(5-7) And a voice came. — From the direction of the throne there came a voice bidding all God’s servants rejoice. We are not told whose voice it is. Some have assumed that it is Christ’s: it is better to leave it indefinite. In response to the bidding, the voice of praise is heard (like the voice spoken of in Revelation 14:2), as it were, the voice of a great multitude; and, as it were, the voice of many waters; and, as it were, the voice of mighty thunders. All nature’s tones seem mingled in this voice of praise: it is human, it is majestic as the sea, and glorious as the thunder.
The Anthem.
Alleluia!
For the Lord reigned,
The God, the Almighty.
Let us rejoice and exult,
And we will give the glory to Him,
Because the marriage of the Lamb is come,
And His wife hath made herself ready.
In this anthem the word for “reigneth” is not in the present tense, as in the English version; but, though it is translated here “reigned,” we must not understand it of the past only: it expresses the exultation of the servants of God that the Kingship of their God is manifested, and vindicated against those who denied, or hated His rule. His reign never ceased; and He has showed that His was a real sovereignty. Their joy rises also from the prospect of the nearer union between the Lamb and His Bride. This close union is more fully spoken of later: here the glorious close is for a moment anticipated: the morning glow announces the coming day: it is near even at the doors. The image of the marriage is familiar. It entered into our Lord’s parable (Matthew 22:2-10; Matthew 25:1-10): we catch it in the Psalms and in the Epistles (Psalms 45, and Ephesians 5:23; Ephesians 5:30; 2 Corinthians 11:2.)