WHEN GOODNESS WINS
Opening Prayer
Lord, You are always the victor.
Read REVELATION 19:1–10
Threefold Hallelujah Over Babylon’s Fall
19 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting:
“Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
2 for true and just are his judgments.
He has condemned the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.
He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
3 And again they shouted:
“Hallelujah!
The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”
4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried:
“Amen, Hallelujah!”
5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying:
“Praise our God,
all you his servants,
you who fear him,
both great and small!”
6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
8 Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”
(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
10 At this 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 with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
Thank You, Lord, that You have the wisdom to find the right judgment and the power to apply it.
Think Further
The world presents evil as fascinating and goodness as dull. The truth is the other way round. Evil demands conformity, while erasing character and individuality. Simone Weil wrote, “Nothing is so beautiful and wonderful, nothing is so continually fresh and surprising, so full of sweet and perpetual ecstasy as the good; no desert is so dreary, monotonous and boring as evil.” (Simone Weil, On Science, Necessity, and the Love of God, Oxford University Press, 1968) This chapter of Revelation allows us to say with heartfelt relief, “At last. Human history has reached the end of the line.”
As the smoke rises from fallen Babylon, the cry of triumph grows and echoes all around as the cry “Hallelujah” (“Praise the Lord”) is repeated. Here is the source of Handel’s hallelujah chorus in Messiah. All that is wrong with our world, including the world itself, is about to be put right. Four times we hear the word “Hallelujah” as salvation and judgment are intertwined. Salvation, glory, and power belong to God; his judgments are true and just. God has judged Babylon for its sins and has delivered his people from persecution. Salvation has triumphed over sin, overcoming it and destroying all evil. Judgment is the inescapable consequence of sin. The moral law can no more be broken with impunity than the law of gravity without consequences.
Christ knows our hearts and minds; he judges without partiality and prejudice. He is good enough to render a perfect verdict and wise enough to apply it strategically. The evil empire is gone. The shadow has lifted, and now we can look forward to the marriage supper of the Lamb and his Church. Jesus and meals so often go hand in hand in the Gospels, and that continues into eternity. The invitations are being prepared and sent out – the time to get ready is now. This is truly the best and only meaningful ticket in town! No wonder worship and praise flow spontaneously from all sides.
Apply
We are always given reasons to praise God. For what do you praise Him today? Count your blessings and respond.
Closing prayer
Lord, we eagerly await the marriage supper of the Lamb and make adequate preparations for our participation.
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