Revelation 19:1-10
Heaven Exults over Babylon
1 After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! 2 For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.” 3 Again they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!” 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!” 5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!”
6 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! 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.” 10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
After God’s razing of deceitful and blasphemous Babylon and the avenging angel who called out the chosen ones from her before the great fall, we get a glimpse into the exaltation of ll in heaven over the just judgment and destruction of that corrupting influence holding sway over the world no more. The innumerable gathering of those in heaven will cry praise to God for His salvation worked and kept through the Lamb and His Book of Life, giving honor and glory while acknowledging His sovereign power over all creation from the beginning to the end. We who are in Christ can join in the celebration of the avenging judgment agains our enemy with finality in His eternal sentencing of the deceiver and all who served him with the corrupting power of sin which once held us (Romans 6:17-18, Ephesians 2:1, 13, Colossians 1:21-22, Hebrews 2:15) but now has been defeated in Christ. We will join the celebration of the demise of Babylon’s corruption across the world from high on her hill of control and denial of the gospel of Jesus Christ as sole mediator and justifier of His children. All God’s servants can join in with the twenty four elders and the four living angelic ones before His throne in heaven to rejoice in the work of the Almighty to bring about this divine justice at last! We who serve and fear Him know that praise is the only response we can give because it is the right and righteous thing to do. We will be part of that number joining these before the throne with shouts of “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!” as we prepare for the marriage of the church (2 Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 5:25-27, 31-32, Revelation 19:7) with the bride who is the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ our divine Lord. Our righteous acts given for us (Romans 2:7, 3:24-25, Ephesians 2:10) to faithfully carry out will be our wedding garment as we make ourselves ready though purifying sanctification in this life in preparation. Yes, blessed is everyone called to this marriage supper of the Lamb of God who takes away our sin (John 1:29) forever! We who serve in worship (Romans 12:1-2) as we ought to, as is fitting and worthy (Ephesians 4:1) will continue our testimony to the world in His sight to that end until His return and final judgment on all creation. May we who know Him and read these words of hope find rejoicing in tribulation with patience (Romans 12:12) in this absolute hope as we set our minds and lives on things above (Colossians 3:1-2) where Christ is! This is our hope and validation of our faith in Him who delivers us (Romans 5:9-10, 11, 1 Thessalonians 1:10) from the wrath to come.
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