Tagged: commentary on Revelation
Salvation, glory, and power – Revelation 19:1-5
The scripture
Rev. 19:1 – After this I heard something like the loud voice of a vast multitude in heaven, saying: Hallelujah! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God, 2 because His judgments are true and righteous, because He has judged the notorious prostitute who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality; and He has avenged the blood of His slaves that was on her hands. 3 A second time they said: Hallelujah! Her smoke ascends forever and ever! 4 Then the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who is seated on the throne, saying: Amen! Hallelujah! 5 A voice came from the throne, saying: Praise our God, all His slaves, who fear Him, both small and great! (HCSB)
Salvation, glory, and power
John hears a “vast multitude” in heaven praising God. Some commentators say these “heaven dwellers” make up a choir that sings of the Lord’s attributes and great works. This likely is the vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language we encounter in Rev. 7:9. They are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night (Rev. 7:15). They also may be the ones the beast from the sea speaks against as he blasphemes God’s name and His dwelling (Rev. 13:6). But the evil one and his minions cannot harm these saints or disrupt their joyous celebration.
“Hallelujah” is a transliteration of a Hebrew word exhorting people to praise the Lord (Heb. halelujah = praise Yah). It is rendered Allelouia in the Greek text and is found 22 times in Ps. 104-150 and four times in Rev. 19:1-6. It is a familiar term in Old Testament prayer language that is documented here in a Christian sense for the first time, according to Jurgen Roloff in Revelation: A Continental Commentary: “Its original meaning was that of a call to praise God, which the worshipping community answers with its praise. However, gradually it developed in Judaism into an independent formula of praise (e.g., Tob. 13:17; 3 Macc. 7:13). The original meaning still flickers through here: the singers summon themselves and others to praise God by means of the Hallelujah. In postbiblical Judaism the perception was represented that this acclamation was reserved for the end time” (pp. 210-11).
Some commentators note that while David spoke 103 sections of the Psalms, he only uttered Hallelujah when he saw the fall of the godless. This fits well with what we see in Revelation 19. Those who witness the fall of Babylon are summoned to join the praise of God, who has defeated His foes.
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Revelation 18: Download the free study
We are continuing to work through the Book of Revelation with a focus on four major views of the so-called Apocalypse of John. You may read the commentary to date by clicking on End Times in the drop-down menu to the right.
Whether you’re a preterist, who sees the events of Revelation as fulfilled in the first centuries of the Christian era; a historicist, who views the events of Revelation as unfolding throughout the course of history; a futurist, who sees most of Revelation as yet unfulfilled; or an idealist, who sees Revelation setting forth timeless truths concerning the battle between good and evil, there are important truths the Lord reveals to all of us in this book.
We would do well to approach Revelation with caution — and with great anticipation, knowing God will fulfill all His promises to us. We also should be comforted by the fact that Revelation is the only book in Scripture specifically promising a blessing to those who hear its prophecies and keep them.
With that in mind, and to make it easier to keep our notes together, we have captured the commentary into single Adobe files (pdfs) that you may download, print and share. Click on the links below to capture notes on chapter 18. If you missed the link to notes on any other chapters to date, links are provided as well.
Download the pdf: Revelation 18:1-8
Download the pdf: Revelation 18:9-20
Download the pdf: Revelation 17
Download the pdf: Revelation 16
Download the pdf: Revelation 15
Download the pdf: Revelation 14
Download the pdf: Revelation 13
Download the pdf: Revelation 12
Download the pdf: Revelation 11
Download the pdf: Revelation 10
Download the pdf: Revelation 8-9
Download the pdf: Revelation 6-7
Pay her back – Revelation 18:6-8
Previously: Come out of her, My people – Revelation 18:4-5
The scripture
Rev. 18:6 – Pay her back the way she also paid, and double it according to her works. In the cup in which she mixed, mix a double portion for her. 7 As much as she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, give her that much torment and grief, for she says in her heart, “I sit as a queen; I am not a widow, and I will never see grief.” 8 For this reason her plagues will come in one day – death and grief and famine. She will be burned up with fire, because the Lord God who judges her is mighty. (HCSB)
Pay her back
The voice from heaven calls, “Pay her back the way she also paid, and double it according to her works. In the cup in which she mixed, mix a double portion for her” (v. 6). To whom is the Lord speaking? Perhaps His angels, who execute judgment, or perhaps the earth’s wicked who unwittingly carry out God’s justice, thinking they are conquering a vanquished foe.
Twice there is a reference to double payback. We have seen this before in scripture. The Lord speaks through Isaiah that Judah will be comforted after she has received from the Lord’s hand “double for all her sins” (Isa. 40:2). This is a way of saying that Judah’s sentence is fully satisfied before God. In a similar manner, the Israelites are promised in Isa. 61:7, “Because your shame was double, and they cried out, ‘Disgrace is their portion,’ therefore, they will possess double in their land, and eternal joy will be theirs.”
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The waters and the woman – Revelation 17:15-18
Previously: The seven heads and 10 horns – Revelation 17:9-14
The scripture
Rev. 17:15 – He also said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages. 16 The 10 horns you saw, and the beast, will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, devour her flesh, and burn her up with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His plan by having one purpose and to give their kingdom to the beast until God’s words are accomplished. 18 And the woman you saw is the great city that has an empire over the kings of the earth.” (HCSB)
The waters you saw
The angel tells John in verse 15, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages.” This is in contrast to – perhaps even a parody of – Psalm 29, in which the voice of the Lord is “above the waters. The God of glory thunders – the Lord, above vast waters…. The Lord sat enthroned at the flood” (vv. 3, 10). Everything Satan does is a counterfeit, and we see this in full force throughout Revelation. The notorious prostitute who sits on many waters no doubt has a global impact. Her voice reaches around the world and draws many followers. Just as we see men and women “from every tribe and language and people and nation” in heaven (Rev. 5:9b), there are “peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages” responding to the siren song of Babylon the Great.
The imagery in this scene draws from Old Testament passages that compare nations and armies with floodwaters. In Isa. 8:7, for example, we are told that “the Lord will certainly bring against them [Jews of the southern kingdom] the mighty rushing waters of the Euphrates River – the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will overflow its channels and spill over all its banks.”
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The woman and the beast explained – Revelation 17:7-8
Previously: Judgment of the notorious prostitute – Revelation 17:1-6
The scripture
Rev. 17:7 – Then the angel said to me, “Why are you astonished? I will tell you the secret meaning of the woman and of the beast, with the seven heads and the 10 horns, that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up from the abyss and go to destruction. Those who live on the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast that was, and is not, and will be present again. (HCSB)
The meaning of the woman and the beast
The angel sees John’s bewilderment and remarks, “Why are you astonished? I will tell you the secret meaning of the woman and of the beast, with the seven heads and the 10 horns, that carries her” (v. 7). The term “secret meaning” is musterion in Greek and refers to what may be known only by divine revelation. John’s questions – and ours – are about to be answered.
The angel begins with the beast (v. 8): “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up from the abyss and go to destruction. Those who live on the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast that was, and is not, and will be present again.”
This description harks back to that of the beast from the sea in Rev. 13. He has 10 horns and seven heads upon which are written blasphemous names. These creatures from Revelation 13 and Revelation 17 are one in the same, and their description makes it clear they are affiliated with the dragon, who also is depicted with seven heads and 10 horns (Rev. 12:3).
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