Revelation 19:10

And 50fell down before his feet to worship him. And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

This incident recorded here is of vast importance and significance. The background of its appearance in the vision, or perhaps the reason for God's giving this, may have been the tendency to worship angels which is said to have prevailed in some quarters in the primitive church. Moffatt, for example, quoted Clement of Alexandria as saying that, "angel worship had for some time fascinated the Asiatic churches here and there."[23] The impact of what is taught by this, however, far exceeds the bearing it has in forbidding angel worship.

And I fell down before his feet to worship him ... In this instance, John actually was so carried away by the marvelous visions that he had seen that he impetuously fell down to worship the glorious angel who had aided in the revelations. This, at once, was revealed as sinful.

And he saith unto me, See thou do it not ... This clearly indicated the sinfulness of what John did in falling down before him.

"I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus ..." This is exceedingly interesting, for it gives angelic testimony to the high rank of the apostle John. "They that hold the testimony of Jesus," as used here, is a reference to the Twelve Apostles. They alone, in the ultimate sense, held the testimony of Jesus; and that it is in that higher sense that the words were used here by the angel appears in the addition of the clause: "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." This forbids, therefore, understanding the brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus as merely the Christians of all ages who also, in a sense, are bearers of the glad tidings. The angel spoke of those Spirit-endowed people who were the chosen witnesses to bear the testimony through their writings in the New Testament to all generations. They were prophets; Christians are not prophets.

Even a glorious angel is merely one of God's servants, and therefore not to be worshipped by people. Worship is reserved for God alone. The acceptance of the worship by people on the part of Christ does not mean that other people may accept the worship of their fellows, but it identifies Christ as God come in the flesh.

I am thy fellow-servant ... Regarding the "service" which angels give to the redeemed, see in my Commentary on Hebrews, p. 31.

Worship God ... This means that only God is to be worshipped, either by an act of obeisance, prostration, or bowing down before the presence, or by any subjective adoration, the latter being not "worship" in the New Testament sense, but the emotional accompaniment of it. See thorough discussion of what worship actually is in my Commentary on Acts 208-211. If even one of the glorious angels of heaven may not be honored by a Christian's bowing before his presence, how much less may any religious prelate allow people to kiss his ring, or the hem of his garment, or prostrate themselves on their bellies as when the entire college of Cardinals so prostrate themselves before the Pope? Such reverence given to a mere human being is a sin.

The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy ... We regret that the vast majority have failed utterly to understand this. "There is no way absolutely to determine whether John is speaking of the witness given by Christ himself, or whether the witness is about Christ."[24] Ladd thought that, "It is the witness borne by the church to Jesus."[25] Beasley-Murray interpreted it to mean the "testimony which Jesus gives."[26] All such explanations fall short. Bruce was nearer the truth when he wrote: "Here New Testament prophecy is meant, as in the similar statement regarding Old Testament prophecy in 1 Peter 1:10f.[27] This harmonizes completely with our view of it given in the fourth paragraph under Revelation 19:10. We see this clause as a qualifier of those whom the angel meant were his fellow-servants. He spoke of the Twelve Apostles, and this verse indicates that meaning, for the apostles alone were truly "prophets" of the New Testament.

Barclay's interesting comment on this is included here, not because it touches this vital meaning of the passage, but be cause it gives attention to the "double meaning" phenomenon often found in the New Testament.

This is the kind of double meaning of which the Greek language is capable; and it may well be that John intended the double meaning. The true prophet is the man who receives from Christ the message he brings to men, and whose words and works are at one and the same time an act of witness to Christ.[28]

We cannot accept the view that a true Christian, however effective his "witness," is in any sense a possessor of the "spirit of prophecy." The clause is a designator of the Twelve. We whole-heartedly agree with another of Barclay's comments on this verse, thus, "God alone must be worshipped. Any other intermediary than Jesus Christ between God and men must be utterly opposed."[29] Angels are above all people, who are made a "little lower" than the angels; and, if it is sinful to worship an angel, how far greater is the sin of worshipping people, or of invoking their names in prayer, or of bowing down in the presence of images consecrated to them?

Zerr, who is usually quite dependable, cannot be correct in his notion that, "There are some conditions when even a man may receive some form of worship."[30] One commentator even suggested that John got mixed up and forgot about relating this incident when he included it a second time in Revelation 22:8,9; and even J. W. Roberts wrote: "This scene is duplicated in Revelation 22:6ff."[31] No! This is not duplicated there, where a most important and significant difference will be pointed out and discussed.

[23] James Moffatt, op. cit., p. 465.

[24] James D. Strauss, op. cit., p. 237.

[25] George Eldon Ladd, op. cit., p. 251.

[26] G. R. Beasley-Murray, The Book of Revelation (Greenwood, South Carolina: The Attic Press, 1974), p. 276.

[27] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 660.

[28] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 177.

[29] Ibid., p. 176.

[30] E. M. Zerr, Bible Commentary, Vol. 6 (Marion, Indiana: Cogdill Foundation, 1954), p. 339.

[31] J. W. Roberts, The Revelation of John (Austin, Texas: R. B. Sweet Company, 1974), p. 161.