The crowd praises God in heaven - Revelation 19:1-5 v1 After this, I heard what sounded like the roar

of a great crowd in heaven. They were shouting, Praise God! *Salvation comes from our God. And all the *glory and the power are his. v2 Gods judgements are fair and real. God has punished the great city called Babylon. Babylon was like an evil woman who sold her body for sex. And the whole world became evil because of Babylon. Now, God has punished Babylon because Babylon was responsible for the deaths of his servants. v3 Then the great crowd shouted again, Praise God! The smoke from the flames that burn Babylon will never end. v4 God was sitting on his *throne. And the 24 *elders and the 4 *creatures fell down in front of him. They *worshipped him and said, *Amen. Praise the *Lord! v5 Then I heard someone call from the *throne. Praise our God, all you who serve him. Praise him, all you who respect him! Praise him, whoever you may be. Verses 1 God had destroyed Babylon. Then John heard a large crowd in heaven. They shouted aloud their praise to God. They praised God for *salvation. He had rescued them. And he had taken them to be with him in heaven. God had achieved it all, and all the *glory belonged to him. God had shown his power. He had defeated all who were against him. God alone deserves all honour and praise. Verse 2 God always does what is right. He was right to punish Babylon. Babylon deserved its punishment.

All through history, Babylon (and everything that Babylon means) had caused people to *sin against God. Babylon had drawn people away from God. Babylon had made evil things seem so attractive. Babylon had caused the deaths of many servants of God. So, Babylon was guilty of their murder. God destroyed Babylon because Babylon had killed his servants. Verse 3 Again, the vast crowd in heaven shouted. They praised God. They praised him because the *ruin of Babylon was final. Babylon could never rise again. Nobody would rebuild Babylon. The smoke, which was still rising from the flames, proves it. Babylon has gone and it will never exist again. Verse 4 The *elders and the four *creatures praised God for all that he had done. They fell down to show him honour. And they *worshipped him. Verse 5 Then a voice called out from the *throne of God. It called to everyone who served the *Lord. It called them all to join in the *praise of our God. All who respect God should praise him. Important people should praise him. And everyone else should praise him too. All Gods people on earth and in heaven will shout their *praises to God.