What does Revelation 19:1 mean?

John reports that he heard what seemed to be a great multitude in heaven crying out with a loud voice. Heaven is not a sparsely populated place, as some may think. It is highly populated with heavenly beings and redeemed human beings (Revelation 7:9). Together, the members of this massive throng shout, "hallelujah!" meaning "praise the Lord!" These praises are sung after describing the fall of Babylon (Revelation 17—18), and just before John's vision of the second coming of Christ (Revelation 19:11).

Their praise attributes exclusive qualities to God. Salvation, glory, and power belong to Him. Salvation may refer to deliverance from sin and eternal hell, a feat that only God can accomplish by His grace (Ephesians 2:8–9), or it may refer to deliverance from the power of Satan and his allies. Certainly, God delivers His people from the persecution they experience in the tribulation at the hands of the Antichrist and the False Prophet.

When the ark of the covenant was brought from the house of Obed-Edom to the tabernacle, great rejoicing and praise celebrated the event. David sang, "Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name" (1 Chronicles 16:29). In Psalm 8:1, David wrote that God had "set [His] glory above the heavens." The ascription of power to God is certainly justified. Throughout biblical history God displayed His omnipotent power, and in the tribulation He reveals His unmatched power in destroying Babylon.