Revelation 19:4; Amen; Alleluia

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Revelation 19:4 (KJV)  And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. 

The second “Alleluia” its related to the finality and perpetuity of a divinely executed judgment. Two further exclamations of this word swell the volume of praise. God is the Judge of Babylon, as Christ is the Judge of the beast. At last, an angelic voice summons all the servants of God to join in antiphonal praise to God, and their united voices are lure the roar of a mighty waterfall. From God’s throne, the very centre and source of judicial action, the call goes forth to praise Him, “for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”

Revelation 19:5-6 (KJV)  And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 

[Herbert Lockyer, Revelation – Drama of the Ages, Whitaker House, 1980, 291]

This second “Alleluia” is not just a formal repetition of the first. It heightens the emphasis on the praise offered to the Lord. (Swete)

Job 33:14 (KJV)  For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. 

Psalm 62:11 (KJV)  God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God. 

The reason for the praise follows the “and” in the clause “And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.” (v3b), corresponding to the reasons introduced by “which” in verse 2. (Alford)

Revelation 19:2 (KJV)  For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. 

The reason consists of the fact that the city’s destruction is final, complete and irreversible. The terminology of permanence is somewhat the same as in God’s judgments of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:28) and Edom (Isaiah 34:10).

Genesis 19:28 (KJV)  And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. 

Isaiah 34:10 (KJV)  It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. 

Judgments of these other cities were previews of this judgment. This smoke is an allusion to the fire that will destroy Babylon (Revelation 17:16; 18:8, 9, 18; cf. 14:11).

Revelation 17:16 (KJV)  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 

Revelation 18:8 (KJV)  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. 

Revelation 18:9 (KJV)  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 

Revelation 18:18 (KJV)  And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! 

Revelation 14:11 (KJV)  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. 

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody Press, 1995, 369]