Revelation 19:1-4

Revelation 19

Verse 1-3 “And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: 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. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.”


Now that the whore has been destroyed, all of heaven praises God and rejoices. One of the greatest sources of great evil and corruption has been annihilated. God has passed judgment, a true and righteous judgment upon the whore. So many people think of God as love and cannot conceive that He could be so violent, but they forget he is also a righteous God. How unjust would it be to leave Babylon unpunished or with just a slap on the wrist for the horrors that she has perpetrated upon the world? She has gotten exactly what she deserves for what she has done. No more will she plague, torment, and torture God’s people. Nor will she lead people away from God. She is no more, nor will she ever rise again. Her destruction is permanent. The smoke of her destruction will go up for ever. Whether this is literary license in indicating the finality of her destruction, or whether God has the smoke rise from her forever to remind people of her evil and the consequences of evil, is not clear. Either way, she is gone.

Verse 4 “And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.”

Now the twenty-four elders who sit before the throne, and the cherubim who surround the throne fall down and worship God saying "amen". "Amen" is a word used to indicate an affirmation of what has come before and emphasizes the conclusion of whatever it is to which is being said “amen.” It has no real definition in terms of meanings. It would be the same as our saying “so be it” after something. The elders and angels are putting the period on the sentence that has passed upon Babylon and praising God for doing it.