Saturday, 3 July 2021
Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!” Revelation 19:5
In the previous verse, the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, saying, “Alleluia.” With that in mind, this verse now says, “Then a voice came from the throne.” As the voice is from the throne itself, there is no need to assume it is any voice other than Jesus. It is He who sits in the position of power and authority, and it is He who has the right to say, “Praise our God.”
He is both fully God and fully Man. In this, He calls forth for the praise of God, beginning with “all you His servants.” They are words similar to those that open Psalms 134 and 135 –
“Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord;
Praise Him, O you servants of the Lord!” Psalm 135:1
He next says, “and those who fear Him, both small and great.” That is reflected in Psalm 115:13 –
“He will bless those who fear the Lord,
Both small and great.”
One can see how the book of Revelation relies so heavily on the Old Testament writings, again and again calling forth the notion that the Lord, Yehovah of the Old, is the Lord Jesus of the New. He is the fulfillment of all Messianic anticipations, and He is the incarnation of the Lord – fully revealed to His people to behold the great things God has done by His own mighty power.
Life application: This verse is an introduction to the fourth Alleluia pictured by the fourth cup of the Passover. Before arriving at it, think on what this fourth “Alleluia” cup will represent.
As far as what has been said in this verse, there is the note that God is to be praised, and we are to forever keep on praising Him. He is worthy of great honor and glory because He is the Creator, the Sustainer, our Savior, our Deliverer, our Redeemer, and our Hope. We are to give Him all the praise and honor we can, and we should never let it end!
All people, both small and great, who have called out to God through Christ have been freed from the bondage of sin and unrighteousness, and have moved to an imputed state of righteousness. In this, we have been granted eternal life. No wonder the voice from the throne asks us to praise God! We are being reminded of the most significant part of our existence – the conversion of our soul from condemnation to salvation.
Surely God is worthy of all praise for that! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord for the coming of JESUS!
Who is like You, O God? You are great and greatly to be praised. We mope over the things that cause us temporary grief. We get frustrated and wish that things were clearer in our daily walk. We show bitterness when things don’t go right. But You have already taken care of the greatest issues of all. You have directed us from death to life. What more could we ask for? Thank You, O Lord – thank You for Jesus. Hallelujah and Amen.