Revelation 19:1-8

Hallelujah!
1After 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,
2for 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." 3And again they shouted:
"Hallelujah!
The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever."
4The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried:
"Amen, Hallelujah!"
5Then a voice came from the throne, saying:
"Praise our God,
all you his servants,
you who fear him,
both small and great!"
6Then 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.
7Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
8Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)



19:1-2 - A careful reading of 18:24-19:6 will show the extreme similarities between this section and 11:15-19, which is the announcement of the Kingdom and the heavenly Temple to the whole world in the New Covenant. As this section is introducing the appearance of the Bride, it is clear that in John’s mind there is an equivalent between the opening of the Temple and the full establishment of the New Covenant.

The great multitude is in heaven shouting: Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are His judgments. The Church had prayed for Jerusalem’s destruction (Rev. 6:9-11) and now those prayers have been answered. Prophecies were intended for strengthening, encouragement and comfort (1 Cor. 14:3), and John’s readers were commanded to listen to this prophecy and take it to heart (Rev. 1:3). In describing the heavenly Church’s prayers against her enemies, John was rallying the saints on earth to do the same. Now that Jerusalem’s immanent doom has been guaranteed, John instructs the Church to worship and glorify God, not to mourn. In handing down His judgments, God has truly shown that His actions are righteous. Israel’s destruction is actually God’s righteousness on display in the physical world. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of His servants. This is yet another symbolic connection between the great prostitute and Jezebel, the queen who had led Israel from the worship of God. God had ordered Elisha to instruct Jehu to take down Jezebel, saying: "I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the LORD's servants shed by Jezebel" (2 Ki. 9:22).

19:3 - The second refrain of the celebration song begins here as again, they shout Hallelujah! The cause for the praise is, again, the destruction of Jerusalem. The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever. This expression has been used three times before (Rev. 14:11; 18:2, 9) and is based on the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The specific wording, however, comes from Isaiah’s description of the punishment of Edom (Isa. 34:10). It is no accident that John borrows quite liberally from both Old Testament denunciations of Israel, but also equally borrows from oracles against pagan nations. The point is that Jerusalem, once the covenantal people of God, had now become one of the very enemies of God.

19:4 - Present during this chorus are the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures. As discussed in 4:4-11, the twenty-four elders represent the Church, while the four living creatures symbolize all the earthly creation. We are told that they fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. There is always a connection in biblical worship between proper praise of God and a physical activity that is appropriate to the godly fear and reverence that should be shown to the most high God. This is perhaps a point that we should pay attention to, as we live in a time when worship has become casual to the point of being irreverent.

19:5 - An unnamed voice came from the throne, saying: "Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small." This command is given to the Church, the servants of God, who are continuing in their praise of God for His righteous act of the destruction of Jerusalem.

19:6-8 - We should not miss that the great multitude, the entire Church, speaks with the characteristic voice of the glory cloud: the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder. This confirms their identity as people that are in the glorious image of God. The crowd has praised God for His sovereignty, displayed in the destruction of Jerusalem. Now they praise Him for His wedding of the Lamb, for which the time time has come. The New Testament is full of exhortations to the Church to prepare herself as the glorious bride of Christ (Eph. 5:25-27; Jude 3, 24, etc.), but now John sees the Church in her glory and purity, having met her trials, and passed through the treat tribulations into her possession of the Kingdom as the Bride of Christ. The destruction of Jerusalem signified the Church’s full establishment as the new Temple, the faithful Bride. The bride has made herself ready, and fine linen, bright and clean, was given to her to wear. Linen has already been used frequently as a symbol (Rev. 15:6; cf. 3:4; 4:4; 7:9, 14), now John explicitly states that the linen symbolizes the righteous acts of the saints. Two important points are seen here about the sanctification of the Church. First it was given to her, as sanctification always is. Yet, second, she was still expected to make herself ready. This same concept is consistent throughout Scripture (Lev. 20:7-8; Phil. 2:12-13).