The Te Deum Of Nature And The Church

19:3-5 And a second time they said: "Hallelujah! for the smoke from her rises for ever and ever."

And the twenty-four elders, and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped the God who is seated upon the throne. "Amen," they said, "Hallelujah!" And a voice came forth from the throne. "Praise our God," it said, "all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great."

The angelic host sings a second Hallelujah. Their praise is that the smoke of Babylon rises for ever and ever. That is to say, never again will she rise from her ruins. The actual picture comes from Isaiah: "The streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and her soil into brimstone; her land shall become burning pitch. Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up for ever and ever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever" ( Isaiah 34:9-10 ).

There follows praise from the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures. The twenty-four elders were prominent in the early visions ( Revelation 4:4 ; Revelation 4:10 ; Revelation 5:6 ; Revelation 5:11 ; Revelation 5:14 ; Revelation 7:11 ; Revelation 11:16 ; Revelation 14:3 ) as were the four living creatures ( Revelation 4:6-9 ; Revelation 5:6-14 ; Revelation 6:1-7 ; Revelation 7:11 ; Revelation 14:3 ; Revelation 15:7 ). We saw that the twenty-four elders represent the twelve patriarchs and the twelve apostles, and, therefore, stand for the totality of the Church. The four living creatures, respectively like a lion, an ox, a man and an eagle, stand for two things, for all that is bravest, strongest, wisest and swiftest in nature--and for the cherubim. Hence a song of praise from the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures is a Te Deum from the whole of the Church and the whole of nature.

The voice that comes from the throne is most likely to be understood as the voice of one of the cherubim. "Praise our God," says the voice, "all you his servants, you who fear him." Once again John finds his model in the words of the Old Testament, for that is a quotation from Psalms 135:1 ; Psalms 135:20 .

Two sets of people are called on to praise God. First, there are his servants. In the Revelation two kinds of people are specially called the servants of God; the prophets ( Revelation 10:7 ; Revelation 11:18 ; Revelation 22:6 ), and the martyrs ( Revelation 7:3 ; Revelation 19:2 ). First, then, this is the praise of the prophets and the martyrs who have witnessed for God with their voices and with their lives. Second, there are the small and the great. H. B. Swete says that this comprehensive phrase embraces "Christians of all intellectual capacities and social grades, and of all stages of progress in the life of Christ." It is a universal summons to praise God for his mighty acts.