#35 May 19th 2013 Revelation part 35….
Chapter 19 verses 1-6.
When we get to chapter 19 the tone of Revelation changes and a transition occurs.
The somber gives way to song…
Darkness gives way to light…
Days of judgment turn to bright days of blessing.
The scene shifts from earth to heaven.
The reason for all of this is because… Babylon the capital of the beast’s kingdom has been destroyed…
And the tribulation period has come to an end.
Chapter 19 ushers in the greatest event for the earth…
The second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the establishing of His kingdom upon the earth.
For the past several weeks and chapters we have been seeing what will take place during the tribulation period.
But when we get to chapter 19 we begin seeing what will take place after the tribulation period.
This is what the words after these things refer to in verse 1.
John says he heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying…
Alleluia!
This is the only time the word alleluia is found in the N.T. and it appears four times in the first six verses of this
chapter.
The word alleluia is the Greek equivalent of the word hallelujah.
Alleluia is translated into English by the phrase…
Praise the Lord.
John says he heard a great multitude saying…
Alleluia or praise the Lord for all the Lord has done.
There is praise because the tribulation is over…
And there is praise Jesus is going to unite the church with Himself in marriage.
The multitude sings alleluia as the final phase of salvation is coming to pass.
Last year when we studied Roman chapter 8 we read about the groaning that has been on the earth since the sin
of Adam and Eve.
The earth has groaned because of sin…
Creation has groaned because of sin…
Mankind has groaned because of sin.
Paul wrote in Roman’s 8 how the earth, creation and mankind eagerly await redemption.
The redemption Paul wrote about in Roman’s John sees come to pass in Revelation 19.
One day all the groaning will be changed to alleluia’s.
The Lord will turn our wailing into dancing…
The Lord will take away our sorrow and give us joy.
Here the multitude in heaven is rejoicing and saying salvation and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!
The entire focus is on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 2…For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth
with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.
The Lord is praised and glorified here because He has judged the harlot named Babylon the great.
She is called a harlot because the earth was corrupted by her relationship with satan.
The judgments of God on Babylon avenged the blood of those who were killed in all times past as well as during the end
time tribulation.
We really need to understand something from this...
Roman’s 12:19 says…Dearly beloved avenge not yourselves, vengeance is Mine I will repay say the Lord.
We need to understand and accept the fact that as a believer we are forbidden to avenge ourselves.
We want to, but we are forbidden to and the moment we do we disobey the Word of God which in turn robs us of the
favor of God.
If we could if I could only grasp the fact that God will not let anyone get away that abuses His children in anyway.
God will handle it if we turn it over to Him.
Heaven is rejoicing and praising God because after a long wait justice has come…the enemy has been dealt with.
Verse 3…Again they said, alleluia! Her smoke rises forever and ever.
This means…
What began in the Garden of Eden is finally ended.
Never again will there be false religions, injustice or unrighteousness.
In the words of Jesus…It is finished!
Verse 4…And the 24 elders and the 4 living creatures fell down and worshipped God who sat on the throne saying,
amen! Alleluia!
The 24 elders are best understood as being the representatives of the church…
They consist of 2 groups of 12…
12 O.T. prophets and 12 N.T. disciples.
The four living creatures are a special order of angelic beings that are frequently associated with worship.
Here they fall down and worship God who sat on the throne.
When I read this it shows me they really understood what the Lord had done for them as well as the world.
Through that proper understanding they were humbled to their knees in adoration and thanksgiving.
We see both praise and worship and there is a difference between the two.
Praise is thanking God for what He does…
Worship is praising God for who He is.
I long for the day when everyone realizes what the Lord has done and who the Lord is.
Instead of quick handclaps and quick raising of hands…
A day where people fall on their knees in humility with adoration and praise.
Some may say that is not very dignified and worship ought to be dignified.
I have never read in the Bible where worship is supposed to be dignified…
I have only read where worship is to be in Spirit and in truth.
David was anything but dignified when he worshipped.
Here the 24 elders and the 4 living creatures fell down and worshipped saying…
Amen! Alleluia!
Alleluia and amen are the only words known around the world.
Amen and alleluia are understood in every language.
Amen means…so be it.
Alleluia means…praise the Lord.
Those in heaven are on their knees before God saying…
So be it praise the Lord!
Verse 5…Then a voice came from the throne saying…praise our God all you His servants and those who fear Him,
both small and great!
The words here both small and great means, every human in every category and distinction are called to praise God.
Presidents and Kings, rich and poor, educated and uneducated are to praise God.
Verse 6…And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude…
This great multitude includes all those in the O.T. the church that was raptured as well as all that accepted Jesus Christ
during the tribulation.
He heard them all and it sounded like the sound of many waters and as the sound of many thundering, saying, alleluia!
For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns.
This heavenly multitude is so large that when they praise or speak about the Lord the volume is so great that it sounded
like many thundering.
This means no one is holding back…
No one ashamed to worship, praise and glorify the Lord.
They shout the words…
Lord God omnipotent reigns.
Let’s break it down…
Lord means…supreme in authority.
God means…supreme deity.
Omnipotent which by the way only occurs in the Bible here means…
Almighty, having unlimited power.
But the word reign is there also…
Reign means rules and prevails.
When we put this altogether we have an awesome description of God…
The Lord God is almighty, unlimited in power, supreme in authority, the ruler over the world and all that goes on
in the world.