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.” – Revelation 19:1-5 (ESV)
David Chilton writes:
God’s people had prayed for [Babylon’s] destruction. Now that their prayers have been answered, the great multitude of the redeemed breaks out into antiphonal praise, in obedience to the angelic command in 18:20: “Rejoice over her, O Heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has judged your judgment against her!” We should note carefully what St. John is doing here. The Revelation is a prophecy, and therefore intended “for edification and exhortation and consolation” (1 Cor. 14:3): Its readers were commanded “to heed the things that are written in it” (Rev. 1:3). In revealing the heavenly Church’s imprecatory prayers against her enemies, St. John was instructing his brethren on earth to do the same; now, having revealed the certain destruction of the Harlot, he shows the Church of the first century what their duty must be when Jerusalem falls. They are not to mourn her passing, but to praise God for the execution of His vengeance upon her. God’s will is to be performed on earth as it is performed in heaven. In showing the pattern of heavenly worship, St. John reveals God’s will for earthly worship as well.
MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 22
Q. 22. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?
A. Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.