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Handel’s Hebraic
“Hallelujah Chorus”
Of the many songs and hymns celebrating the birth of Yeshua of Nazareth, the Hallelujah Chorus by Handel stirs the soul with perhaps the most Hebraic ideology. In his famous 1742 oratorio "Messiah," George Frederic Handel made central to the reprise of his Chorus three texts from the book of Revelation. These passages convey rich and important theological imagery rooted in the Hebrew Bible's portrait of God and the Messiah.
The heavenly praise chorus in Revelation sings about God ("our Lord") and "his Messiah."
And when the singers envision the kingdom of God reigning on earth, they describe a coalesced rule of God-and-Messiah: "He shall reign forever and ever." The "he" refers to both. God is ruling when his Son is ruling in his name.
In Deuteronomy 10:17 God is called "God of gods and Lord of lords." The phrases are repeated later in Psalm 136:2-3, while Daniel has "God of gods and Lord of kings"; 2:47b).
Yeshua is twice called "Lord of lords" and "King of kings" (Rev 17:14; 19:16). But he is never called — in the NT — "God of gods." That title alone is reserved for the Father. In the Hallelujah Chorus, Handel saw in the kingship of the Lamb-Messiah the embodiment of the kingship of God the Father.
"God and Messiah" — Elohim uMashiach. This is the Hebrew hymn and picture Revelation presents to its hearers and viewers.
"Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth."
(Revelation 19:6 KJV)
"The kingdom of this world is become
the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,
and he shall reign forever and ever."
(Revelation 11:15 KJV)
"King of kings and Lord of lords."
(Revelation 19:16 KJV)