The return of the Lord brings to a close the Tribulation
events and the wrath of God. Note the contrast in this
chapter and in the preceding chapters; from somber weeping
and lamenting to joyful worship and praise, from darkness
and doom to light and deliverance, from a series of woes to
a series of jubilant announcements.
Following the revelation of the destruction of Babylon, John
hears “something like a loud voice of a great multitude in
heaven, saying, ‘Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power
belong to our God’” (Revelation 19:1).
Note the phrase “our God.” Those praising God had rejected
the god of this world and his false messiah, and by faith
had accepted the Lord as their God and Savior. For this,
many had died a martyr’s death, but to their God, who is our
God through Jesus Christ, to Him belong all glory, and
power.
Why do they make such a statement? The answer; verse 2,
“Because His judgments are true and righteous.” God’s
perfect and holy character, His perfect righteousness and
justice, cannot act unfairly or unjustly. He has perfect
knowledge and, therefore, He has all the facts so that all
His judgments are in accord with the truth. There is no
hearsay evidence in the court of God. In this case, the
ground of God’s judgment demonstrated in the fall of Babylon
was the immorality by which the great harlot seduced and
corrupted the earth. In addition, the righteousness of God’s
judgments is that He will avenge the wrong 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.
In verse 3 a second “hallelujah” is given in connection with
the statement, “Her smoke rises up forever and ever.” The
smoke may refer to “the smoke of her burning” in Revelation
18:9 and 18, the results of her destruction, or to her
eternal punishment (Revelation 14:11). Whatever, this
guarantees that her punishment is permanent.
Upon hearing the hallelujahs of the great multitude, the 24
elders and the four living creatures respond with their own
hallelujah and worship of God, note the clause “and
worshipped God who sits on the throne.” This emphasizes the
permanent sovereignty of God. “The Lord has established His
throne in the heavens; And His sovereignty rules over all”
(Psalm 103:19). God, with His great power and steadfast love
for us, sits permanently on the throne and we ought to
humbly submit to Him and give Him the throne of our hearts.
However, too often we are like the world, we deny God’s
right to rule, but when we do, it is always our own loss.
Immediately, in response to the hallelujahs, and the worship
of these creatures of God, a voice comes from the throne.
This voice is not the Father or the Son, but an angel
because of the phrase “give praise to our God” (Revelation
19:5). Who is to respond to this command to “give praise to
our God,” all His bondservants (Revelation 19:5). Before God
and in Christ, all believers, as the blood-bought possession
of the Lord Jesus, are His bondservants.
Then John heard something like “the voice of a great
multitude and like the sounds of many waters and like the
sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, ‘Hallelujah! For
the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns’” (Revelation 19:6).
In other words, He is still on the throne; He always has
been, and always will be. However, the emphasis in this
verse is that “the Lord our God is now establishing His
reign upon earth by the previous judgments and especially by
the return of Jesus Christ.
