Revelation 19 begins with “After this,” speaking of the judgments of the prior chapters, which are now followed by the adoring worship of heaven. John heard “what seemed to be a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, ‘Hallelujah!” (v. 1). In verse 1, the heavenly throng rejoices in the glory that God has won by saving His people: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.”

When we speak of salvation glorifying God, we mean that His saving achievement shines light on His wonderful attributes. A similar worship scene in Revelation 7:12 noted seven attributes of God for praise: “Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power ad might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Here in chapter 19, the heavenly host celebrates three of God’s attributes that are marvelously displayed: His salvation, glory, and power.

In rejoicing that “salvation…belong[s] to our God,” the heavenly singers note God’s sovereignty over salvation. Salvation belongs to God in that He alone accomplished it. We do not save ourselves either by good works or by our efforts to defeat evil, since we are ourselves sinners who need to be saved.

Since the expression “Salvation…belong[s] to our God” emphasizes God’s sovereignty in our salvation, it reminds us of the aim of God’s will for believers. Christians sometimes wonder what God’s will for them is, especially when they are going through hard times. “To what purpose is God working in my life,” they ask, “and how do I make sense of these trials?” The answer is that God has sovereignly willed and is presently working out our salvation to the praise of His glory. He has arranged marvelous ways in which each of our lives displays His sovereign grace, so that forever in heaven the angels will marvel at how we each bear our own unique testimony that “salvation belongs to God!”

God’s salvation also magnifies His power. Doubters ask, “We see that God wills salvation, but is he able to do it?” The destruction of the satanic world system in the coming of Christ, which our passage celebrates in praise, will put an end to such questions. The Bible shows throughout that God has power to save His people.  Paul states that the greatest example is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, when God overcame the power of sin and death. He thus prayed that believers would know “the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead” (Eph. 1:19-20). We may add to this the praise of the angels in Revelation 19, magnifying God for the display of His power in overthrowing the Babylonian harlot that is our world. Anticipating this end, we should rely on God’s power now without doubting.

The end of history will see God glorified not only in saving His people but also in judging the wicked. The angels thus praise God’s holy justice: “for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute (v. 2). God is glorified in His wrath for sin, since “his judgments are true and just.” God is not capricious or unfair in judging, but exercises perfect justice in accord with His law. Even those who reject God’s Word tend to agree in the punishment of murderers, thieves, and cheats. God enforces the entirety of His law, upholding it perfectly in His judgment of sin.

Two primary causes are cited in the judgment of the Babylonian world system. First, Babylon “corrupted the earth with her immorality” (v. 2). The world tempts people by making actions seem attractive and pleasing, when they are in fact immoral and ultimately destructive. This is heinously offensive to God, who made mankind to live in holiness and blessing.

Second, Babylon is judged because her hands are red with “the blood of [God’s] servants” (v. 2). In many places in the world today, the most dangerous thing one can do is speak the Word of God or worship openly in Jesus’ name. Christians are killed and imprisoned for telling others the good news of salvation. Milder forms of persecution have now arrived in the West. Businesses are closed because their Christian owners refused to violate their consciences by glorifying the sin of homosexuality. Others are threatened by the government for refusing to fund the slaughter of infants in the womb.

Worldly Babylon lashes out against faithful witnesses to the grace and truth of Christ, but God has promised to avenge their sorrow and blood. In the end, the world’s persecution of believers, together with its crucifixion of Jesus, will be a chief cause of God’s wrath. For judging those who shed His servants’ blood, God’s faithfulness will be praised (V. 3).

Verse 4 shows the response of the worship leaders of heaven to God’s eternal judgment of the wicked. The twenty-four elders are angelic counterparts to the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles of the church, who thus represent the entirety of the redeemed people of God in history. The “four living creatures” are the cherubim who are closest to God’s throne and represent the submission of all creation (see Rev. 4:4-6).

These opening verses of Revelation 19 conclude with a summons to praise God (v. 5). Having believed in God’s Word concerning His glory in salvation and judgment, we not only should ensure that we are saved through faith, but should then live in such a way that expresses thanksgiving and praise to Him. Three statements are made here about those who worship God. First, God is worshiped by His servants. This title doesn’t describe a certain class of Christians, such as those who hold vocational positions in ministry, but rather describes all believers. To be a Christian is to be a servant of God.

Second, worshipers are those who “fear him” (v. 5). True servants of God worship Him with reverence and are careful to obey God’s Word. The believer’s fear of God is not a servile terror, but the respectful attitude of a son for a father whose rule is accepted and whose punishment is dreaded. The wise Christian knows that “the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Heb. 12:6). Therefore, he is careful how he lives, and while he delights in the Lord’s kindness and love, he worships “with reverence and awe,” knowing that “our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28-29).

Third, the God-fearing servants who are summoned to worship God include people of all kinds; both “small and great” (v. 5). This includes the new believer and the spiritually mature. It summons people from every race, nationality, and economic class. What matters is no longer how the world classifies and divides us, but how believers are united as one people in the saving grace of Jesus Christ. No matter who you are in the world or in the church, your calling in life is to give praise to God through your worship, service, and reverent obedience, all of which display the glory of God’s grace in you. Just as our voices unite in the congregational singing of the worship service, each of our lives and our testimony of God’s grace is needed to form the true hallelujah chorus that will praise the Lord in unending ages to come.

Revelation 19:1-5 Study Questions:

How does this passage emphasize the intensity of the celebration that takes place?

Why is there so much celebration in heaven?

Where are we in this picture of joyful celebration and union?