A Jubilant Celebration Awaits Us
A Jubilant Celebration Awaits Us
By Jonathan C. Brentner
The noise was almost deafening. Up to that point, the Iowa crowd had been rather quiet as it looked like the Indiana football team was about to score another touchdown and seal their victory. The mood in the stadium changed suddenly when the Indiana quarterback lost control of the ball and an Iowa player, Tyler Sash, grabbed the ball and ran it back eighty-six yards for a touchdown. By the time he reached the goal line, all seventy-thousand Iowa fans were standing and cheering ecstatically.
My recent study of Revelation 19:1-8 reminded me of the great excitement I experienced that day. These verses reveal a scene in heaven similar to the roar of the crowd at the Iowa football game a decade ago. The cheering at this future time, however, will be even noisier since it will come from a much greater multitude of those praising God.
Let’s set the state for this future celebration.
The Occasion
Revelation 18 provides the occasion for the thunderous praise in chapter 19; the multitudes in heaven will someday celebrate the destruction of the antichrist’s kingdom referred to as “Babylon.” Teachers put forward a wide variety of ideas as to what “Babylon” represents in chapter 18. For the purposes of this article, I will assume that in some way it depicts Satan’s earthly kingdom controlled at the time by his man, the antichrist.
I believe we see this kingdom, which people now call the New World Order, taking shape before our eyes. The intent of the globalists is no longer secretive; they intend to establish a world government. The current virus that impacts the entire world has become their latest vehicle in accomplishing this purpose.
As the world economies teeter on the brink of collapse, they stand ready to seize control and offer their solution of a Marxist one world government.
The Participants
Revelation 19:1-5 helps us identify the members of this “great multitude in heaven” who fill heaven with jubilant praise after the downfall of Babylon (v. 1).
The first group consists of the tribulation saints killed by those carrying out the orders of the antichrist during his reign of terror (19:2; compare 18:4). We see first see this group in Revelation 6:9-11 crying out to God to avenge their blood, which the Lord does at the end of the tribulation as He destroys Babylon.
Verse 4 identifies a second source of adoration for the Lord, the “twenty-four elders.” In a previous article, I explained why this group must represent the church in heaven during the tribulation. They cannot be angels because Scripture never pictures them as sitting on thrones or possessing crowns as do these elders (Rev. 4:4). These things depict New Testament saints after the judgment seat of Christ.
Yes, we will join the tribulation saints and angels in filling heaven with joyous hallelujahs after we witness the downfall of Satan’s kingdom on earth.
The Lord God Omnipotent Reigns
Revelation 19:6 tells us of another reason for the raucous praise resounding through the heavens like “the roar of many waters…and the sound of mighty peals of thunder.” It’s the announcement of Jesus’ reign over the nations made possible by the destruction of Babylon along with the antichrist and false prophet (19:20).
I like the King James Version translation of the end of verse 6 as reflected in the Hallelujah Chorus, “for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” Regardless of whether or not we will someday sing this great chorus, we will experience firsthand its jubilant anticipation. If not the Hallelujah Chorus, we will sing something even more majestic and thrilling.
What Does This Mean for Us Now?
Wherever you currently live at this moment, you likely still feel the impact of government regulations that began earlier this year and see the growing wickedness of Satan’s domain everywhere you look
If you are like me, you wonder when someone will hold the propagators all this evil accountable. It so often seems as though as though wickedness has the upper hand.
Revelation 6-18 assures us that a day of reckoning is coming for those who slaughter the innocent and openly defy God’s Word. The Lord will judge the injustice and violence around us and totally destroy Satan’s kingdom that will manifest itself during the tribulation as a world government led by the antichrist.
As we take part in this jubilant celebration described Revelation 19:1-8, perhaps we will remember what we saw of Satan’s kingdom before the rapture: the abortions, the killing of infants who survive abortions, the sex trafficking, the redefining of marriage, the killing of believers around the world, the false teaching in so many churches, and the many other evils that multiply by the day. The Lord’s destruction of Babylon will represent God’s final word on all these things.
I know from experience this life can be brutal at times and as John Eldredge describes it, “a veil of tears.” I look forward to the rapture as a time when I will receive an immortal body and experience the completion of the Lord’s inner healing of my heart and soul from the past wounds of my past.
Besides that, a joyous and jubilant celebration awaits us. We will see the end of Satan’s reign of terror in this world and experience incredible joy at the announcement that now our Savior reigns in righteousness over the nations of the world. He will crush the kingdoms of this world, just as Daniel predicted long ago (Dan. 2:34-35, 44).
So take heart! The Lord will turn the tears of this present life into shouts of joy and our deepest distress into celebration.
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