When you think of the book of Revelation, do you think of doom and gloom? Or do you think about God’s glory and majesty? Let’s study the songs of Revelation, both the songs in the book as well as those inspired by the book, and see what the songwriters can teach us.
A New Song delivered at the Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church on Sunday, November 3, 2019 by Tim Womac
The opening scripture was Revelation Chapter 5. In this chapter, John describes three different songs that were sung. In particular, I want to focus on where it says they sung a “new song.”
Now when most people hear about the book of Revelation. They think of doom, gloom, and despair. If they think of a song, it would be the old Hee-Haw song, “Woe with me. Doom, gloom, and despair. If I didn’t have any bad luck, I would have no luck at all.” And a lot of that comes from preachers who are using scare tactics to scare people, especially when you listen to the TV and radio. They will tell you that prophecies are being fulfilled and the world is going to end real soon. So you better hurry up and buy their book and send in your donation. Which, if the world is going to end….why do you need a donation?
And it comes in waves. I remember back in high school, the class of 2000, we heard all about Y2K and how the computers will crash. Then again in 2012, everyone was talking about how the Mayan Calendar ended on December 24, 2012. And there were preachers who were saying that Jesus was going to make his second coming on the anniversary of his first coming. But the reason that Mayan Calender ended on December 24, 2012, because their civilization ended. My Snoopy calendar ends on December 31st 2019, but that doesn’t mean the world is going to end. It just means that I need a new calendar. Then, a few years ago, you had that false prophet Harold Camping who took out ads in the paper and billboards about how the world was going to end.
So let’s set aside all these wild predictions. Let’s just agree that Jesus is coming, and we better get busy.
Now before I get started with a “new song,” I need to make it clear about what a good song is. The Devil has so confused God’s people about songs. In fact, many churches split and fight over music. And how it happens is that the Devil will whisper in the ear of a young a person, “You don’t want to hear that music. It’s old!!” And then the Devil whispers in the ear of an old person, “You don’t that music. It’s new music.”
But if you’ll listen to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth and Common Sense, you’ll immediately see the lies involved in this. For folks who like those “old songs,” you have to remember, at that one point, that old song was a new song. “How Great Thou Art” didn’t come out until the 1950’s. But we think of it as an old hymn, because it’s been around so long. And for all you young people who like the “new music,” I’ve got some bad news for you. The music that you call new now….it will be the music that your kids will call old. They’ll say, “That song’s been
around forever.” The question is now whether a song is old or new. That’s the Devil’s nonsense. The question is whether is song actually based out of scripture and can you sing it? If it’s not based out of scripture, it’s not a song of worship. And if you can’t sing it. It’s not a song.
So let us begin. In Chapter 1, we meet John who has been imprisoned on the Island of Patmos for preaching the world of God. He was on the beach one Sunday, not making sandcastles, put praying when he got a surprised visit. He saw Jesus in all his glory. And Jesus gave him messages to give to seven local churches. At the end of those seven messages, in Chapter 4, John hears a voice from heaven, saying “Come up!” And he is taken to the throne room of heaven.
For me, when I read about John’s vision, I’m reminded of the song, “John the Revelator” written by Rusty Goodman of the Happy Goodman Family. He wrote that song around 1976:
Talkin’ ’bout John the Revelator
he saw Jerusalem coming down
Yes it was John the Revelator
And when he looked around
He saw feet like brass
Eyes like fire
Heard a great voice saying
Come up higher
He was John the Revelator
He wrote about the city of God
So when John is taken to the throne room of heaven in Chapter 4, what does he discover? He finds worship taking place. Around the throne of God are 24 elders with gold crowns, worshipping God. And then you had the four beings, who praised God by saying,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—
the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”
The 24 elders place their crowns at God’s throne and sing,
“You are worthy, O Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power.
For you created all things,
and they exist because you created what you pleased.”
When I read these words, I’m reminded of two hymns. The first is “Holy, Holy, Holy” written by a Mr. Reginald Heber. He died at age 43, and his wife published his poetry in 1826. In it was poem that was set to music. Listen to these lyrics.
1 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
2 Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee,
casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
who wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.
All he did really, was take the scripture and set it to music to where we can better know it. Notice that he referenced the part of golden crowns. That reminds me of another hymn, “Crown Him with Many Crowns” by Matthew Bridges in 1851
1 Crown him with many crowns,
the Lamb upon his throne.
Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns
all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing
of him who died for thee,
and hail him as thy matchless king
through all eternity.
2 Crown him the Lord of life,
who triumphed o’er the grave,
and rose victorious in the strife
for those he came to save;
his glories now we sing
who died and rose on high,
who died eternal life to bring,
and lives that death may die.
I realize that a lot of people get very materialistic, thinking about heaven. They got their mind on streets of gold, and crowns, and mansions. That’s not what heaven is about. The saints of heaven are not going around comparing their crowns. Instead, they place them at the throne where Jesus will be crowned with many crowns. And these two gentlemen, one in the 1820’s and one in the 1950’s realized that.
Now, we get to chapter 5. There is a scroll with seven seals, but no one on earth or in heaven is worthy to open it. This gets John all upset and weeps bitterly. But one of the elders says, “Stop weeping. Look it’s the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.” John turns expecting to see a Lion. Instead he sees a Lamb who had been slain.
This, of course, is all symbolic. He’s referring to Jesus, the Lamb of God, who was slain on the cross and rose again on the third day. Only Jesus is worthy to open the scroll concerning human history. Only Jesus is worthy to set into motion the events of the future.
This is why the 24 elders sing a new song:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and break its seals and open it.
For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
And you have caused them to become
a Kingdom of priests for our God.
And they will reign on the earth.”
And then millions of Angels start singing a hymn of praise
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered—
to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing.”
And then all nature, in earth, sky, and sea, begins to sing.
“Blessing and honor and glory and power
belong to the one sitting on the throne
and to the Lamb forever and ever.”
This reminds me of “Revelation Song” by Kari Kob, released by Phillips, Craig, and Dean in 2009.
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Holy, holy is Thee
Sing a new song to Him who sits on
Heaven’s mercy seat
You are my everything and I will adore You, I will adore You
So the Lamb opens the seals, releasing the famous Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as they gallop through history. Then in Chapter 7, we hear an angel take a census of 144,000 Jewish people. Now the cult leaders will rise up and claim the 144,000 are the people in their cult….that is until their cult has 144,001 members. Then they change their doctrine.
But that’s not what it’s about. Earlier John heard about a Lion and turned and saw a Lamb. Here he’s expecting to see 144,000 Jewish people. He turns and sees a vast crowd, so large that it cannot be counted. And it’s not only Jewish people, but African people, and Asian people, and European people, and American people, and all tribes and languages.
They are rejoicing and shout,
“Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne
and from the Lamb!”
The angels and saints start singing,
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and strength belong to our God
forever and ever! Amen.”
Now this idea of a group of people so vast that they cannot be numbered, inspired a popular song from the African-American community in the 1920’s and 1930’s, When the Saints Go Marching In.
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Oh Lord I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in
This was a song that they would play as a funeral procession. On the way to the graveyard, they would play it slowly and stately. But on the way back, they played it proudly and loudly, symbolizing victory over death.
In the Chapter that follow, we see the forces of Evil align together. We see Satan, the Great Dragon, being cast from Heaven to Earth. He summons the Beast from the Sea and the Beast from the Land, which represent the Roman Empire and its False Religion. He sees the prostitute Babylon who is drunk with blood of the saints, representing the City of Rome.
But one by one, the forces of Evil are overthrown. “Fallen, Fallen. Babylon has Fallen.”
In Chapter 19, we hear the songs of victory. One song is
“Hallelujah! Praise the LORD!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.
His judgments are true and just.
He has punished the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth with her immorality.
He has avenged the murder of his servants.”
Another song is
“Hallelujah! Praise the LORD!
For the Lord our God, the omnipotent Almighty, reigns.
Let us be glad and rejoice,
and let us give honor to him.
For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb,
and his bride has prepared herself.
She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.”
For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people.
Why are they rejoicing? Because Jesus, like a cowboy in a western movie, comes riding in a white horse. And comes riding with the title of King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
So this passage with the various hallelujahs, the reference God’s omnipotent power, and the title of King of Kings and Lord of Lords, inspired one of the famous pieces of music. In 1741, George Frederick Handel wrote “Messiah” a musical performance based on scriptures….about the Messiah. The most famous section is the “Hallelujah Chorus.”
Over and over, the choir sings Hallelujah because the Lord God reigneth. And toward the end it proclaims the “The Kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever. King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”
According to tradition, when Handel performed this in London, King George II who sitting in the balcony was so moved that he stood up. And being England, when the king stands, everyone stands. And that’s why people stand today during the Hallelujah Chorus. Even King George II recognized that though he was King of England and its empire, Jesus was the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
In the 22nd chapter, we read these beautiful words: “Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.”
In 1864, a Baptist pastor named Robert Lowery read those words and was moved to write the song, “Shall We Gather at the River”
1 Shall we gather at the river,
Where bright angel feet have trod;
With its crystal tide forever
Flowing by the throne of God?
This song was written during a low point of the Civil War. Gettysburg was in 1863 and it seemed that war would never end. And yet this Baptist preacher was moved to write:
4 Soon we’ll reach the shining river,
Soon our pilgrimage will cease;
Soon our happy hearts will quiver
With the melody of peace.
The melody of peace. What an encouraging thought for such times. And then when you think about the people who were killed in the war, lives cut short, the chorus takes on new meaning:
Yes, we’ll gather at the river,
The beautiful, the beautiful river;
Gather with the saints at the river
That flows by the throne of God.
Then at the end of the chapter and Revelation itself we read Christ’s words:
He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!”
And John replies, “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus”
And that leads me the last song, around 1970, Bill and Gloria Gaither wrote, “The King is Coming.”
The King is coming, the King is coming
I just heard the trumpet sounding and soon His face I’ll see
The King is coming, the King is coming
Praise God, He’s coming for me
So as we have seen, the Book of Revelation is not all doom and gloom and despair. It is a book filled with praising God. And the book has inspired songs in hymns, contemporary Christian, African American spirituals, classic music, and Southern Gospel. There’s a song for every genre. As children of God, we shouldn’t fear the future. We shouldn’t be walking around looking like the cruise director for the Titanic. But rather we should be people of hope. The Lamb has overcome. Satan has been defeated, and his ultimate defeat is coming soon. That should put a song in all of our hearts – both a new song and those old songs that are dear to our hearts. Thanks be to God.
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