Finale Revelation and Imagination Daily Devotional- 43

REVELATION 19:1-4 | ¹After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power to our God, ² for his judgments are true and just; he has judged the great whore who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”  ³ Once more they said, “Hallelujah! The smoke goes up from her forever and ever.”  ⁴ And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!”

DEUTERONOMY 32:43 | ⁴³Praise, O heavens, his people, worship him, all you gods! For he will avenge the blood of his children, and take vengeance on his adversaries; he will repay those who hate him, and cleanse the land for his people.

Most of the time we praise God it is for His unique attributes or His deeds of love and mercy. We celebrate His glory and His goodness, His power and His grace, His divine knowledge and precious revelation.

Revelation 19 and 20 celebrate His judgement and His justice, displayed in human history in the eventual defeat of Rome, here identified as “the great whore,” and the destruction of the cosmic forces of evil that plague the human story.

Haleel is Hebrew for “praise Yahweh” and is sometimes rendered “praise the Lord” in the Psalms. Only in Revelation is it translated as “hallelujah.” The juxtaposition of hallelujahs and definitive judgements can feel difficult for Christian readers.

It is right to celebrate the defeat of evil actors and turn it into prayer and praise? 

Read the Deuteronomy verse. In it Moses sings joyously about God’s defeat and destruction of Egyptian armies bent on re-enslaving the Israelites. Was it right to celebrate the Red Sea moment?

Tags: prayer, evil, defeat