Revelation 19:1-7
(Rev 19:1 KJV)
And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:

Now begins another vision of John. This verse begins with the many voices in heaven giving glory to God and praising Him because now the final judgment of the great whore has been consummated and vengeance has been meted out because of the cry of all the martyrs. This rejoicing in heaven can be called a real Hallelujah Chorus. Hallelujah means “Praise the Lord.” These voices in heaven are praising the Lord for His redemption and the manner in which He kept all the Saints throughout all the ages. The final act of salvation was ridding the universe of the kingdom of Satan because no more for eternity will the believer ever have to concern themselves with being persecuted as that time has come to an eternal end.

(Rev 19:2 KJV)
For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.

The judgments which the Lord pronounced on the great whore was commensurate with the corruptions in which she corrupted the whole earth. When God first created the earth, it was a pristine environment without any sin but after wickedness entered the scene the world became the battlefield between the body of Christ and the kingdom of Satan. The kingdom of Satan had battled the body of believers from the beginning but now she has received the judgments which were so rightly deserved because of her corruptions in which she fornicated with the population of the earth and those fornications contained the blood of many martyrs of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now she has received the blood of the vengeful judgment of God.

(Rev 19:3 KJV)
And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.

Then once again the praises sing out in heaven as they praise the Lord because the smoke of the judgment on Babylon will now go up forever. This verse is another nail in the teaching that all things will be annihilated after the judgment. If all things are annihilated, then what is burning forever and ever? That smoke represents the eternal torment of those who were part of the kingdom of Satan and who were in accord with the beast who deceived the entire world. This is a warning to Bible teachers that you better know what you are teaching because if you are teaching false doctrine, then you will be aligning yourself with the beast and then if you remain unsaved, your smoke will rise forever and ever also.

(Rev 19:4 KJV)
And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.

Once again we are brought into the throne room where the twenty four elders and the four living creatures prostrate themselves and worship God the Father who sits upon His magnificent throne. Once again the joyous cry of “alleluia” is heard which means “Praise the Lord.”

(Rev 19:5 KJV)
And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.

The voice from the throne is not identified as it could be one of the elders or one of the living creatures. The word “praise” is in the Imperative Mood which means that this is a command coming from the throne. This command to praise the Lord is given to everyone in heaven, both great and small. The “great and small” represents every believer from every social status on earth. No one in heaven is left out because of the positions they held on earth, whether high or low. God views all His children as equal because no matter what their status was, it took the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ to save every believer. No one became saved outside of the cross.

(Rev 19:6 KJV)
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

Then we have the fourth hallelujah from the throne and it is the voice as of many waters. Isaiah 17:12-13 speaks of the entire world as the voice of many waters. The scene is in Heaven which means that all of Heaven is rejoicing in praise and that eruption of praise is so mighty it sounds like the voice of many thunders. We have all heard how the sound of thunder fills the heavens during a thunderstorm but that is only a small type of the thunderous praise heard in heaven. This portion of the vision ends just as it started with massive praise to the Lord God.

(Rev 19:7 KJV)
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

Now a different part of the vision is in view, one which focuses on the body of Christ. Here the believers are giving honor to the Lord Jesus Christ because now the consummation of the ages has occurred and the body of believers is now with the bridegroom. The body of Christ is now all gathered together as they are no more separated with some in Heaven and some on earth. All are gathered together in heaven at the marriage of the Lamb. The wife has been made ready by means of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary. In ancient times a marriage consisted of two phases. One was the betrothal and the other the actual wedding. In the period between the betrothal and the wedding, there is a time of separation and that is a time when both parties must be faithful. We saw this when Joseph wanted to privily put Mary away when she was with child. Of course, we know that Mary was faithful and was eventually married to Joseph. It is the same with the body of Christ. The true believers, while on earth, were faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ as we have seen through the ages that they would rather give their life than deny the Lord. Of course, it goes without saying that the Lord Jesus was also faithful in going to the cross to die for His people (Matthew 1:21).
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