Hallelujah
Today’s passage: Revelation 19:1–10
Focus verse: “For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” (Revelation 19:7)
How many times do you think the word hallelujah appears in the Bible? Like me, you may have guessed many times, even hundreds. Yet hallelujah only shows up four times throughout all of Scripture. And they’re all in this one passage in Revelation.
The first and the second hallelujah comes from a great multitude in heaven. Surely this mighty mass includes angels, but we don’t know who else makes up this heavenly host.
Regardless of who they are, they give glory to God for his judgments, for condemning the great prostitute and avenging those she martyred.
The third hallelujah comes from the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures. They fall prostrate and worship God, just as they’ve done throughout the book of Revelation.
Their two-word praise is simple. “Amen,” as in “may it be so” or “so be it.” They follow this affirmation with a hearty “Hallelujah!”
The identity of the speakers of the fourth hallelujah isn’t clear. John writes they sound like a huge throng, a crashing torrent, and a deafening booming thunder.
They direct their praise at the Lord God Almighty. They celebrate him and give him glory.
We don’t need a specific reason to praise God, because he is worthy of our adoration at any time and for any reason. Yet they’re excited because the wedding of the Lamb has finally arrived and his bride—the church of Jesus—is ready.
She will dress in fine linen. It is bright and clean, which signifies the purity of a virgin. This means that when Jesus’s church marries him, we will collectively stand next to him as his pure, spotless bride.
Then the angel attending to John tells him to write that those invited to the Lamb’s wedding supper are blessed.
We don’t know who will be in attendance to witness our wedding and partake in the wedding supper, but we do know that God esteems them as blessed.
Questions:
- What does hallelujah mean?
- How can we best give Jesus our hallelujahs?
- As part of Jesus’s church, what do we think about being married to him?
- Do we accept that through Jesus we are pure?
- Do we embrace being his wholesome, spotless bride?
[Discover more about weddings and brides in Matthew 22:1–14, John 2:1–12, and 2 Corinthians 11:2. Read more about marriage in Luke 20:27–40 and Hebrews 13:4.]
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Read more in Revelation Bible Study: Discover Practical Insights from John’s Epic Vision.
Discover practical, understandable insights from the book of Revelation.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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