persecution (15:3,4; 16:7).
… the great whore … this fallen, anti-God world system goes by several names:
1. the great city
2. Babylon
3. the prostitute (14:8; 16:19-21; 17:1-18:24)
One of Babylon’s two great sins is that she did corrupt the earth with her fornication
(Revelation 17:2, 4; 18:3). This vivid figure of speech, as used by the prophets, describes idolatry
(Jeremiah 3:6–9; Ezekiel 23:36–37; etc.). As well, it refers to materialism, or immoral pagan fertility worship, or emperor worship. This corrosive influence affected “all nations” (Revelation 14:8). John’s original audience would have easily seen the connection to the Roman Empire.
We can never over state or not stressed enough the fact that the judgments of God are true and righteous. That is why the people of God can rejoice and celebrate what God does while the friends of Babylon will mourn. The work of God is a work of righteous judgment.
It is important for us to realize that the world has one meaning of fornication, namely, voluntarily sexual intercourse between persons not married to each other, a definition which includes adultery. But in the Scriptures this word, whose meaning is broader than adultery, was used to mean idolatry. Association with heathen pagan idols in this pagan worship involved sex in their rituals so therefore in Colossians 3:5 Paul would warn believers to consider their personal bodies as dead to immorality, impurity, and evil desires and greed which amounts to idolatry.
What believers in Christ know that there’s a different standard for what is acceptable and good and what is to be avoided before it is condemned. So the apostles warned that we are not to be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Fornication therefore includes not only premarital sexual interactions but it includes a wide range of sins. The apostle Paul therefore warn that there must be no filthiness, silly talking, course jesting, or doing things that are not fitting but rather believers should concentrate on giving thanks.
Uncleanness therefore is a wide range of meaning and therefore it is both spiritually and in type a different sort of act from the marital act and therefore the results are dire and dangerous. The kind of fornication that Scripture speaks about means that one will not inherit the kingdom of God according to 1 Corinthians 6: 9-10, and Revelation 21:8.
This is so because the works of the flesh according to Galatians 5: 19-21 include sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and other related things. These things ensure that those that practice them will not inherit the kingdom of God but in fact will be destroyed by the wrath of God.
The world practices these things in a casual and routine manner and therefore those in the world that are not in Christ will come under the judgment of God and that is why precisely this wrath of God will bring the vengeance of God because the world in doing what they do shed a lot of blood. They persecute anyone that does not go along with them and who hold onto the standards of God.
… avenged the blood of his servants at her hand… this is the second of Babylon’s two great sins: persecuting God’s servants to the point of death; making martyrs of the saints. The question in Revelation 6:10 – “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood?” is answered here!
The righteousness of God’s judgments is that He does not allow His people who suffered unjustly under the harlot to go unavenged. He will avenge the wrong that was done to them. Sometimes in this age there appears to be no justice, but this cannot and will not always be the case because of the character of God.
The multitudes of Heaven see the destruction of “the great whore” for what it really is: a stark demonstration of God’s power, justice, faithfulness and sovereignty. When you consider it carefully, it is only fair that those who have destroyed the people of God be themselves destroyed.
Verse 3.The great crowd of heavenly voices cries out with the second of four occurrences of Alleluia. John uses this repetition to bring home the point: God is truly victorious and thus truly worthy of our praise! The crowd’s desire for her smoke to continue rising up for ever and ever acknowledges that the destruction of the wicked city is not temporary. It is permanent and final.
… ever and ever … although the words for ever are enough to assure that this punishment is everlasting, the extra and ever cements the certainty. The permanence of this judgment is ironclad. This judgment parallels the eternal reign of God and the eternal nature of His kingdom.
… her smoke rose up … John’s vision echoes similar language from the prophet Isaiah, where God’s judgment on the land is described as “burning” and where “the smoke thereof shall go up for ever”, (Isaiah 34:9–10; Rev. 14:11). Similar terms are used of the annihilation of Sodom and
Gomorrah. Eternal punishment (Matt. 3:12; 25:41; Luke 3:17; Mark 9:43,48), and complete destruction (Isa. 34:8-10) are in view.
Verse 4. A second declaration of worship comes, this time from the four and twenty elders (Revelation 4:10; 5:8, 14; 11:16) together with that of the four beasts (4:6–8; 5:6, 14; 7:11; 14:3), the living creatures that surround God’s throne as the inner circle of those in the presence of the Almighty. Their united acclamation of worship consists of just two words: Amen and Alleluia. The combined effect is to affirm the praise of the great crowd in verse three and repeat its central component: Praise the Lord!
…the twenty-four elders… There has also been much debate about the identity of these elders. There are two major theories
1. They represent believers:
a. pictured as being clothed in white (1 Cor. 9:25; 1 Thess. 2:19; 2 Tim. 4:8; James1:12; 1 Pet. 5:4)
b. angels are never said to wear crowns and sit on thrones (4:4,10)
c. they are in lists which specifically include angels (5:11)
2. angels:
a. angels do wear white garments (Matt. 28:3; John 20:12; Mark 16:5; Acts 1:10; Rev. 15:6 and Dan. 10:5,6)
b. these elders are always identified with the living creatures as in 5:11,14, which seem to list three different orders of angels
c. one of the elders acts as a revealing angel ? ( 5:5)
d. in Isa. 24:23 the angels of God’s heavenly council are called “elders”
…Amen… a common term in the book. It is a form of the Old Term Hebrew word for “faith” (emeth, Hab. 2:4). Its original etymology was “to be firm” or “to be sure.” It came to be applied in the Old Testament to the trustworthiness of God. However, in the New Testament, its use is primarily liturgical in the sense of “I agree” or “I affirm.”
Verse 5. The Throne itself always refers to the presence and authority of God (Psalms 9:7; 11:4; 45:6; 47:8; Hebrews 1:8).
… Praise our God … because of the phrase ‘our God’, this must be the voice of an angel, as Jesus never calls God ‘our God’.
While it might be unusual for an angel to use the words, ‘Our God, verse 10ten shows that angels identify themselves not only with the saints in service, but also with the saints in their testimony concerning Jesus.
Beyond identity, what is important is that the voice has divine authorization to call for worship.
When we understand the true nature of God, then we can praise Him even in the midst of our deepest sorrow and toughest trials. We can do this because we understand that He is worthy. We also offer praise because we know that God’s purposes are eternal, that His salvation is sure, and that His victory is guaranteed and complete.
… ye that fear him … the fear in view is not that of the terror of those in Revelation 6:15–17. Rather, it refers to those who revere God.
… small and great …indicates the inclusive nature of the command (Revelation 11:18). The status symbols considered important on earth no longer have the same impact, with regard to priority. As some have noted, the ground is level at the foot of the Cross and so it is before the Throne.
Vere 6. …the voice of a great multitude, … John hears yet another voice, this time only described in similarity to a great multitude. This seems to be a different group, however, than the group mentioned in Revelation 19:1. The sound likened to many waters is not that of a soothing bubbling brook. Rather, the sound is more like that of a thunderous waterfall or the crashing of stormy waves on a beach.
… mighty thunderings … occurs several times in the book (Revelation 4:5; 6:1; 8:5; 10:3, et al). The term is always associated with divine power, authority, and/or initiative (John 12:29). Its use here and alongside the sound of water bears strong similarity to the prophet’s visions in Ezekiel 1:24 and 43:2.
The description of this stupendous chorus of voices emphasizes the size of this crowd. If you have been in a football stadium and heard the noise of tens of thousands of voices at once, then you know how loud it can be. This may be similar to what John experienced.
Alleluia… here we have the final Alleluia in the book of Revelation. This imperative to praise God (the word’s meaning) is accompanied by a reason.
For the Lord God Almighty reigneth.… the praise is for the universal kingship of the Lord God. There can be no rival to God, either in His rule or in our praise of Him. The description of God’s power to reign here introduces us to one of what might be called “the three omnis.” The word omnipotent means “all-powerful.” The other two omni- words are omnipresent and omniscient, meaning “present in all places at all times” and “all-knowing,” respectively.
God’s power to reign is demonstrated by His overwhelming and permanent victory over enemies; now His all-powerful nature brings His promises to their completion.
… Lord God Almighty… this threefold title for God from the Old Testament, (YHWH, Elohim, and El Shaddai).
Verse 7. Let… though the English let may read like a suggestion or permission, it is actually a common way of translating Hebrew commands.
… be glad and rejoice, and give honor …three more imperatives are now added to the one (“Alleluia”) above. This is very clearly enthusiastic praise. It is done joyfully. The prince of preachers CHARLES Spurgeon comments:
“Heaven is always heaven, and unspeakably full of blessedness, even heaven has its holidays qualities, even bliss has its overflowings, and on that day when the spring tide of the infinite ocean of joy shall have come, what a measureless flood of delight shall overflow the souls of all glorified saints. … We do not know yet, beloved, of what happiness we are capable”.
The reason? For the marriage of the Lamb is come. This is the reason for the triple command of the half-verse just considered. It is the moment the faithful has been waiting for: the time and occasion when the faithful servants of God see their eternal fellowship with their Savior, Jesus Christ, finalized. Such joy! This is the moment when all God’s work throughout history moves toward its magnificent conclusion.
The wedding language here was familiar to John’s original audience. Old Testament prophets often used marriage as a figurative reference to describe the relationship between God and His people
(Isaiah 54:5–7; Isa. 54:4-8; 62:5; Jer. 31:32; Hosea 2:19). Jesus too, described the kingdom of Heaven in terms of a marriage: Matthew 22:1–14; 25:1–13 etc. and the Epistles:
One writer gives us some insights into what marriage is, and it will certainly help us as we consider our own personal experiences:
“Marriage, according to Scripture, is the most perfect and the most exclusive bond among human beings and provokes the most complete obligations. Duty and delights go together in marriage. I’d like to lay stress upon what the Scriptures say about marriage. It is the place of blessing, the place of privilege, and it’s the place of parentage. And the blessing of marriage is so remarkable and so marvelous when the two parties are in harmony, that it’s one of the greatest of blessings that God has given us… We of course, in our experience, more or less, realize these things at times. It is true of us. At other times, it is not. Sometimes it’s our fault, and sometimes we think it’s our partners fault. But nevertheless the ideal held before us is one of the greatest of the privileges that any person could possibly have. Marriage truly is a duty and a delight…. Now there comes to me a sense of awe when I see God’s people called, “the bride of Christ”. The place of blessing, the place of privilege”.
…give the glory to Him… this has the sense of trusting, believing, or placing faith in Christ.
… the Lamb … a marriage requires two parties: a bride and a groom. The groom in view here is the Lamb. One writer note: “Various forms of the word lamb appear thirty-five times in the New Testament, and 29 of those are in the book of Revelation. In twenty-eight of those twenty-nine cases, the reference is to Jesus. (The single exception is in Revelation 13:11)”.
Outside of the book of Revelation, John the Baptist referred to Jesus as “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29). Peter said that Jesus was “a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19). The idea of Christ as the sacrificial lamb lies at the very heart of our redemption and salvation.
And his wife hath made herself ready... Jesus made the saints His bride on the cross at Calvary. Made them ‘alive’ to respond to His effectual call (Eph. 2:5; Acts 16:14. This statement is to be understood in the sense of Philippians 2:12; 2 Pet. 1:10 1 Cor. 9:26-27. Christians are called to live a holy life in obedience to God’s commands, being sanctified daily and engaging in works God prepared beforehand, (Eph. 2:8-10).
Verse 8. … to her was granted… given to her as a gift.
This imagery reflects the holiness of the bride, having been redeemed by the Lamb (Rev. 7:9, 14). Clothing imagery serves important figurative purposes in the Bible (Job 29:14; Psalm 132:9;
Isaiah 52:1; 61:10).
As noted, John’s use of wedding imagery speaks to the relationship between God and His people. The bride of Christ is the church: holy ones sanctified by the work of the Holy Spirit. Now that this congregation of God includes people from the creation of the earth to the present.
The bride has been redeemed by of ‘the blood of the Lamb’ (Revelation 5:9), the very same blood applied to those who “…washed their robes, and made them white…” (7:14). The time for rejoicing is coming! Like a bride engaged to be married, the church awaits the return of Christ and the eternal marriage feast between the bride and the Groom.
… the righteous acts of the saints…. the term “righteous acts” (dikaiōma) has several usages in the New Testament.
a. it refers to God’s acts of justice (15:4)
b. it refers to Jesus’ act of dying on behalf of mankind (cf. Rom. 5:16,18)
c. it refers to a decree, a law, or an ordinance, usually the Law of Moses
(Luke 1:6; Rom. 1:32; 2:26; 8:4; Heb. 9:1,10).
Job asked the profound question, ‘how can a man be right with God?’
(Job 9:2). How can fallen mankind claim to be right, righteous, just, justified. It must be stated emphatically that this spiritual condition of the saints was not accomplished by human effort (Rom. 3:21-30; Eph. 2:8-9), but by Divine choice (the Father), through a Divine act (the Son), and the Divine drawing of the Spirit
(John 6:44,65). Mankind can only receive the finished result (Rom. 5; II Cor. 5:21). Note however, the goal of right standing is right living, Christlike living (Rom. 9:29; Gal. 4:19; Eph. 1:4; 2:10). Righteous living is evidence of a right relationship with God (14:13), not the grounds of that relationship
(Gal. 3:1-3)!
CONCLUSION
Understand therefore that Jesus appearing you for glory beyond anything imaginable. This Text is telling you about things that matter for they are eternal things.
We pray therefore that you will not get sidetracked from focusing on the beauty and the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is easy to fall into idolatry on the things that are condemned in Scripture. But we exhort you to remember that you are abiding in Christ and therefore you are to concentrate on things that are not seen.
So ensure that you’re preparing yourself under the guidance of the Holy Spirit for that highest and most intimate form of love between two people which will be brought to fruition in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
Do not shy away from understanding that Scripture has not so nice words to say about people who are deliberately choosing to be outside of Christ. These people are in fact your enemies but that does not say that you are to treat them but in fact you are to do whatever you can to turn them to salvation in Christ.
It is important for you to point out to people that the multitudes in heaven will proclaim about God’s judgment. But tell them that God is also a God of justice and mercy. But He will not tolerate the continued existence of that “great prostitute” which has corrupted the world. There will come a time when the forbearance of God will cease.
Invite them to come and celebrate the victory of believers. Tell them of God’s past victories and God’s future victories and have your prayers lead the Spirit to have them respond in praise.
Try to make them understand that there are many offenses that will lead God to judge people and nations. So tell them over and over again that they can avoid the judgments of God and instead enjoy the blessings of God which we can hardly imagine.
One important aspect of weddings especially from certain perspective, is to create and ingrain memories in the minds of those who attend. Consequently, the wedding party’s clothes are normally chosen with great care and coordinated for maximum effect. The wedding party may take hours to get ready for the ceremony. Because the wedding ceremony will be remembered for years—for its beauty as well as its glitches—everyone goes to great lengths to ensure everything is “perfect.”
The wedding ceremony between the Lamb and His bride culminates in the rescue of the bride from the power of sin and evil. When Jesus, the Lamb, receives His bride, the church, it will be the wedding for all time! The Groom has done His part by paying the price for sin on the cross. But the bride has her part to do as well, considering John’s statement that she has “made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7). Jesus has provided us with “garments of salvation” and a “robe of [his] righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10), but we must put them on amid unending praise.