Hallelujah!

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.”  Revelation 19:6

Revelation 19:1–21 – The Book of Revelation: Worship. Obey. Endure.
Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost – November 6, 2022 (am)

Heaven was called to rejoice over the defeat of Babylon in 18:20, and we hear that rejoicing as c.19 opens. And that moves right into the celebration of our eternal union with Christ at the marriage supper of the Lamb (7-10). Surely, then our desired outcome this morning will simply be to sharpen our longing for that Day, to stoke the flame of our desire for the full and finial initiation of our eternal and uncompromised union with Christ! Let see how that aim unfolds, in two parts.

The Rejoicing in Heaven – 1-10

The Celebrating Multitude – 1-6

This chapter follows hard on the heels of 17 and 18, the final destruction of Babylon, the great prostitute (2), the archetype of society in rebellion against God. Babylon is gone forever! And the celebration here signals that as the clearest indicator of the triumph of the Lamb.

Put a bit differently, this passage on the triumph of God in the judgment and destruction of the prostitute is expressed as worship (4) and praise (5). The multitude is not glorying in the suffering this victory inflicts, but in the just retribution it reflects. God’s judgment is affirmed as entirely true and just (2), even as it has been long-awaited. He’s finally avenged… the blood of his saints (2; cf. 18:20; 6:10-11).

V.6 then completes this eruption of worship, this four-fold hallelujah! (1, 3, 4, 6) The same great multitude that John heard in v.1 is now [shouting] even louder (Beale 1999 931), like the roar of many waters (cf. 1:15) and… the sound of mighty… thunder! (cf. 6:2; 14:2) And they were 6 … crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. This is an interesting verb tense. It’s called an inceptive (or ingressive [Beale 1999 931]) aorist, so it’s past tense, but it [emphasizes] the initiation of an action (Ladd 246). It’s best translated as in the neb: the Lord our God… has entered on his reign—or, the Lord God… has begun to reign (Beale 1999 931). This is much like we what read of the return of Jesus when the seventh trumpet was first [blown] (11:15-19): 11:15 … there were loud voices in heaven saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ…. And 11:17 … We give thanks you, Lord God Almighty, … for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. God’s reign is a direct consequence of his judgment of Babylon. He has shown himself to be the all-powerful divine king by this great act of deposing the system that arrogated this office to itself (Beale 1999 931).

The Wedding of the Lamb – 7-10 – It’s time!

We begin to see connections here between the Bride (7) (new Jerusalem [c.21]) and the prostitute (Babylon [17:5]). The righteous deeds of the saints (8), described as fine linen [clothing], bright and pure (8), stand in stark but intentional contrast to the attire of the prostitute (purple and scarlet… with gold and jewels and pearls [17:4]). It also takes us all the way back to the reward of the church (3:5) and the raiment of the martyrs (white robes [6:11; 7:9]).

This leads up to the middle of the seven blessings in this letter. We’ve already heard, 1:3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. We’ve heard, 14:13 Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on…, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them. We’ve heard, 16:15 Blessed in the one who stays awake…, anticipating the coming of the Lord. Still to come are, 20:6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Again, 22:7 Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. And finally, 22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. But today we hear, 19:9 Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb, the greatest invitation any of us will ever receive! This is our summons to the table, the event we’ve anticipated since redemption was first promised in the Garden of Eden! Throughout Scripture the relationship between God and His people has been cast in the metaphor of human marriage at every stage. And His people have longed for this Day like a bride for her wedding day! Christ’s Bride has sewn her gown with the precious thread of her righteous deeds and to the praise of Him Who enabled them. Now the Day has finally come—the Day when Jesus will once again drink… of [the] fruit of the vine (Mat.26:29) with her!

John is moved to worship by all he sees here. And the angel (9) he sees seems worthy of that worship!—10 … but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. This means one of two things: either all true prophecy has its origin in the words and acts of Jesus or all true prophecy manifests itself in testimony [about] Jesus (Beale 1999 947). Either the [heart] of prophecy is the witness borne to men and women by Jesus about God’s redemptive purpose in Him or the true testimony men and women bear regarding God’s redemptive purpose in Jesus is the very [heart] of prophecy (cf. Ladd 251). Technically speaking, this genitive is either subjective or objective. But whichever way we take it, this statement is true!

The Return of Christ – 11-21

The Rider on the White Horse – 11-16

Finally, this is unmistakably Jesus! Just look at these descriptions. His name is Faithful and True (11; cf. 3:14 The words of… the faithful and true witness…). He judges [justly] (11 in righteousness; cf. Gen.18:25 Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?). He also makes war in righteousness, removing all doubt whether an argument can be made in favor of just war. His eyes are like… fire (12; cf. 1:14). His name is The Word of God (13; cf. Joh.1:1, 14; 1Jo.1:1). His name is also King of kings and Lord of lords (16; cf. 17:14; 1Ti.6:15). And he has a name… that no one knows but himself (12; cf. 2:17; Pro.30:4)—so, even here, He can’t be fully known! There’s a sharp sword coming [out of] his mouth (15; cf. 1:16). He will [defeat] the nations and rule them with a rod of iron (15; cf. Psa.2:9; Rev.2:27). He Himself will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty (15; cf. 14:19-20). And 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood…, spotlighting His role as judge of all the earth, clearly recalling Isa.63:1 Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.” 2 Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the winepress? 3 “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel.” 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, most likely angels (Ladd 255), were following him also on white horses.

It’s as though John is making sure we don’t miss the fact that Jesus has finally arrived! He just mistook an angel as one deserving of worship (10). And now another is present that he describes as standing in the sun! (17) But what John sees in between these two angels removes all doubt as to Who is truly worthy of worship!

The Battle on the Great Day of God the Almighty – 17-21

Then we move toward the conclusion, the battle on the great day of God the Almighty (16:14). But not much detail is given of the battle here. It’s more about the clean-up! The angel’s summons to the birds of prey to gather together for the great supper of God is drawn from Ezekiel’s vision of the overthrow of Gog and Magog (Eze.39:17-20), though the assault of Gog and Magog is set by John at the [1451] close of the [millennial] kingdom (20:7-9), in harmony with Ezekiel’s vision (Eze.38:7-9). This great supper of God for birds of prey is a gruesome counterpart to the feast that begins [the millennial reign] (Isa.25:6), … the [marriage] supper of the Lamb (Beasley-Murray 1994 1450-1451).

So, the beast and his armies… gather to fight against Christ and His army. … The world rulers—meaning, the beast and the false prophet—will… be captured. Their… miraculous demonic power (13:13-15) will no longer be sufficient to save them. Both of them will be thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur (20). ¶The wicked who have died throughout the history of the world up to this point are in hades (Luk.16:23). [This] fiery lake, which is a different place, was prepared for the devil and his angels according to Jesus (Mat.25:41), and it will not be occupied by human beings until later (Rev.20:15) (Walvoord 977), after the millennial kingdom, as they receive their final judgment.

Conclusion

So, what is our closing charge today? As we said, simply and clearly stated: fix your eyes on our wedding to Christ and live for that Day! Otherworldly though this chapter is as it begins, and gruesome though it is as it finishes, these paragraphs are wrapped around one of the most blessed texts of Scripture in the whole Bible, not to mention in this letter of Rev. In this passage, the day of our salvation is realized! Jesus returns! We’re gathered into His presence and our labors toward worship, obedience, and endurance against the incessant push-back of this world, our flesh, and the devil are all finished! The Day anticipated in the celebration of Communion has arrived—the Day when Jesus will once again drink [the] fruit of the vine with [His followers]! (Mat.26:29) And to quote the apostle Paul, 1Th.4:17 … so we will always be with the Lord.

It’s amazing to me that God in His providence has placed  this passage before us on the Sunday that, for the past 1,300 years, has been designated for the celebration of All Saints Day. There’s no passage more central to the right celebration of the unity of the church militant and church triumphant than Rev.19:6-10. All Saints Day was originally established in the seventh century to honor the brothers and sisters in Christ who were martyred under the Roman Empire in the first 300 years of the church. But since then, it’s become so mired in poor theology and so snared in pagan syncretism that it’s barely worthy of mention any longer. Even so, we have this celebration in Rev.19 that consists of the gathering of all the saints (8) from all times who’ve been reconciled to God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This celebration is the focal point for the saints on earth and the saints in heaven as the indicator that the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ! (16:15) It’s our promised inheritance! And it’s worthy of our celebration, to strengthen our longing for its arrival! So, whatever we want to call this celebration, it is what we celebrate today—to the praise of the glory of God and of the Lamb Who accomplished it at the cost of His own life!

This is the scene that’s depicted in our light panels this morning, beginning a theme that will continue for the next three weeks (the final three weeks of the church year) finishing with Christ the King Sunday (20th), anticipating the full and final establishment of Jesus’ righteous and eternal reign. This morning the panels are representing the worship in heaven in response to the judgment of Babylon followed by the celebratory gathering at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Our artist was unable to fit 144,000 silhouettes of saints! So, to capture the spirit of this scene, he reduced the illustration to three twelves (two richly apocalyptic numbers!) dressed in white.

Bottom line, we’re engaged to be married to the One Who’s named King of kings and Lord of lords! (16) We’ve been given the Engagement Ring of His Holy Spirit as the earnest, the gift of promise, the token of assurance that our Groom will not leave us at the altar but will be our faithful Provider and Protector, our loving Partner for all eternity. And just as an expectant Bride lives in anticipation of her wedding Day, back-timing every activity in her life from that Day in order to be ready when it arrives, so we, the church, are called to live in anticipation of our wedding Day! That’s the short definition of what it means to stay awake! (16:15; cf. Mat.24:42; Mar.13:35-37; Luk.21:36; 1Th.5:6) And surely this Day could not possibly fail to exceed the joy and blessing of a merely human, sin-stained marriage celebration! In fact, it will exceed it in infinite measure! And in eternal duration!

This is our inheritance—our promised, certain future! It’s been sealed by the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, by His giving of His Spirit! And it will surely be achieved upon His return in power and great glory! (Luk.21:27)

I will finish with John’s words from another of his letters, telling us what we should do, how we should live, in light of that Day, and why: 1Jo.2:28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

And what is our response? 22:20 Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

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Resources

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NEXT WEEK’S SERMON: The Finishing Details of This Present World, Revelation 20:1–15