Book of Revelation Commentary
By: Tom Lowe Date: 7/31/17
Lesson: IV.C.4: The Exaltation In Heaven Over the Fall of the Great Harlot
(Revelation 19:1-5)
1After 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!”
Introduction
Revelation 4-18 dealt primarily with the events of the Great Tribulation period. Beginning in chapter 19 there is a noticeable change. The Great Tribulation is now coming to its end and the spotlight focuses on heaven and the second coming of Christ. For the saints and angels it is a time of rejoicing and victory.
Commentary
1After 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,
“After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: ‘Hallelujah!’”
“After this” (or, ‘after these things’) is a formula used in Revelation in 4:1, 18:1, and in our present verse. It refers here to the fall and total destruction of Babylon as recorded in Revelation chapters 17 and 18. The same event is seen very differently in heaven than on the earth. On earth, the cry of sorrow and mourning is heard, while in Heaven we hear praises and “hallelujahs.” Friends, God has never had the praise and honor due Him, but at this point and throughout eternity to follow He will be praised by the heavenly host, and His enemies will be in the lake of fire.
It was announced in heaven the moment Babylon fell. To me, that signifies that the righteous will have a ringside seat in the sky and will be eyewitnesses to the entire affair between Christ and Antichrist. All heaven praises God for the mighty victory.
These first five verses of chapter 19 describe the end of the destruction of Babylon the Great (chapters 17-18). In contrast to the funeral dirges of the Kings, merchants, and seamen (18:9-19), the crowd in heaven sings a great song of praise. John describes the singers as a “great multitude,” but he doesn’t specify who they are. I suggest that they may be the same great multitude who earlier stood before God’s throne, dressed in white robes and with palm branches in their hands (7:9). This vast crowd in heaven begins praising God for His victory (19:1-3). Then the 24 Elders (identified in the commentary on 4:4) joined the chorus (19:4). Finally, the great choir of heaven once again praises God—the wedding of the Lamb has come (19:6-8). In Matthew 25:1-13, Christ had compared the coming of His kingdom to a wedding for which His people must be prepared.
The overthrow of Babylon marks the end of those organized evils which have plagued the earth for so long. Evil things are so entrenched in society already that no amount of legislation can root it out; the rot has gone too deep. The shout of praise in heaven for the salvation of God is given by “a great multitude” the disciples once asked the Lord if there would be few who would be saved. Here is the answer: a great multitude!
Although we may have expected the praise to have come first from saints, apostles, and prophets (18:20), the multitude is much more inclusive, probably the great multitude of 7:9 or the angelic host of 5:11. The psalm (or song) emphasizes God’s attributes, which is the proper way to honor Him. We do not rejoice at the sinfulness of Babylon, or even the greatness of BABYLON’S fall. We rejoice that God is “true and righteous” (15:3; 16:7; 17:6) and that He is glorified by His holy judgments. As we discovered in 8:1-6, God’s throne and altar are related to His judgments.
The word “Hallelujah,” found in verse 1, means “Praise Yahweh” or “Praise God.” There are four Hallelujahs in this short passage, and there is another in verse 6, but I will discuss that one in the next chapter.
I have called this FIRST hallelujah the “HALLELUJAH OF REDEMPTION” because the first note of praise is salvation. Christ is about to appear with His Church to complete the redemption He began at Calvary. One final conflict remains and then, after Armageddon, the swords of man shall be beaten into plowshares, the earth will be redeemed, and the lamb and the lion shall lie down together. While Satan is the prince of this world now, Christ holds the title deed to the earth, and the day is coming when He shall possess that which is His own by creative right and redemptive right. There has been much speculation in the many attempts to identify the “great multitude in heaven” who utter the first hallelujah. But what does it matter? Let us all join in the chorus. The great day of deliverance for all creation will surely come. Hallelujah!
“Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,”
The FIRST “Hallelujah” consists of four lines, each of which makes a distinct assertion: the FIRST is that God is to be praised because now men recognize His salvation, glory, and power. His salvation and power appeared in 12:10; His glory and power were joined in 4:11. Salvation belongs to God (7:10); man does not earn or possess it; man enters God’s salvation by faith. Salvation is more than the deliverance of the saints; it includes God’s safeguarding them and bringing them and His whole cause to final victory.
My friend, this it is that great day which is coming. The earth will be released from the bondage of sin. In the meantime it groans. And we groan. I don’t know about you, but I groan. When I was a young man my goal in life was to become a competitive weightlifter. I could lift some pretty impressive weights, and I used to come bounding down the stairs. But now, when I come down the stairs, I grown with every step. My wife says, “You should not grown so much.” I tell her that groaning is scriptural. We groan within these bodies as the scripture says. I’m all for groaning when we are here. But one day the groaning will be changed to hallelujahs, and that is what john is talking about here.
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.”
“for true and just are his judgments.”
The multitude affirms that God’s judgments are “true and just.” Previously, the altar had made this affirmation (16:7); the servants had lived by faith in this affirmation and the hope it expressed (15:3); now their faith has been vindicated; they know by experience that it is true.
The song in Revelation praises God for His just and true judgments (see also 15:3; 16:5, 7). He is praised for avenging the murders of His people. The punishment of the evil adversaries of God and His people is cause for praise{1] in heaven.
“He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.”
God has punished the “great prostitute who corrupted the earth” with her immorality, and He has avenged the murder of His servants. The identity of this “great prostitute” is explained in the commentary on 17:1. Her corruption of the earth is described in chapters 17-18. This “corruption” causes people to be separated from God, unable to worship Him, and, in the Old Testament, unable to enter the Temple.
Here is the THIRD affirmation, which justifies the SECOND by citing His judgment on Rome, the “great prostitute.” The angel had promised that He would judge her (17:1); God kept the promise so He is true. His judgment is “just” for two reasons; she deserved the judgment because she was a harlot; she multiplied her guilt by corrupting the earth with her fornication.
If you don’t think what God is doing is right, it is because you, not God, are wrong. Your thinking is incomplete, of course, as mine is. God will be righteous in judging the great harlot. This is interesting because when we read about the judgment of the great harlot, representing the apostate church which went into the tribulation, it says that the Kings of the earth and the Antichrist destroyed the harlot. Yet here we are told that it was God who judged it. You see, God uses the devil to accomplish His purpose. Those in heaven are saying, “True and righteous are His judgments,” because the apostate church deserved to be destroyed; it had made martyrs of many of God’s children.
“He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
“He has avenged on her the blood of his servants”; that is, literally shed by the Old Testament adulterous Church, and by the New Testament apostate Church; but also virtually, though not literally, by all who, though called Christians, hate their brother, or do not love the brethren of Christ, but shrink from the reproach of the cross, and show unkindness toward those who bear it.
God had to take vengeance; he was the only one that could. You see, believers are forbidden to avenge themselves. It is true that some of us try to do it, but the moment we do so, we forsake the walk of faith. In Romans 12:19 God says to us: “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” God will take care of vengeance for you. If we have been injured, and many of us have been, we want to hit back. That is natural; it is the old nature striking out. However, we are to turn that department over to God. He doesn’t intend to let anyone get away with wrong. Vengeance is His. And He will bring judgment on this apostate system.
Finally, we have come to the THIRD affirmation; the “servants” have been taught to be faithful unto death; they had been true and had suffered; God avenged their blood thus proving His trustworthiness.
The “murder of (God’s) servants” is described as the great prostitute being “drunk with the blood of God’s holy people who were witnesses for Jesus” (17:6). The Beast and His kingdom will be judged for deceiving the nations and for killing God’s servants.
3 And again they shouted: “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”
“And again they shouted: “Hallelujah!”
The voices in heaven ring out, again and again, the praise for God’s final victory. The “great prostitute,” the evil city, has been destroyed and the smoke from that city ascends forever and forever (see also 9:2; 14:11; 18:9, 18). BABYLON’S destruction will be final. She will never rise again. The internally burning fires are reminders of Gehenna or Hellfire.
This is not only physical burning and smoke as we know fire and smoke, but this is spiritual burning… judgment from Almighty God… everlasting destruction. The judgment poured out on Babylon will not be as if Paris, London or New York were burned after a great bombing by the enemy. It will not be just a big city going up in smoke, burned to an ash-heap, with that being the end of the city. The burning here is the judgment of Almighty God on a kingdom of ungodliness, a system of debauchery a gigantic organization both political and religious—the system of Anti-God, made up of politics, business and religion. The smoke of a city like New York could not ascend up for ever and ever as does the smoke of Babylon. Babylon is the mother of Anti-God… Politics, religion, business… Anything contrary to righteousness, holiness and purity.
This gruesome sight causes rejoicing in heaven because God’s name and God’s people have been vindicated. The people who are judged were those who had lived in total depravity against God, willingly rejecting His offer of salvation. Their sins “are piled as high as heaven” (18:5) and God justly judges them.
The apostle states, “The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever”; but if the new heaven and earth of 21:1, is to be regarded as a completely new creation, the expression “for ever and ever” must be limited here to the 1000 years of the millennium; the ashes of the ruined city presumably disappear with the old earth.
Observe, verse 3 has the SECOND hallelujah, which I have called THE HALLELUJAH OF RIGHTEOUS RETRIBUTION. All of God’s judgments, upon the good and the evil, are true and righteous. The great harlot has received a just retribution for her evil, and her doom is an everlasting, visible witness to the righteous judgment of God. On the other hand, there is another theory which says that one should not push the term “for ever and ever” or should not interpret it in relationship to the smoke. The idea of a new heaven and earth would make it unlikely that the spiral of smoke from Rome’s ruins would be seen eternally. He has avenged the blood of His servants who died at her hand. The hallelujah here is expressed because God has gotten the victory over His foe. The permanence and finality of God’s judgment upon all His people is cause for the rejoicing of God’s people. Hallelujah!
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 twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God”
The identity of the 24 Elders and the four living beings is explained in 4:4 and 4:6. They appear for the first time when the throne, symbolic of the sovereignty of God is introduced; and they appear now, at the very end of things, to say a hearty “Amen” to God’s judgments and a warm “Hallelujah” because of the glorious triumph of His throne. They joined with the vast crowd (19:1) in praise to God who was sitting on the throne. They fell down in worship, indicating a position of total humility and subservience to God (see also 4:10; 5:14; 7:11; 11:16). They cried out at man. Affirming what God had done. They then repeated Hallelujah. In essence, they were saying: “Your will be done! Praise God!”
We learned in Revelation 4 that the 24 Elders represent the Church, made up of all born again people. The Bride will be happy, for it will be time for her to return to earth with Jesus, to reign in the glorious kingdom of righteousness. The four living creatures, previously introduced in 4:6-8, seem to refer to angels who praised God. Still another voice of praise, apparently coming from an angel, also praised God and exhorted all you His servants to join in this praise.
John may have been overwhelmed by all that he saw, but everyone in this vision rejoiced! In Revelation, sin and its effects abound, but grace abounds even more. So as the evil systems of earth explode, God’s people exclaim in praise, “Amen! Hallelujah!”
How can this be? If we have trusted Jesus, we will be among the multitudes who proclaim, “His judgments are right and true.” We will recognize that all the accounts have been settled justly. We will all experience the fulfillment of our hope and the justice for which we have hungered and thirsted. In that moment, only two expressions will be necessary. Amen (“so be it!” Or “I mean it”) and Hallelujah (“Praise the Lord!”). We can use the same two expressions today when we declare our anticipation and expectation of Christ’s coming! Amen! Hallelujah!
“who was seated on the throne.”
God was seated on His throne, surrounded by 24 Elders, cherubim, and angels. These Elders appeared for the first time when the throne, symbolic of the sovereignty of God, is introduced; and they appear now, at the very end of things, to say a hearty “Amen” to God’s judgments and a warm “Hallelujah” because of the glorious triumph of His “throne.” We leave them prostrate before God in worship, the attitude in which they are always found when God’s sovereignty is asserted. From their standpoint in Glory, the sovereignty of God, no less than the salvation of God, is seen to be something eminently worthy of praise.
“And they cried: “Amen, Hallelujah!”
THIRDLY, there is the HALLELUJAH OF REALIZATION. This is the last mention of the Elders in the Revelation. They join in a hallelujah as the volume of praise gains momentum. I see in this third hallelujah a realization of the greatness of God. It corresponds to some degree to how the term is used the first time it was mentioned; when the ark was installed in David’s tent and a feast was held in connection with it (1 Chronicles 16:4). The ark was to Israel a reminder of the realization of God’s greatness and majesty. Blessed is that Christian who gets quiet each day to read God’s Word and pray in order that he might contemplate his Lord’s greatness. To contemplate the greatness and grace of God is to awaken gratitude and praise in every believer. Hallelujah!
I want to emphasize this—I feel sorry for precious people who cannot endure a little noise in religion. I wonder what they will do on this great day of rejoicing.
5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small!”
“Then a voice came from the throne, saying:”
The closing of this song of praise was given by a voice located near the throne. This was not God’s voice, because the words “praise our God” would not have come from God. The voice came from one of the heavenly beings and called upon all of God’s servants, from the least to the greatest, all who fear him, to praise him. “Fear” refers to reverence for God. These are all of God’s redeemed people called to join in praise to the God who had saved them from the end brought by Satan and evil—the burning fires of Babylon.
These words recall the psalms of praise in the Old Testament: “Praise the Lord! Yes, give praise, O servants of the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord!... Everywhere—from east to west—praise the name of the Lord. He will bless those who fear the Lord, both great and small” (Psalms 113:1, 3; 115:13).
The throne of God puts its stamp of approval upon the rejoicing that is in progress in heaven when Babylon is totally destroyed. All the wicked are in terror; all the saints are filled with joy! All who serve and fear God are invited, small and great, to join in the glad song and the praises—a great relief after the dark, dark picture unfolded on earth during the reign of the counterfeit Trinity. Here the terms are sufficiently broad to embrace every soul in every creature in heaven… Angels, servants, cherubim, seraphim, who so ever abides in the land of the celestial. This call is not addressed to an unwilling host. All are ready and anxious to praise Jehovah, who is worthy of all praise.
Notice that the call to praise comes directly from the throne of God, because the Lord Jesus Christ is preparing to take control of this world.
“Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small!”
The fourth “hallelujah” exhorts all servants to praise God. You say there is no hallelujah in this line; but there is, because “Hallelujah” is translated “praise our God.” The use of “our God” suggests that Christ is the speaker. In an earlier round of praising God, the participants praise God in a sequence which started at the throne and works outward—cherubim and Elders, Angelic hosts, then all creatures. In this round the order is reversed.
Special Notes and Scripture
[1} Praise is the heartfelt response to God by those who love Him. The more you get to know God and realize what He has done, the more you will respond with praise. Praise is at the heart of true worship. Let your praise to God flow out of your realization of who He is and how much He loves you.
