Sunday, 4 July 2021
And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Revelation 19:6
John had just noted the “voice from the throne.” It called out saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!” In response to that comes a stunning reply. John says, “And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude.”
The meaning conveyed is like that at a pep rally. The great multitude in heaven was calling out in verse 1. They again called out in verse 3. Then the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures joined in as well in verse 4. After that, the Lord prompted the multitudes as was just cited above. With His words spoken, the great multitude breaks forth “as the sound of many waters.”
This is the same terminology used of the Lord’s voice in Revelation 1;15. Such a voice was again heard in Chapter 14 –
“And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.” Revelation 14:2
So great is this cry that it has the same effect, as if many waters were crashing and flowing in a beautiful harmony. Such a din of noise is recorded by Isaiah in a negative sense at the rebuke of God –
“Woe to the multitude of many people
Who make a noise like the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations
That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.” Isaiah 17:12, 13
Rather than a rebuke, however, this noise is one of elation, joy, and triumph. In addition to this, John says, “and as the sound of mighty thunderings.” This is now the fifth and final time that such thunderings are recorded in Revelation. They are a reflection of the power and glory of the Lord as He visits His people. Such thunderings were also recorded at Sinai at the giving of the law.
With this appeal for praise of God being responded to, it is as if everything in creation has come to a culminating expression of elation, “saying, ‘Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!’”
This is the fourth and final Alleluia recorded in Revelation. It is one that acknowledges the omnipotence of the Lord God, meaning Jesus. The Greek reads emphatically, “the Lord God, the Almighty.” He has destroyed Babylon the great. Now, purity of worship will cover the earth. And so, this tremendous shout rounds out the promises of God foreshadowed all the way back at the time of the exodus.
With this realized, the verses from Exodus 6 looked at in a previous verse can be reviewed again –
“Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” Exodus 6:6, 7
This fourth “Alleluia” is the consummation of the thought “I will be your God.” It corresponds to the fourth cup of the Passover, the Hallel (meaning “praise”), and accompanies the thought “I will take.” Thus, it is the cup of adoption or consummation. This was prefigured by the joining of God to His people at Mt. Sinai. As He told them then –
“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” Exodus 19:5, 6
This is only truly realized in the final destruction of Babylon the great when God’s people will live free from her oppression and reign as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Just as God dwelt among His people in a tabernacle of material, so He will forever dwell among His people in a tabernacle of flesh – in the Person of Jesus the Lord. The fourth cup prefigures the establishment of Christ’s eternal kingdom, and it is realized in the delivery of the people from the very presence of sin.
Hallelujah, for our Lord, our wonderful Lord Jesus, reigns!
Life application: Through Christ’s sacrifice, man has been freed from the penalty of sin. In the sanctification of His people, we are freed from the power of sin. Someday, the presence of sin will be removed from us forever. This is the hope of the redeemed. We will be returned to the state we were intended to be in from the beginning.
This marvelous place and state is only available because God intervened in the affairs of man by sending His Messiah to bring us back to Himself. Without Him, there would only be ever-increasing wickedness. But through the tender mercies of our God, He has sent our Lord to restore us to Himself. Let us thank God for this gift of love and grace. Let us thank God for JESUS.
O God, the beauty of Your word, and how it reveals what You are doing in human history, is beyond imagination. Stir up in us the desire to read it and peer into its mysteries all the days of our lives. Help us to understand the meaning of the symbolism given throughout it which reveals to us Your workings in and through Jesus our Lord. Amen.