Revelation chapter 19 begins with praise: Hallelujah, translated, Praise Jehovah! Those praising God are invited to take communion as Christ and his Saints are riding out to conquer the nations with the gospel message.
Revelation 19:1 After 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, 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! 6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.” 10 At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophesy.
11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one owns but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”
19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
HEAVENLY WORSHIP
God’s people had prayed for the destruction of Jerusalem. Revelation 6:9-11 Now seeing that their prayers have been answered they break out in praise, in obedience to the angel’s command… Rejoice over her, you heavens! Rejoice, you people of God! Rejoice, apostles and prophets! For God has judged her with the judgment she imposed on you. Revelation 18:20
Revelation 19:1 After 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, 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.”
Remember, in the opening of Revelation, John says, “heed the things that are written in it” Revelation 1:3. The Church was to pray imprecatory prayers asking that God judge the enemies of the Church. In I Corinthians 14:3 Paul said that prophesy was intended for, “edification, exhortation, and consolation.” And that is exactly what the prophesy of Revelation did. And now having shown the Church God’s sure and coming judgment on their persecutors, the multitude rejoices.
May sinners be consumed from the earth, and the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul! Hallelujah! Psalm 104:35
Does the Church have any opposition today? If so, how do you think we should pray?
As previously noted, because the Church only sings praise snippets of the Psalms today, neglecting the context of that praise, we have forgotten how God instructs his people to pray.
Revelation 19:3 And again they shouted: “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”
A reference to Isaiah 34:10 It shall not be quenched night or day; Its smoke shall ascend forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; No one shall pass through it forever and ever.
The Old Covenant has been replaced by the New Covenant. Because the Old Covenant, with the Temple sacrifices and Old Covenant priesthood, has been fulfilled in Christ, the Temple and priesthood are no longer needed.
Revelation 19:4 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!”
This is the same picture that we already saw in Revelation 4:4-11.
Heavenly worship: Matthew 6:10, asking God: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
- Worship is corporate, not individualistic, not internal, not a spectator sport, not a performance. There is to be full participation.
- Worship is a dialogue of responses. Elders and living creatures are shown singing responses back and forth. A liturgy of prayers, songs, Psalms as God speaks and man responds.
- Worship is orderly. I Corinthians 14:40
Remember worship is God’s people coming into the heavenly palace for a formal ceremony before the Throne: an official audience with the King. We come to confess our sins, to pledge allegiance, to take solemn oaths, to receive forgiveness, to offer prayers, to be instructed by God’s officers, to eat at his table, to give thanks for all of God’s blessings, and to respond with music and singing. He is the King and we should worship and serve him with our best.
Revelation 19:5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small!
Though it is not something that the Church talks about much today, the Bible asks the question: What is wisdom?
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, To turn one away from the snares of death. Proverbs 14:27
The fear of the Lord leads to life, And he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil. Proverbs 19:23
Do not let your heart envy sinners, But be zealous for the fear of the Lord all the day; 18 For surely there is a hereafter, And your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 23:17-18
We are to fear God. In other words we are to, in humility, reverence, respect, and awe, submit to God in obedience. Our Creator God is all-powerful, Holy, and in all ways, awesome. Yet he came into our broken rebel lives and rescued us, giving us life. Which is why Paul exhorts us to, work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12 We dare not ever walk or run away from our God for to do so, as Revelation teaches, only leads to sure destruction.
Revelation 19:6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
Think back to the beginning of time, back to the Garden of Eden. God created man in his image and established marriage, male and female to be fruitful and have children. The union of the sexes is the original sign in this world of our call to union with God…Marriage exists from the beginning to point us to the marriage of the Lamb. What’s human history all about? Marriage to God. This is why we exist: to participate in the eternal exchange of love found in God by being eternally wed to his son. That something we’re looking for is the eternal bliss of being one with God. The union of the sexes, as beautiful and wonderful as it is in the divine plan, is only a faint glimmer, a pale picture within time, of the true eternal union with God. Christopher West, “Our Bodies Tell God’s Story”
This is the true story that all of our fairy tales point to: Kill the dragon and save the girl. Christ defeats and binds Satan and saves his bride, the Church.
The Church, the bride of Christ, is made ready for the wedding of the Lamb. We often hear Ephesians 5 preached at weddings, but do you realize that the passage is speaking about the bride of Christ, the Church?
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Ephesians 5:25-27
Paul compares the Church, made pure by Christ’s sacrifice, to a pure virgin bride.
I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. II Corinthians 11:2
Do you ever think in these terms when you are being tempted to be unfaithful to Christ? In this light you can understand God’s heartbreak over the harlot nation Israel. But don’t lose sight of your own unfaithfulness. It grieves our God.
Faith unites the soul with Christ as a bride is united with her bridegroom. Christ is full of grace, life, and salvation. The soul is full of sins, death, and damnation. Now let faith come between them and sins, death, and damnation will be Christ’s while grace, life, and salvation will be the soul’s; for if Christ is the bridegroom, he must take upon himself the things which are the bride’s and bestow upon her the things which are his. Martin Luther, “Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings”
Revelation 19:9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
As the central point in history is the death and resurrection of Christ, so too, the central part of worship is the wedding supper, communion. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf. I Corinthians 10:16-17
In contrast to the predominate philosophy of our age that invites discord and strife by dividing people by race, gender, education, economics, age and many other artificial categories, Christ brings peace, uniting all people and nations: the many into one body!
Justin Martyr’s description of a First Century worship service parallels the worship service we have seen described in Revelation.
“On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the writings of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read… When the reader has ceased the teacher instructs and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. We all rise and pray and when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought and the teacher in like manner offers prayers and thanksgiving… And the people assent, saying, Amen” Justin Martyr
Revelation 19:10 At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophesy.
When I was growing up my father was an elder in our Church and every week my parents would have Church folks over for dinner. There were always interesting conversations but I recall one evening in particular. The space race to the moon was in full swing, and with space on everyone’s mind, the Roswell crash was never far behind. As the conversation gravitated toward the possibility of discovering extraterrestrial life one of our guests, a Church member, stated that if alien life were ever discovered he could no longer believe in the Bible and would renounce Christianity. This struck me as quite odd and I wondered if he had ever read the Bible because it is filled with stories of aliens called angels. Revelation 19:10 is just one of hundreds of examples.
There seem to be two types of heavenly sentient beings:
- fellow servants of God referred to generally as angels and
- rebels against God’s rule generally referred to as demons
SEVEN VISIONS
I. Faithful Rider
Revelation 19:11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one owns but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Again Christ is pictured again as a rider on a white horse with blazing eyes that clearly see everything, he wears crowns symbolizing his eternal reign, wears a bloody robe from his sacrificial death, riding out with the Gospel. Revelation 6:2
Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 26 asks:
How does Christ execute the office of a king?
A: Christ executes the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.
For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
I Corinthians 15:25
See also: Psalm 96:11-13, Isaiah 11:3-4, Jeremiah 23:5-6
Christ also carries with him a Sword symbolizing the Word of God, his gospel, which conquers the world; all kingdoms, nations, and people: Ephesians 6:17, Romans 12:1-2, Isaiah 49:1-2, Hosea 6:5
Of course the picture here is exactly as Christ had prophesied:
Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ Matthew 24:29, Isaiah 13:10; 34:4
Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the land will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. Matthew 24:30 See Daniel 7:13-14. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
II. Feast of Scavengers
Revelation 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”
There are two kingdoms, the Beast’s and the Lamb’s.
There are two women, the whore and the Bride.
There are two feasts. In addition to the wedding supper, God invites the scavengers of the earth to feast on the flesh of God’s enemies. The curse of covenant breaking is to be eaten by birds, Deuteronomy 28:26,49
Israel is now a corpse. Matthew 24:28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
See also: Ezekiel 39:17-20
III. The Beast and the kings of the Earth
Revelation 19:19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
The nations rage but God laughs. The King has already been enthroned on God’s Holy Mountain and all nations will be ruled by him. Psalm 2 All power in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. Matthew 28:18
For some reason, that quite honestly escapes me, the Church has, for the most part, stopped singing the ancient hymns of the faith. It is as if standing on the shoulders of giants has become a bad thing. But, nevertheless we would do well to remember here a great hymn written by Martin Luther, in which the beast is defeated and Christ and his Church army win back the world.
1 A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our helper he, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe does seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.
2 Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing. You ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he; Lord Sabaoth his name, from age to age the same; and he must win the battle.
3 And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.
4 That Word above all earthly powers no thanks to them abideth; the Spirit and the gifts are ours through him who with us sideth. Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; the body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still; his kingdom is forever!