Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

Revelation 19:1-16

The Fourfold Hallelujah

19 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; ² 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.” ³ And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! Her smoke rises up forever and ever.” ⁴ And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” ⁵ 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.” ⁶ 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.

Marriage of the Lamb

⁷ Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” ⁸ It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

⁹ Then he *said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “These are true words of God.” ¹⁰ Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he *said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

The Coming of Christ

¹¹ And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. ¹² His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. ¹³ He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. ¹⁴ And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. ¹⁵ From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. ¹⁶ And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

As we read this portion of scripture from the prophetic vision, given to John, we need to recognize that because it is a vision, John is attempting to describe some things he sees in the spirit, in human terms. So it is not as important for us to fully comprehend and rationalize all of the imagery as it is to understand the meaning and the events themselves. 

I was drawn to this text in part because of it's begining with the four Hallelujahs. We talked about the word Hallelujah yesterday, that it is a combination of the Hebrew word hallal, which means to give praise and Yah, the Hebrew word for God. So it is the highest praise of which only God is worthy.

The first Hallelujah is by the multitudes in heaven, this could include both angelic beings and the eternal souls of those who are in Christ. They say, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; ² because His judgments are true and righteous;"...        That's something that many people in the world don't want to accept. God will and does judge. Unlike any system of justice operated by man God's judgment is righteous and true. Because God knew we could not measure up to His standard, He provided His Son, Jesus Christ, to take our place and be judged for us, so that in Christ we could be judged as righteous. God's judgment is righteous and true. We can be judged for our own acts or we can be judged in Christ's righteouness. Each person has the choice. In the end the result will be this truth which John sees and hears, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

In the next portion of the text we see the reference to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. It says,  "His bride has made herself ready.”   This is part of what we are doing in this life. We, as Christ's church, His bride, are to be making ourselves ready for eternity with Christ. It says, It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. We are told in Isaiah 64:6 , For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;  How then are our righteous acts this fine linen?

According to Ephsians 4:24 we "put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." This righteousness is ours in Christ. Then in obedience to Christ we follow Jesus words from John 14:15. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. We first put on the righteousness of Christ, then our deeds become righteous in Him.

I am not going to get into the interpretation of the imagery of the final portion of this text. Whether Christ will return literally on a white horse or whether that is symbolic of conquering kings in prior times is not what matters.  What matters is that He, Jesus Christ, is  “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” and He will  strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. That's the judgment which awaits those who are not in Christ.

We have a choice, each one of us, the truth of Ephesians 2:8-9,  For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹ not as a result of works, so that no one may boast, or the truth of His righteous judgment.

Tell everyone what the angel told the shepherds the night Christ was born.  “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; ¹¹ for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 

The end times are not to be feared! The good news is for all people! There has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!

“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; ² because His judgments are true and righteous...Hallelujah! ... And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” ... Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

Amen