King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and He shall reign for ever and ever, Hallelujah! (Revelation 19:16)

For this phrase Jennens has woven together two widely separated lines from Revelation: "King of Kings and Lord of Lords" from chapter 19 and "He shall reign for ever and ever" from chapter 11.

The titles were commonly associated with Babylonian and other Eastern emperors. More recently they had been adopted by Roman rulers.

Revelation was probably written during the reign of Domitian (AD 81-96), son of Vespasian and brother of Titus. Among other titles, Domitian was referred to as dominus et deus - lord and god - as well as son of god. Vespasian's genius had been deified by the Senate.

The desire for divine reform of political institutions is perpetual. The expectation that God will intervene as king or general is common. We crave clarity.

To me, however, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus seems to suggest other options. His own teaching that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night (Luke 12:39) points toward something less obvious than we might want and think we need.

You may listen to the Hallelujah Chorus performed by the City Chamber Orchestra and Opera Society of Hong Kong.