Sermon Notes

April 27, 2025

Hallelujah: More Than Just a Word

Revelation 19:1-8

Words can be confusing, very confusing. If you have not been exposed to a certain term or a specific jargon, the first time you hear it, you will likely find yourself lost in the conversation. To help you understand the frustration that comes with this problem, take the following example of the description of the game “Cricket”. In Cricket - “You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out, he comes in, and the next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out. When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out, he goes in, and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time, and they decide when the men who are in are out. When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game.” Frustrating, huh? This frustration is caused by what is called a jargon barrier. It is a very real thing that can keep people from understanding or even engaging with specific groups because they just don’t understand. This could happen at a doctor's appointment where you didn’t quite understand everything being said, or maybe you are trying to understand cricket for the first time, jargon barriers are a very real thing. This can even happen at church as well because there are a lot of words that we use over and over, and unless you have been in church for a while. You might find yourself frustrated trying to understand what is being communicated. So this morning, I want to start a new series called “Churchy Words”, in which we will be looking at some of these words to better understand what God is speaking to us through His Word when it shows us truths. However, I know that there are some here that have been in church for a long while, and we are very familiar with the words that we will be talking about, but there is something else that can happen when we become too familiar with a word. We can experience something called semantic noise or even semantic saturation. Both are caused by the overuse of a word, and the word loses its power or true meaning to us. If that is you, I want this sermon series to bring the Word of God alive again for you in a very real way and help you as you continue to grow in your faith in Jesus.

This morning I want to start with a word that we speak about often in church, but we sing it even more often, and that’s the word “Hallelujah”. The word “Hallelujah” is a transliteration of two Hebrew words that we would translate into English as “Praise the Lord”. When we leave our understanding of hallelujah to a simple translation, we will not understand the power of that word when it is used in Scripture. Just like if I said Wärtsilä RT-flex96C, you would more than likely have no clue the power this word conveys because a Wärtsilä RT-flex96C is the world's most powerful engine, measured at 109,000 horsepower. The word “Hallelujah” is like that motor. It’s much more powerful than a simple word or translation could ever contain.

It is a Commanding Word.

Because hallelujah is a Hebrew word, we have to look in the Old Testament to have a better understanding of what it means. When we do, we see that when it is used, it is used in the imperative form. This means it is written as a command. However, the subject that is being commanded is not just the writer or the reader, but this command to praise the Lord is a command for everyone. The Psalmist uses this word in Psalms 150:6 when he explains it perfectly as he says, “Let everything that has breath, Praise the Lord” or “Let everything that has breath, Hallelujah!”. This doesn’t mean for all of us to just sing about God, but it’s a command for total worship of God for all of us. That means to let everything you think, everything that motivates you, and everything that you do highlight who God is. We are the subject of this command, but God is the object when we see and shout “Hallelujah”.

It is a Sacred Word.

The word Hallelujah is made up of two Hebrew words that were at one time connected with a hyphen, but over time they were combined into a single word. The first Hebrew word was “hallelu”, which means “to praise” or “to give honor and thanksgiving”. But the sacredness of the word “Hallelujah” comes from the second word “Ya”. In the Bible, we see God’s covenant name with Israel represented by the unpronounceable tetragrammaton YHWH. This was a name that was so sacred that the Jewish people would not even try to pronounce it for fear of using the Lord's name in vain, so instead they would use other words as a substitute, like “Adoni”. Because they would usually use a substitute when speaking of God, the word “Ya” in “Hallelujah” was the closest they would get to pronouncing God’s covenant name with Israel. Therefore, they held the word “Hallelujah” in high regard because they were afraid that if they used it flippantly that they would be guilty of using the Lord’s name in vain.

It is a Boastful Word.

In the Old Testament, when one would invoke the word. “Hallelujah”, it was because they had reflected upon what God had revealed about Himself or His ways or about what He had done for the nation of Israel. This word is a culmination of the command the Children of Israel received in Deuteronomy 8 to remember. It was a call to boast not in their abilities, their strengths, or their accomplishments, but it was a call to boast in the one who gave them the ability to experience all of those things. It was a word that would have been used during the Passover Festival as the people would remember and boast about how God had led them out of Egypt. It would have been shouted at the Festival of Weeks as the Children of Israel would thank God for how He had provided through the harvest. It would have been expressed during the Festival of Tabernacles when the Children of Israel would remember how God traveled with them out of Egypt and into the promised land.

Hallelujah was a very powerful and sacred word used to invoke the Israelites into worship as they remembered who God was and what He had done for them. While this would have been a word that the Israelites were very used to, we only see it used 24 times in the Old Testament and never outside of the Psalms. This helps us to see that this word is only to be used on very special occasions because of what it is communicating. We are under the New Covenant, signed and sealed with the Blood of Jesus. Because we are, we would expect to see this word used multiple times in the New Testament. As we read all four Gospel accounts, we do not see any hallelujahs. As we read the epistles, we never see it either. We don’t see it anywhere in the New Testament until we get to the Book of Revelation, and it’s only mentioned during one specific event. So this morning, since we know more about the word, I want to see how it is used for those who are under the New Covenant, and if we can remember what God has done and raise a Hallelujah this morning.

Hallelujah, God has Overcome. - Revelation 19:1-3

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, 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.” And again they shouted: Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”

Only 4 times in the New Testament do we see the word “Hallelujah” used, and each time is here in the 19th chapter of Revelation. I want to briefly look at this portion of Revelation as the threefold Hallelujah and those three things that caused the Hallelujahs. Here in Revelation 19:1-3, we see 2 of those 4 usages of the word, and it brings our attention to an event that just happened in the timeline that is being played out in Revelation — Babylon the great had fallen. Babylon was the epicenter and a representation of everything evil that would be going on in the world at the time of the Revelation. Every evil deed, every evil person, every evil entity, and every evil spirit was represented by the city of Babylon. It was a city that Satan was using to deceive the entire world until God brought perfect judgment upon it. Scripture tells us that God is slow to anger, but anger is not absent from Him, and this was the moment when His patience wore out. It was also this moment that the prayers of the Martyrs in Revelation 6 were answered. Their blood had been avenged. The Scripture “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord” came to pass in its entirety. Justice is finally done. The wickedness of Babylon will never be mentioned again, nor will it ever return (that is what is meant by the smoke goes up forever and ever). This entity that seemed so powerful and unconquerable was now defeated once and for all by the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. The entire previous chapter tells us of the mourning of the world over this entity, but that’s not the tone in Heaven. It’s here in Heaven that a vast multitude are crying out with the first Hallelujah, and the reason rings out loud and clear. God is being worshiped because of His perfect justice that was shown in His actions in the previous chapter. Everyone will experience one of two attributes of God in the future. You will experience His grace, or you will experience His judgment. Both are worthy of the highest praise — Hallelujah!

Hallelujah, God is on the Throne. - Revelation 19:4-5

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!” Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small!”

The next hallelujah that we see proclaimed in Heaven was that of the 24 elders and the 4 living creatures who responded to the command of the first two Hallelujahs with worship of the God who has overcome the wicked Babylon and with the cry of “Amen and Hallelujah!” Both of these words they shout are interesting because they are the same in every language. We have already seen the meaning of the word Hallelujah, but we also need to understand what Amen means because it’s a very important word as well. It means that they have experienced this truth for themselves and are signing their names to testify to its truth. Those who are around the throne in the verse are doing just that. You have the 24 elders who lived the goodness of God here on earth under both the Old and the New Covenant, just as we read throughout the Bible. Then you have the living creatures who have been around the throne seemingly since before earthly creation. These creatures have witnessed history from the best seats in the universe. Both are proclaiming “Amen!” to the fact that God is a perfectly righteous judge. Did you notice how they describe God as He is being worshiped here? They describe Him as the one seated on the throne. It’s God’s place. He never moves. He never slips off. He will never be conquered and removed from it. God is perpetually and has been perpetually on His throne forever, and this throne signifies to us the authority, power, and glory of God that was celebrated in verse 1. This is a call for Hallelujah because it doesn’t matter where we are in life or what you are experiencing, God is still on His throne and will remain no matter what tomorrow brings. Hallelujah! God is still on His throne!

Hallelujah, For the Cross. - Revelation 19:6-8

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. 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. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)

On April 13, 1742, Handel first performed His most famous work, The Messiah. This musical masterpiece contained a piece that is the most performed piece of choral music in history, and that was his Hallelujah Chorus. While we might hear it mostly at Christmas, that’s not why it was written. It was written to proclaim the victory of Jesus on the cross, and it was inspired by verse 6 when it says, “Hallelujah for Our Lord God Almighty reigns.” I want you to notice the word “Our” in that phrase. Now we know that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Isaiah 45:23). That’s not what is happening here. Yes, Jesus is Lord, but He can only be claimed as “Our” Lord when we make Him the Lord of our lives and experience His grace that saves us by the blood of Jesus. It’s the blood-bought church triumphant that is crying out here. Their voices raised sound like something that John could only equate to a roar of rushing water or maybe that of thunder, but no matter what it sounded like, it was the cry of those who are redeemed because they belong to Jesus. We are also told that the music we hear ringing out from Heaven since the very first Hallelujah is music for a wedding — the wedding of Jesus to His bride, the church. In Jesus’ time, a wedding had three parts. First, there was a time when the marriage contract was signed and the price was paid for the bride. The second was when the groom would come and take His bride. The third was the celebration feast of the marriage. Jesus paid for the church with His blood on the cross and signed the New Covenant with those who would call upon His name with His blood. He will return for His church by either calling us home to be with Him or returning for His church. The third step is what we see here in this verse. This Hallelujah is raised because Jesus has prepared His bride. He has done everything necessary for her and has even provided for her perfect clothing that she will wear at the feast — His righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). This Hallelujah is only because of the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross.

Perhaps the words of the Psalmist in Psalms 150 are a fitting close to this sermon on this most profound Biblical term — Hallelujah! “Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse. Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness … Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” Hallelujah!

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Sermon Notes

Hallelujah: More Than Just a Word

Revelation 19:1-8

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