THE FOUR
HALLELUJAHS
It
is a word that has barely had a place in my vocabulary, for I am more likely
to say Praise God! in English than to say Hallelujah! in Hebrew. Yet in its
transliterated form it takes its place as one of the most beautiful words in
the English language. And certainly one of the most beautiful in the Bible,
but, surprisingly enough, it occurs only four times, all in Rev. 19. It is
those four hallelujahs that I am writing about.
But
first a word about what this term conjures up in my mind. I've never been
able to spell it and always have to look it up. Not only because the l's
are hard to keep straight, but also because it is spelled at least three
different ways: hallelujah, halleluiah, alleluia. It is actually an
interjection and should appear as Hallelujah!
The Hebrew original verb is imperative, Praise!,
joined to the name of God, Jah or
Yahweh, and so it means Praise
Yahweh! or Praise the Lord! So, something like NL Club means Hallelujah Club.
And
I always seem to associate the word with Handel's Messiah
and its great Hallelujah chorus. And when the word comes to mind the
majestic cadence of that great chorus with its repetitious Hallelujahs! race through my mind, which are surely among the
greatest lines in the history of music.
It
is the voice of a great multitude that issues the four hallelujahs. This
great host is earlier described as "a great multitude which no one
could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues" (Rev. 7:9),
and they stand before the throne of God with white robes and Palm branches
in their hands. They are joined by all the angels, the elders, and the four
living creatures, who supposedly represent all humankind, and together they
praise God: "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and
honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen!" They
are identified as those who come out of the great tribulation. They are
before the throne and continually serve God. The Lamb is named as their
shepherd and God wipes all tears from their eyes.
In
Rev.14 their number is given as 144,000, which may be another way of naming
a great multitude. Now their praises sound like "harpists playing their
harps," and they sing a new song, one known only to them. It is in this
context that an angel cries out' "Blessed are the dead who die in the
Lord from now on," and John is told to write that down, as a promise to
us who read and believe.
In
Rev. 19 the multitude is heard again, and this time they worship God in the
four hallelujahs. The first one in verse 1 is: "Hallelujah! Salvation
and glory and honor and power to the Lord our God!" These attributes of
God reflect what we often find in the Psalms (such as "His glory is
above the heavens" in Ps. 113:4), and they show why God should be
worshipped. The attributes that this hallelujah assigns to God are the ones
assumed by man, who supposes he can save himself and that he is powerful and
has glory and honor.
The
second hallelujah comes in verse 3: "Hallelujah! And her smoke rises up
forever and ever!" The reference is to the great harlot, Babylon, which
symbolizes pagan Rome and all her arrogance against God, the system of evil
that persecuted the saints and made merchandise of all that is good and
holy. Already the believers had been told to "Come out of her, my
people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her
plagues" (18:4), and already her doom had been pronounced,
"Babylon the great is fallen" (18:2). This hallelujah recognizes
that her fall is final, and that we are to praise God for his victory over
evil. It reassures us that all evil is doomed to destruction, sooner or
later, and that we are on the winning side. It is cause to praise God.
Verse
4 has the third hallelujah: "And the twenty-four elders and the four
living creatures fell down and worshipped God, saying, 'Amen!
Hallelujah!"' The word Amen is
itself a prayer, for it says something like Let it
be so! or Thy will be done! If
in the Old Testament church there was the refrain "And all the people
shall say Amen" when God's curses were pronounced (DL 27), and if in
the New Testament church there was the Amen at the giving of thanks (1 Cor.
14:15) we would do well in our assemblies to have a chorus of Amens. Those in heaven were making an affirmation in their cry of
Hallelujah! Amen!, as if to say as they bowed before the God of heaven, We
believe! It is noteworthy that in the same book (3:14) Jesus Christ
himself is called the Amen, as if
to say he is the essence of the faith, or he is God's affirmation of
himself.
The
fourth hallelujah is given a unique setting in that the great heavenly
multitude now sounds like "the sound of many waters and the sound of
mighty thunderings" (verse 6). Out of this crescendo of heavenly
praise, which must have been breathtaking to the apostle John, comes
"Hallelujah! For the Lord God Almighty reigns!" It is as if
nothing else matters. If the God of heaven, who is "the Omnipotent
One," reigns over the universe and rules in the affairs of men, then we
need not fear. That exclamation of praise goes far in telling us what the
kingdom of God is - God reigns! It
is something to shout like thunder about.
It
is instructive that this fourth hallelujah that points to God reigning in
the universe is followed by "Let us be glad and rejoice and give him
glory." That is what praising God is all about, giving him glory, which
means that we recognize that he is the glorious God of heaven. When we are
glad and rejoice it is because we believe the great truths about God as are
implied in the four hallelujahs, and so we praise him.
These
four hallelujahs teach us how to praise God. We can join the angelic host
and heavenly multitude of great souls made perfect and worship God in the
same way they do. What a thought it is if the angels in heaven could here an
outburst of praise on earth that sounded like mighty thundering. emanating
from believers all around the world who cry Out, Hallelujah!
Amen! God Reigns! Babylon is fallen! To him belong salvation, power. honor,
and glory!
Who
knows but what the praise of any one of us is heard in heaven like the sound
of many waters. And how glorious to realize that while upon our knees
lifting up holy hands we join the great assembly of God in heaven as it
praises him who sits upon the throne - our loved ones, our little ones, our
dear sisters and brothers in the Lord, the great saints of all the ages, a
great multitude that no one can number.
Can't
you hear them praising God, and does it not sound something like many waters
flowing and great thunderings cascading across the heavens? And can we not
join them as they praise the Almighty?