Revelation 19:1, commentary and pictures

After these things a great multitude in heaven breaks into a shout of praise that ascribes deliverance and glory and honor and power to the Lord God. The praise is given because His judgments are true and righteous in condemning the corrupting power that led the earth into false worship and in avenging the blood of His servants in the final conflict over worship and His law. Their affirmation does not mean the saints rejoice while watching the wicked suffer forever, but that justice is satisfied when evil is brought to a compassionate and final end and the universe is freed from temptation. The chapter is prophecy of closing events soon to be fulfilled, forming with chapter 18 a testing warning and last call of mercy to be given fully to the world while judgments are held back until all have heard. The redeemed will join that same shout as they ascend with Jesus toward the New Jerusalem and inherit the earth made new, a song learned only as character is formed during probation and held out as hope that none will be absent.

Praise After God's Judgments

After these things a great voice of much people in heaven cries Alleluia, ascribing salvation and glory and honor and power to the Lord our God. The great multitude in heaven praises God and credits Him with salvation, glory, honor, and power. Heaven's response to the events leading to the Lord's triumph is praise, not gloom or sadness.

The praise declares that His judgments are true and righteous, for He has judged the corrupting power that corrupted the earth and avenged the blood of His servants. He has judged the great whore who corrupted the earth with fornication, in the setting of the final conflict over worship and God's law, when false worship is judged and God's cause is vindicated. The praise stands joined to that declaration of vindication after the gathering to the battle of the great day of God Almighty.

That setting includes her smoke rising up forever and ever, the four and twenty elders and the four beasts falling down to worship God on the throne, and the call to praise God by all His servants small and great. It includes the reign of the Lord God omnipotent and the coming of the marriage of the Lamb, whose wife has made herself ready in fine linen clean and white which is the righteousness of saints. It includes blessing on those called to the marriage supper of the Lamb as the true sayings of God, before the beast and false prophet are cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.

The Alleluia comes after the final judgment, when the dead small and great are judged out of the books according to their works, and death and hell are cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. The chapter opens the scene of heaven's praise and goes on to picture the beast and false prophet being cast into the lake of fire. The dragon is then bound and cast into the bottomless pit for a thousand years, afterward the wicked are raised, Satan and the wicked are finally destroyed, and Christ triumphs and reigns on earth.

The chapter brings God's reckoning with those who persecute Christians and enforce the worship of the beast. All who would insult God by forcing men to worship the beast should read it and be afraid. God overlooks and forgets nothing of the persecutions Christians have endured at the hands of those under the control of the apostate, and seeking to compel men to do evil is a most heinous sin in His sight.

The passage does not teach that the saints praise God while watching the wicked suffer eternally, for that reading gives its words a cruel meaning foreign to God. Their Amen affirms that God's justice is satisfied, reflecting His benevolence and compassion in giving His Son for guilty humanity and ending the wicked's existence rather than making them suffer forever. Angels and redeemed saints triumphantly praise God because the devil can no longer tempt or trouble them, and the inhabitants of other worlds are freed from his presence and temptations.

Prophecy for the Last Days

The opening of the chapter is prophecy about events to come, soon to be fulfilled as a sure message to be read and understood. It belongs to the closing scenes of earth's history that are now being lived. These are what every minister as a watchman must discern and proclaim at this time with a certain trumpet sound to awaken souls, for to pass along without them leaves souls quieted to sleep unto eternal loss. Together with chapter 18 it forms testing truths for this time that all must read and understand, the message of warning and the last call of mercy to be given more fully to the whole world while God in mercy shows long forbearance and holds back His judgments until all have heard.

Heaven meets these last-day events with praise to God for salvation and glory and honor and power, not with gloom and sadness. God's people are to view them in harmony with heaven's work of preparing a people to stand in the day of the Lord and to live in harmony with those heavenly events.

Joining Heaven's Song

The redeemed shout Alleluia as they journey upward with Jesus in the heavenly chariot toward the New Jerusalem and holy city, praising God during their ascent and giving Him glory for their deliverance. Angels join that ascent with their own cry of Holy in praise to the Lord God Almighty. Their joyful shout rises again as they approach the temple on Mount Zion and behold the glory of the holy place, where they learn that only the 144,000 may enter.

After the wicked are consumed and the earth is made new, their shout of Glory, Alleluia gives God glory for salvation and for their inheritance of the renewed earth. The same shout of Glory and Alleluia answers God's announcement of the day and hour of Jesus' coming and His deliverance of the everlasting covenant, following the blessing on those who kept the Sabbath holy. In that glory former trials seem small beside the eternal reward, heaven is seen as worth every hardship, and joy fills reunion with those who had died.

The faithful who love God, keep His commandments and remain faithful to the end will share that heavenly glory, remain in the presence of Jesus the Lamb, and sing with the holy angels. Joining that praise and honor to God now places a person on Christ's side as a co-laborer seeking to honor and glorify the Savior. When God's people fix their eyes on the prize and glorify Him, angels carry the glad news to the Holy City where angels sing Alleluia with a loud voice until the heavenly arches ring, reflecting the order and harmony of the holy city.

The song belongs to the holy in the companionship of the saints in light, Jesus and the Lord of hosts, with honor to the Father and the Son for salvation, glory, honor, power and righteous judgments. It is learned only as tastes and character are formed during probation, so the unsanctified have never learned it and find it out of harmony with and unbearable to their desires. A sinner raised with unchanged tastes, habits and character could not therefore enjoy heaven. The verse points to the future gathering of the redeemed together around the great white throne in the heavenly song of hallelujahs, held out as hope that none will be absent from the song.