12/24/F – Hallelujah! The Lord Omnipotent Reigns!

NT: “After this I heard something like the loud voice of a vast multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God, because his judgments are true and righteous, because he has judged the notorious prostitute who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality; and he has avenged the blood of his servants that was on her hands. A second time they said, Hallelujah! Her smoke ascends forever and ever! Then the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who is seated on the throne, saying, Amen! Hallelujah! A voice came from the throne, saying, Praise our God, all his servants, and the ones who fear him, both small and great! Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters, and like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying, Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty, reigns! Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself. She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure. For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb!” He also said to me, “These words of God are true.” Then I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters who hold firmly to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, because the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”” (‭‭Revelation‬ ‭19:1-10‬ ‭CSB)

At the essence of the human systems of the world is lust and pride. The father of lust and pride is Satan himself. All that Satan has inspired and empowered is fueled by lust and pride. Lust and pride are not fruitful. Lust and pride do not create life. They can only feed off of life – like an evil parasite gorging on the life of its host – producing emptiness and death. Lust and pride, left to its own devices will eventually cannibalize all its resources and destroy itself – which is exactly what happened in John’s vision. With no more earthly resources to use and abuse, Satan and his beast destroyed the systems of the world themselves and devoured them.

At the final destruction of the lust-and-pride-fueled systems that waged war against the righteous purposes of God, all of heaven rejoiced. Heaven did not rejoice over the atrocities that occurred that brought about Babylon’s fall. Heaven rejoiced that justice was finally served and that God’s righteousness would now rule and reign over the earth. The blood of the servants of God was avenged. The Lord God, who rules in omnipotence in heaven would now rule and reign unhindered over the affairs of the earth.

At the sound of the last trumpet, Christ claimed His bride (the church) from the earth and carried her to His Father’s house to prepare for their wedding. As the earth was self-destructing, the church stood before the judgement seat of Christ and was made ready for her wedding day. The time had now come. The bride was fully clothed in the righteous acts of the saints and the evil systems of the world had been destroyed. The Bridegroom could now marry His bride and claim His inheritance.

John had waited in hope all his life for this day. He had witnessed the horrible crucifixion of His Lord. He had experienced incredible loss as all of his partners in the faith – the other eleven disciples were martyred. He had seen his brothers and sisters in the Lord undergo intense persecution. He himself had been tortured, survived, and then exiled on an island in the Mediterranean. As he saw all of his hopes fulfilled before his eyes, he was so overcome by joy and gratitude that he fell down and worshiped the messenger that had delivered the good news. However, it is not the messenger that should be worshiped, nor is it the message itself. True prophecy does not lift up the messenger. True prophecy involves a messenger and a message that exalts and glorifies Christ. Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns… and He shall reign forever and ever. Hallelujah!

Psalms: “Hallelujah! How good it is to sing to our God, for praise is pleasant and lovely. The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem; he gathers Israel’s exiled people. He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; he gives names to all of them. Our Lord is great, vast in power; his understanding is infinite. The Lord helps the oppressed but brings the wicked to the ground… He is not impressed by the strength of a horse; he does not value the power of a warrior. The Lord values those who fear him, those who put their hope in his faithful love.” (‭‭Psalms‬ ‭147:1-6, 10-11‬ ‭CSB)

Hallelujah means praise the Lord. It is halal to Yah. Halal is a Hebrew word that describes a loud, raucous, fanatical celebration. Yah is a short form of Yahweh (YHWH), the name of the Lord God. Hallelujah is not a quiet, subdued and respectful pronouncement of God’s goodness. It is a loud celebratory roar over God’s victorious exploits. If soccer fans (futbol fans to the rest of the world) can scream at the top of their lungs when a goal is scored, how much more should we the people of God, lift up a roar of praise to our Lord and Savior for all that He has accomplished and won?

The psalmist wrote that loud celebratory praise is pleasant and lovely. Not only that, it is completely appropriate. Our God is omnipotent… He is all powerful… beyond our understanding. In His omnipotence, He heals the broken-hearted, helps the oppressed, and brings the wicked to justice. In His omnipotence, He is not impressed with any strength or power that we may have… or any strength or power that His enemies may have, for that matter. The Lord values those who set aside their own strength and power to place their faith, trust, honor and hope fully on Him. One of the ways we express our trust, faith, honor and hope in the Lord is by shouting Hallelujah with abandon.

Prayer: Lord, You are omnipotent. You are all-powerful. You are also all-good and righteous. I am so thankful that it is You who will stand as the victorious King over all. What a glorious day that will be when Your righteousness is finally allowed to fully rule and reign. Until then, I place my trust, my faith, my honor, my respect and my hope fully on You. Rule and reign over all my life as my Lord and King and fill my life with Your righteousness. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.