Revelation 19:1-10 (NASB)
David Bruce Linn, Pastor-Teacher
8 October, 2000
All Rights Reserved
As I listened to the inflammatory rhetoric and saw the chicanery afoot in a recent political campaign season, I was once again stung with the clear knowledge that this world is not my home. I yearn for the foolishness of worldliness to be over. Perhaps you do, too. One of the most important purposes of the book of Revelation is to grant us a privileged window into God's fulfillment of all of his promises to us. Our yearning to escape the influence of evil on earth and to live in the peace which will be established by the almighty power of God will be satisfied without a doubt. And if, for a time, we must live as "aliens and strangers on the earth," "in the world but not of the world," then so be it. We can endure, and not only endure, but thrive in the Spirit of God as we await the fulfillment of his promises.
Revelation 19 tells the future story of God's final disposition of the world and his children as a completed work. There is no wondering if God can pull it off. He is glorified in heaven by all of his creatures for his great deeds of judgment upon those who chose evil in this life. He is also praised for wonderfully vindicating those who chose faith in Christ and holiness. But before we dive into this remarkable picture of praise, we need to remind ourselves of where we are in our study of the unrolling of God's plan for the end times. By the time of the events of Revelation 19 the rapture of the saints has long since occurred. Personally, I am convinced that this includes church age saints, believers from Israel, and even the faithful from before the founding of the nation Israel. There is no mention in the Bible of separate raptures or resurrections of the redeemed at the end of the church age. Furthermore, Jesus described the kingdom of heaven as being like leaven. It keeps spreading outward to permeate all peoples, times, and places.
By this time, the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments have been poured out on the earth. Millions of people are dead, large portions of the earth are burned up, and the waters are polluted beyond human repair. Antichrist has already organized the final war on Christ which we call Armageddon though it has not yet come to a head. He does so in a condition of relative paralysis, since the rule of Christ has been reestablished on the earth even before the bowl judgments are poured out. In fact, it is the arrival of Christ's kingdom which breaks the power of Antichrist, as we shall see at the end of this chapter.
This is a poignant matter which should not be passed over quickly. This is God's earth! He designed it and all its inhabitants to glorify himself, and sin turned it away from him. A key element of the redemptive plan of the ages has been to return mediatorial rule and possession to God through the work of Christ. At the point of our study in Revelation 19, the principle of Christ's rule has already been reestablished, and he is pursuing a process of preparing the earth for his earthly kingdom, which we call the Millennium. Such is stated in Revelation 11:16-17: "And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, 'We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign'" (NIV). This was also clearly prophesied by Daniel (cf. 2:44).
God's promises are also being fulfilled to Israel at this time. A remnant has been physically preserved through the judgments who come to faith in Yeshua their Messiah. They will be preserved right through to the first day of the Millennium. So much more might be said of the events leading up to this point, but these comments will suffice to orient us to understand the four great hallelujahs which take place in heaven at this time. Verse one begins the massive, overpowering swell of worship: "After these things I heard, as it were, a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, 'Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her'" (Rev. 19:1-2).
This harlot is a composite of the one-world religion and one-world government which are representations of the final development of sin on the earth. She represents all that is bad about humankind, and is the embodiment of the evil of the world, the flesh, and the Devil. As such, the harlot is the violent enemy of God and all his true followers. She is "drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus" (17:6). Chapters seventeen and eighteen of Revelation describe her destruction by the hand of God, and so a cheer arises in heaven--and we'll be a part of it! This destruction will be seen to be "true and righteous." In fact, even those being judged will be unable to refute the righteousness of God's judgment upon them.
Do we take pleasure in the death of those who reject God? Never! But we extol the positive attributes of God which require the judgment of the wicked. So we participate in this rolling sweep of praise which, as we have seen in previous chapters, moves like a wave through all who dwell in heaven: "And a second time they said, 'Hallelujah! Her smoke rises up forever and ever.' And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, 'Amen. Hallelujah!'" (Rev. 19:3-4).
The inhabitants of God's dwelling place prepare for yet another swell of worship. The first was for God's righteous dealing with those who reject him, and the second is praise for God's fulfillment of his promise to save those who trust in him: "And a voice came from the throne, saying, 'Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.' And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude and as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, 'Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.' And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." (Rev. 19:5-8)
Let it be seen at the outset that the instruction to give praise is given only to the "bond-servants" of God, "you who fear Him, the small and the great." The term "bond-servant" means "one who gives himself up to another's will," specifically, "those whose service is used by Christ in extending and advancing His cause among men." Strong's Greek Lexicon goes on to describe such people as "devoted to another to the disregard of one's own interests." I wonder how many modern people who call themselves Christians fulfill the definition of a servant of God. God does not seek the worship of people who come to him on their own terms and for their own private reasons, such as preserving the family, or feeling better about oneself. Only true servants, followers, and God-fearers are called to participate.
Besides, who else can honestly thank God for his reign? Certainly not those who personally reject his rule! Furthermore, what worship can be given for the saving work of the Lamb of God from those who are not part of the company of the redeemed? In fact, those who are among the redeemed in this vision are distinguished by white garments made of righteous acts done while in the flesh on earth. God saved them, they obeyed him, and they are arrayed forever in clothes designed to glorify God for his work in their lives. These distinctions, which are brilliantly clear in heaven, have fallen on hard times here on earth. Few Christians wish to be characterized as slaves, even of God. Righteous acts are in short supply, while deeds done to promote and comfort the self are rife.
All this is to say one stunning thing to us: maybe our modern troubles with worship, music styles, and forms of expression are not the problems with worship today. It is far more likely that these are just the symptoms of a failure to be humble servants, true God-fearers, and obedient followers who perform acts of righteousness for the glory of God. The silent worshiper can be silently concealing a hardened self-will. The joyful, shouting participant could easily be jumping for personal pleasure only. A recent song by Matt Redman entitled The Heart of Worship says:
I'm coming back to the heart of worship,
And it's all about you, it's all about you Jesus.
I sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it,
When it's all about you, it's all about you, Jesus.
Do you need to make that confession? The confession is the easy part. It is the repentance which is hard. Are we willing to so abandon the selfishness of our lives so that even the worst croaking voices singing the poorest songs played on the most out-of-tune instruments by the worst musicians become the sweetest worship in the ears of God? That does not happen by rearranging the service or finding new songs. It happens only by our becoming the kind of people whose worship is acceptable to God, who then can worship "in spirit and in truth."
How easy is it for even a true believer to shift from true worship to false? The very author of Revelation, John the Apostle required rebuke for such a failure, as is recorded in the next verses: "And he said to me, 'Write, "Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, 'These are true words of God.' And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, 'Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.'" (Rev. 19:9-10) You would think that no Apostle would be in danger of such a rebuke! After being with Jesus, and seeing his transfiguration on the mountain, and observing his resurrection body and ascent into heaven--how could he do this? I think John was going experiential for a moment--going by his emotions. The scenes of truth which he had seen were so intense, and the personage who was speaking with him was so glorious, he just succumbed to a felt need to fall down--in front of the wrong guy! If John was in such a danger, we are in much greater need of care in our hearts regarding worship. We must always be vigilant to ensure that our worship is not about us, but all about Jesus Christ.
For he is the one who purchased us by his blood, that we might be with him forever! He is our hope! That is the meaning of the "marriage of the Lamb." This is a heavenly event where the redeemed and raptured saints of all ages are bonded together forever to be with our Lord. And then comes the marriage supper. While little is said about the specifics, I imagine this to be the greatest celebration the universe has ever seen. How could it not be? "Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb!"
How can we be sure to receive this engraved invitation? Certainly it is not by attempting to perform the works of God in our own strength. We will always fall short on this account, because even our finest deeds are tinged with the pollution of our sinful hearts. No, those who are invited are those who have presented themselves to God for salvation in Christ alone, through faith alone, by grace alone, and to God alone be the glory! Then as we obey him, we move into the kind of righteous acts by which we shall be clothed for eternity. We become locked together with the holy ones of all centuries who were reckoned righteous because of their faith, and who participate the overpowering swells of worship which sweep in and out of the throne room of God. God invites you to become part of the greatest movement in the universe, his glorification, which, in his divine wisdom, he makes into our greatest satisfaction!