And after these things
After the angel had declared the fall of Babylon, a voice from
heaven had called the people of God out of her, and had ordered
them to take vengeance on her; after the mournful lamentation of
the kings, merchants, and seafaring men; after another voice had
called upon the saints to rejoice at her overthrow, and a mighty
angel had described the manner of it, and had expressed her ruin
in the strongest terms, with the reasons of it, John heard the
songs of the righteous, as follow:
I heard a great voice of much people in heaven:
not literally taken, for these are not the innumerable company of
angels, who are never called people; nor the spirits of just men
made perfect, or the souls of departed saints, but men on earth;
wherefore heaven designs the church, as in ( Revelation
18:20 ) and frequently in this book; the people are the same
with the 144000 seen with the Lamb on Mount Zion, ( Revelation
14:1 ) and with those on the sea of glass, who had got the
victory over the beast, ( Revelation
15:2 ) and are no other than God's covenant people, who are
given to Christ, and made willing to be his in the day of his
power; and though they are but a seed, a remnant, a small
company, when compared with the world and carnal professors; yet
are a large body of themselves, especially they will be at this
time, when the nation of the Jews shall be born at once, and the
fulness of the Gentiles will be brought in: and their voice on
this occasion, the downfall of Rome, is said to be "great" partly
on account of their number, who will join together in
acclamations of praise, and partly on account of their great
affection and vehemency of spirit, which will be raised hereby:
saying Alleluia;
an Hebrew word, which signifies "praise ye the Lord". The Jews
say F14, that the book of Psalms consists
of ten sorts of songs, but Hallelujah is the greatest of them,
because it comprehends the name (Jehovah) and praise in one word:
and it is observable that this word, which is often used in the
Psalms, is first used when the Psalmist desires the utter
consumption and destruction of sinners and wicked men on earth,
and is here taken up by the saints at the destruction of the man
of sin and son of perdition; see ( Psalms
104:35 ) and its being an Hebrew word shows that at this time
the Jews will be converted, and that Jews and Gentiles will
become one church state, and will worship and praise the Lord
together; for the word is a call upon the saints to join together
in solemn praise and thanksgiving; who is to be praised for the
perfections of his nature, for the works of his hands, both of
nature and grace; and for his righteous judgments on his and his
church's enemies; and this is to be done in concert:
salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord
our God:
salvation, temporal, spiritual, and eternal, is of God;
"salvation" from antichristian power and tyranny, and from all
enemies, and the everlasting salvation of the soul; and the
"glory" of it belongs to all the three Persons; they are glorious
in themselves, and deserve all glory to be ascribed to them by
man, and especially by the saints: "honour" is also their due;
God the Father is to be honoured because he is the Father, and
the Son is to he honoured as the Father is, and the Holy Spirit
is not to be grieved, but to be highly esteemed and valued, and
equally with the other two Persons: and "power" belongs to them
all, and is seen in the works of creation, redemption, and
sanctification.