Joy was apparent in their voices as the high school choir sang the Argentinian song “El Cielo Canta Alegría.” I was enjoying the performance but couldn’t understand the lyrics because I don’t know Spanish. But it wasn’t long until I recognized a familiar word as the choir began to jubilantly declare, “Aleluya!” Repeatedly, I heard “Aleluya,” a declaration of praise to God that sounds similar in most languages around the world. Eager to know the background of the song, I went online after the concert and discovered the title translates “Heaven Is Singing for Joy.”
In a celebratory passage in Revelation 19, we’re given a glimpse of the reality expressed in that choral song—all of heaven rejoicing! In the apostle John’s vision of the future in the last book of the New Testament, he saw an enormous gathering of people and angelic creatures in heaven declaring gratitude to God. John wrote that the chorus of voices celebrated God’s power that overcame evil and injustice, His reign over the whole earth, and eternal life with Him forever. Over and over again, all the inhabitants of heaven declare “Hallelujah!” (vv. 1, 3, 4, 6), or “Praise God!”
One day people “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (5:9) will declare God’s glory. And with joy all our voices in every different language will shout together, “Hallelujah!”
By Lisa M. Samra
REFLECT & PRAY
What is a reason you can say “Hallelujah” today? Why is it vital to regularly praise God?
Hallelujah! I’m so grateful for the joy I know because I’m loved by You, my God.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
“Hallelujah!” (Revelation 19:6), from the Hebrew halal (“to praise”) and yah, the first syllable of Yahweh, means “to praise God.” One reason for praise in Revelation 19 is God’s victory over “the great prostitute” (v. 2), which is identified elsewhere as “the great city that rules over the kings of the earth” (17:18). This woman or city is associated with “Babylon” (v. 5), which most interpreters believe symbolizes a corrupt empire(s) that rules in opposition to God (interpretations vary over the empire’s identity). But in chapter 19, she’s been defeated, and another woman becomes the focus—the “bride” of Christ—“God’s holy people” (vv. 7-8). She’s wearing “fine linen, bright and clean” which “stands for [her] righteous acts” (v. 8). Instead of the corrupt empire symbolized by Babylon, Jesus will usher in the new Jerusalem (21:2, 10), a city filled with the light of the “glory of God” (vv. 11, 23).
Monica La Rose
Our mission is to make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to all.
