After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” And from the throne came a voice saying, “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.” Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; -Revelation 19:1-7 ESV

Warrior;

The final Revelation of Jesus Christ; HALLELUJAH. This is the only place in the NEW TESTAMENT where we see this word, HALLELUJAH. In the first six verses of chapter 19, four resounding Hallelujahs (praise the Lord) are raised. Our Lord reserved this fourfold proclamation of praise for the climactic stage of His program for humanity. God told the prophet Jeremiah and He tells us through His Prophet and His Word; For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) John 14 reminds us of Jesus’ promise to us; “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.” (John 14:1-4) God is OMNISCIENT, that means perfect knowledge.  God is the cosmic KNOW IT ALL.  This is one of the gifts we just celebrated at Christmas, the gift of GOD’S PLAN FOR US.  Remember what Paul told the church at Ephesus; For by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10) God has a plan, and you are part of HIS PLAN! Hallelujah!

Leader, what God has planned, and the kingdom He is building, is pictured all around us, merely waiting for the lifting of the veil. And no picture is greater than the marriage of a bride and groom, the picture of our coming marriage to the Lamb. As we go into the NEW YEAR, let us remember that no matter what our PLANS are, God has some big HALLELUJAHs waiting for us! Here to start chapter 19, we have these interesting Greek words, after these things. We should ask, “after what things?” After God’s judgment upon the earth, after the judgment of the great Babylon commercial system, the system of the Antichrist. After these things, John heard a great voice of many people in heaven. As is the case with Revelation, we go back and forth. So, we have moved back to the heavenly scene. Now, when John wrote the book of Revelation, chapter 1, verse 19, he was commanded to write the things which he saw. He saw the things which are, and the things which will be after these things, metatauta. Chapter 1, John wrote down the vision- that which he saw. In Chapters 2 and 3, he wrote of the things of the ministry of the church while on earth. Chapter 4 also begins with the words metatauta, “after these things”. It was there after ‘the church’ things that John was taken into heaven. John beheld the heavenly scene in chapters 4 and 5. Then we came back to the earth. We saw the judgments of God, chapters 6 through 18, as God poured out His wrath, upon a Christ-rejecting, God-hating, world. Now the judgments are complete. So, “after these things”, we go back to heaven. And the first thing we experience is the great voice of many people in heaven saying hallelujah. Hallelujah is an exclamation of worship or a call to praise transliterated from two Hebrew words (hālal – yāh) meaning “Praise ye the Lord” or “Praise Yahweh.” The Greek form of the word is allēlouia. Hallelujah is found 24 times in the Old Testament, but only in the book of Psalms. It appears in 15 different Psalms, between 104-150, and in almost every case at the opening and/or closing of the Psalm. These passages are called the “Hallelujah Psalms.” This is the first, and the only time the word hallelujah is used in the New Testament- and it is used 4 times in the first 6 verses of this celebratory chapter. 

Conduit, there are 4 “Hallelujahs” in Revelation 19. The vast multitude of heaven cannot contain itself and all of heaven breaks forth in glorious praise for four reasons: Because all power and honor, and glory belong to God. (vs. 1) Because the great harlot has been overthrown. That which has afflicted the work of the kingdom, martyred the saints and persecuted the Church … the Almighty God has now reduced her to nothing, and judgment and justice have come. She will not rise again! (vs. 2-3) As the elders of heaven, from their exalted and now-made-perfect view cannot contain their praise as the end unfolds. (vs. 4) A final praise like a “mighty sound,” a “great multitude, like many rushing waters and mighty peals of thunder.”  Those in the new Kingdom praise “The Lord” (there is no other Sovereign); “Our God” (the One who has personally saved us); “The Almighty” (He who has perfect power to accomplish anything); “who reigns” (He has always reigned, but now it is fully seen and fully realized. No clouds obstruct the view of the One seated on the throne) No wonder they sing!  And they announce the reason for their hallelujah: “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.”(vs. 7) This is one of the GREAT GIFTS of Christmas! THE MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB HAS COME- HALLELUJAH! After thousands of years, there is No more waiting, no more longing, no more suffering, no more tears, no more restraint, no more SEPARATION from the One we love: THE BRIDE IS READY! There will be Rejoicing in Heaven, and on earth! This is the great gift of Christmas, an invitation to the Lambs Marriage Supper! As we go into the NEW YEAR let us be mindful of this outcome and cry out HALLELUJAH, and Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus.  Let 2025 be the year of the Great Rapture, your return for your Bride! Hallelujah!