John Gill Commentary Revelation 19

And after these things
After the angel had declared the fall of Babylon, a voice from heaven had called the people of God out of her, and had ordered them to take vengeance on her; after the mournful lamentation of the kings, merchants, and seafaring men; after another voice had called upon the saints to rejoice at her overthrow, and a mighty angel had described the manner of it, and has expressed her ruin in the strongest terms, with the reasons of it, John heard the songs of the righteous, as follow:

I heard a great voice of much people in heaven :
not literally taken, for these are not the innumerable company of angels, who are never called people; nor the spirits of just men made perfect, or the souls of departed saints, but men on earth; wherefore heaven designs the church, as in (Revelation 18:20) and frequently in this book; the people are the same with the 144000 seen with the Lamb on Mount Zion, (Revelation 14:1) and with those on the sea of glass, who had got the victory over the beast, (Revelation 15:2) and are no other than God's covenant people, who are given to Christ, and made willing to be his in the day of his power; and though they are but a seed, a remnant, a small company, when compared with the world and carnal professors;

yet are a large body of themselves, especially they will be at this time, when the nation of the Jews shall be born at once, and the fulness of the Gentiles will be brought in: and their voice on this occasion, the downfall of Rome, is said to be "great" partly on account of their number, who will join together in acclamations of praise, and partly on account of their great affection and vehemency of spirit, which will be raised hereby:

saying Alleluia ;
an Hebrew word, which signifies "praise you the Lord". The Jews say ^F14 , that the book of Psalms consists of ten sorts of songs, but Hallelujah is the greatest of them, because it comprehends the name (Jehovah) and praise in one word: and it is observable that this word, which is often used in the Psalms, is first used when the Psalmist desires the utter consumption and destruction of sinners and wicked men on earth, and is here taken up by the saints at the destruction of the man of sin and son of perdition; see (Psalms 104:35) and its being an Hebrew word shows that at this time the Jews will be converted, and that Jews and Gentiles will become one church state, and will worship and praise the Lord together; for the word is a call upon the saints to join together in solemn praise and thanksgiving; who is to be praised for the perfections of his nature, for the works of his hands, both of nature and grace; and for his righteous judgments on his and his church's enemies; and this is to be done in concert:

salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God :
salvation, temporal, spiritual, and eternal, is of God; "salvation" from antichristian power and tyranny, and from all enemies, and the everlasting salvation of the soul; and the "glory" of it belongs to all the three Persons; they are glorious in themselves, and deserve all glory to be ascribed to them by man, and especially by the saints:

"honour" is also their due; God the Father is to be honoured because he is the Father, and the Son is to he honoured as the Father is, and the Holy Spirit is not to be grieved, but to be highly esteemed and valued, and equally with the other two Persons: and "power" belongs to them all, and is seen in the works of creation, redemption, and sanctification.

FOOTNOTES:

• F14: Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 89. 1. T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 117. 1.

For true and righteous are his judgments
As in (See Gill on Revelation 15:3), (See Gill on Revelation 16:7): this is to be understood of God's judgments in general, and is a reason of the attribution of praise and glory to him; which may be said to be true, because, being threatened, are now fulfilled; and to be "righteous", because according to the demerit of sin; and particularly God's judgments on antichrist are intended:

for he has judged the great whore ;
Jezebel, Babylon, the Romish antichrist, before spoken of, (Revelation 17:1) not only by passing a sentence of condemnation on her, but by executing it, putting it into the hearts of the kings to hate and burn her, and utterly destroy her; and which is judging right, since it follows:

which did corrupt the earth with her fornication ;
drew the kings and inhabitants of the Roman empire into wicked and idolatrous practices, and so corrupted and destroyed them in soul, body, and estate; (See Gill on Revelation 11:18) for this vision is contemporary with the seventh trumpet:

and has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand ;
shed by her, (Revelation 18:20Revelation 18:24) (16:6) and this being done in righteous judgment, is matter of joy and praise to the saints.

And again they said, Alleluia
Or a "second time" they said it; they began and ended their solemn worship and service with it; so some psalms begin and end with this word, translated in the Old Testament by the words "Praise you the LORD", as in (Psalms 106:1Psalms 106:48) (Psalms 113:1Psalms 113:9) &c. and the repeating of the word shows how hearty, earnest, and constant they were in the work of praise on this account:

and her smoke rose up for ever and ever ;
they repeated their hallelujah, or gave one spiritual "huzza" more at the burning of Rome, and this followed: or the words may be rendered, "for her smoke rose" and so are a reason for the second "hallelujah": it looks as if Rome, like another Sodom and Gomorrah, would sink into a sulphurous burning lake, and continue so: respect is had to the everlasting punishment of antichrist and his followers in hell, and to the everlasting burnings that will follow Rome's temporal destruction, which was an example and symbol of the vengeance of eternal fire; see (Revelation 14:11) so the Jews ^F15 say of the burning of Rome, that its fire shall not be quenched for ever, and that "its smoke shall rise up for".

FOOTNOTES:

• F15: Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 48. 2.

And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts
Mentioned in (Revelation 4:4Revelation 4:6) and who represent the churches of Christ and ministers of the Gospel in the several periods of time, these join in the chorus, and praise the Lord on the account of the destruction of Rome, and ruin of antichrist; so they are often heard of in this book, when any remarkable thing is done, or when there is any breaking forth of the kingdom and glory of Christ; see (Revelation 5:8–10Revelation 5:14) (7:11) (Revelation 11:16Revelation 11:17) (14:3) (15:7) these

fell down ;
on their faces before God, as in (Revelation 4:10) (11:16) in great reverence of him, and of his righteous judgments:

and worshipped God that sat on the throne ;
described in (Revelation 4:2Revelation 4:3) this refers to the public worship of God in the churches, by the ministers and members of them:

saying, Amen; Alleluia ;
they said "Amen", and signified their assent to what the much people in heaven had said, (Revelation 19:1–3) and joined in the same "hallelujah", or expressions of praise to God, for this great appearance of his in the downfall of Babylon. Both these words are used together in (Psalms 106:48) , see (Revelation 5:14) .

And a voice came out of the throne Not from God the Father, that sat upon it, for the phrase,

praise our God , could not be said by him with propriety and pertinence; but rather from Christ, the Lamb, in the midst of the throne, who as Mediator could say of him to his people, my God and your God, and my Father and your Father, (John 20:17) though it seems best to understand it of the voice of one of the angels about the throne, since one of these is afterwards spoken of, whom John would have worshipped, but was forbid, (Revelation 19:9Revelation 19:10) and which may design either one of the ministering spirits, or a preacher of the Gospel, and a set of such, calling upon the saints to the discharge of their duty, or to return to it on this occasion:

saying, praise our God, all you his servants ; meaning not the ministers of the Gospel only, who serve in the Gospel of Christ, by preaching and defending it, and in the administration of Gospel ordinances to the comfort of the saints, but all the people of God; for though they are sons, and no more servants to sin and Satan, and the world, yet they are servants of God and of righteousness, and serve him willingly and cheerfully in a way of duty, and without slavish fear, and with a godly one, and from principles of love and gratitude, and without mercenary views and selfish ends; and these are called upon, as a part of their service, to say hallelujah, or to sing the praises of God for his judgments on antichrist; see (Psalms 134:1) (Psalms 135:1Psalms 135:2) .

and you that fear him, both small and great ; who fear the Lord, not with a servile, but filial fear, with the new covenant grace of fear, which springs from, and is increased by, the goodness and grace of God; whether greater or lesser believers, fathers, young men, or children; whether Jews or Gentiles, or of whatsoever nation, kindred, or people; see (Psalms 115:13) (Revelation 11:18) .